Kaffelogic community

Hi Wayne

First off, I'm coming from a complete beginner roaster angle (and no tasting background beyond I like this coffee and I don't like this one!) so lots of simple language please.... (This is quite a long post but I'm hoping it will be useful for other beginners too.)

I've been struggling to find profiles I like with most profiles seeming to me to be quite uneven and somehow both too acidic and too roasted at the same time. I've played with the default profile, the MASL profiles, some of the Raost profiles, some of Steve's profiles, Firestarter and ended up with my best results from the Ninja Turtle profile. While most of the roasts have been OK, I've still not been super happy with them but just assumed it was my newbie roasting and untrained palette conspiring against me.

However, after reading on the forums about reasons for uneven roasts, and seeing a really long drawn out first crack for one roast (running from 187 for first beans to 207 for the bulk of the bean mass!), I finally twigged that maybe my fan speed is too low.

Luckily I happen to have some Brazil Cerrado beans so just carried out the calibration instructions here:
https://kaffelogic.com/home/blog/calibr ... -fan-speed

The fan speed as it arrived to me was 0.88 so I've just done 3x123g roasts with 0.88, 0.91 and 0.94. The change in visual evenness of roast is evident, and also the flavour difference is quite astonishing with both the 0.91 and 0.94 batches giving minimal to no burnt taste compared to the 0.88 batch. All rather exciting!

Can you please have a look at these logs and let me know what they tell you, and which fan level you think looks best. (Or if I need to go even higher?)

Thanks in advance
Eleanor

And videos of the different fan speeds attached.

Hi Squirt

Pleas go up to 0.95. That will be awesome.

Should be good.

Regards

Wayne

Great, thanks. I'll give that a try.

In terms of general fan speed troubleshooting for anyone else looking through the forums, I've found that a low fan speed can cause uneven roasting but what let's you know you've reached the upper limit? I'm guessing too many beans in the chaff and the power flat lining would be signs. Are there any other indications that you've gone too high?

Too high fan speed setting in calibration mode will give you a “heat too fast “ error and unevenness.

Great. Thanks heaps for that. I'm glad to say that after being rather disillusioned with all the preset profiles initially, including overwhelming sourness at all levels (even getting really bad indigestion and reflux from every coffee I tried), fixing the fan speed seems to have sorted everything out on the few roasts I've tried since then. There must have just been too many underdeveloped beans in the uneven roasts before. Now I can use the preset profiles as they are intended, and should be all good to play with my boost kit when it arrives. Thanks again!

Hi Squirt.

Just responded to your message on discord. Thanks for that….

Just checking in, are you happy with the calibration point now. Is all good? How is the coffee going? Roasting well?

Please let me know how I can make up for this terrible service I have offered you? Can you please send me your address. I would like to send you some Colombian Geisha green, I roasted for the Turkish national champion at the world barista championship.

I will send you this with a profile. Let me know if you prefer espresso or filter, I’ll adjust accordingly.

Regards and hope to hear from you soon.

Wayne

Thanks Wayne, not terrible service at all, just obviously super busy at your end! Thanks also for the offer of some beans;I've emailed you an address but forgot to mention that I drink filter coffee rather than espresso.

Went as far as 1.0 for fan calibration but then dialled back to 0.95 on your recommendation. Still to taste these roasts. Will send through a video of bean movement once I'm back home.

I realised I never posted the video of the movement at 0.95. here it is in case it is helpful for anyone else.

Squirt wrote: ↑Fri 21 Apr, 2023 1:59 pm I realised I never posted the video of the movement at 0.95. here it is in case it is helpful for anyone else.

Thanks for sharing.
Assuming you are at sea-level?