IRoast2 40011 5-2/7-Ounce Coffee-Bean Roaster, Black
by IBC - Hearthware, INC
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List Price: Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of IRoast2 40011 5-2/7-Ounce Coffee-Bean Roaster, Black
Customer Review: Too noisy and unforgiving coffee roaster
Summary: 3 Stars
The good:
- Excellent uniform roasting for small batches, for instance half a cup.
- 10 programs make it easy to roast small and large beans separately, or different varieties, for different roast levels.
- I never experienced the smoking issue frequently reported, possibly because I use small batches, lower temperatures and stop before the beans get overburnt (and overly carcinogen.)
- The smell is divine from start (herbal notes) to end (delicious roast as expected.)
The bad:
- The programing system is not intuitive, you need the manual. You need more than the manual, because you'll have no clue how many minutes at how much temp, followed by how long and hot again, and again. They should preset the 10 programs instead of letting the beginner roaster mess about, this is extremely frustrating!
- Anything over half a cup will make it difficult to get evenly roasted beans and seems to overload/overheat/kill the roaster and make smoke. The layer of beans becomes too heavy for the air flow to shuffle them around effectively.
- The locking system for the pot and its top is the worst cumbersome unpractical device ever!
- Roasting requires constant monitoring towards the end, I frequently need to stop it before it reaches the end of its program because the beans already reached the desired roast.
- The parts needs thorough cleaning after every roast, as coffee oils tend to stick and burn at next roasting.
- You need a dedicated setup: A little higher on the counter so you can actually read the screen, good lighting, never move the roaster from its location even for cleaning. I can't use the exhaust attachment but do it if you can, and you need a vacuum sealing machine or vacuum containers to store the roasted beans after they vented out and cooled down. Green beans should also be kept in a vacuum to keep fresh, according to sweetmarias tests.
- I would have loved to smell that delicious roasting smell in the morning for breakfast, but roasted coffee need to rest at least 9 hours, so you always need to prepare a batch or two at least the day before.
The ugly:
- The roaster is NOISY as hell: You CANNOT use it in an apartment. Even in a house, it is horrible to stand by it while you monitor manually the last stages of the roast. iRoast should sound-proof the fan engine (so we can actually hear the second crack.)
- Like in about 8 customer reviews, my glass pot also developed a crack that soon spread out. It was located near the handle, so I suspect the awkward locking system.
In summary:
Still a great roaster if your usage is small batches 3-4 times a week, but you need to keep extremely good care of your roaster, and be aware that programming does not mean fully automatic roasting, the last minutes of roasting are critical to monitor manually. But the noise alone removes 2 stars from this review, it's that bad.
Customer Review: Top broke after about 20 uses
Summary: 1 Stars
This little machine does a good job, until the top ring breaks and starts spewing chaff and smoke out the side. I am calling in for warranty work tomorrow (their office is closed now). In retrospect, I should have bought something a bit more sturdy and not so cheaply made. I hope this helps the next person not get a defective product.Customer Review: Two in a row fail.
Summary: 1 Stars
My employer got this for me for christmas, It lasted about 15 months and then the blower failed. It runs and then just shuts down for no reason, I believe the heating element is still running but the blower isn't blowing. Good fire hazard..Anyway I bought another one in april, it is now december 1st. Exact same failure! I use it probably three or four times a week. After reading the other reviews here I'm pretty discouraged with trying to get them to honor my warranty..I will try anyway.Customer Review: Unreliable
Summary: 3 Stars
My first unit died after a month and was replaced under warranty.
The second unit developed more and more "small" mechanical problems that I could repair myself and died after a little more than a year of use (they did not replace it this time).
The micro-processor temperature regulation is kind of a joke: Running the same cycle indoors (70F) or outdoors (55F) produces totally different results. Indoors roasting is really difficult as the smoke and shaft will really mess up the place, even under a hood with the vent attachment in place. The roast needs constant supervision and good light to look at the color of the beans, so it's hard to do it outdoors. The unit is too noisy to hear the beans crack.
All in all a good try, but with too many shortcomings. I suspect that all reasonably priced home units that do not take your whole kitchen counter space are also "works in progress"... the i-roast might be as good as others.
Customer Review: Utter piece of junk
Summary: 1 Stars
I had a Fresh Roast for several years but decided it was time to "upgrade." The iRoast arrived and promptly broke during the first roast. The plastic cracked just beneath the handle making it unable to lock in place. Instead of sending an entirely new unit I was sent just the top roast chamber. Although it has not broken (yet) the top portion that screws onto the roast chamber does not fit quite right. It is already cracking off chips around the edge and currently it's a struggle just to screw it in place. In addition, the unit is so loud (it's not referred to as the "iRoar" for nothin') that it's almost impossible to hear the second crack, which is fairly important when you're trying to dial in profiles. All in all, it's been a complete disappointment so far.