The Nesco roaster is a solid home roaster. It combines fluid bed (a stream of hot air) with a mechanical auger that keeps the beans constantly moving so that they roast a little more quickly and a lot more uniformly.
Nesco Roaster
The controls on the Nesco are pretty much non-existent. About the only control you have over the roast is how long to roast the coffee. The length of roast is set by a simple digital timer. Even at that you are limited to a thirty (30) minute roast cycle. One thing I learned during the first roast that I did not know (but probably would have, had I read the manual first) is that the roast cycle includes a five (5) minute cooling cycle. In other words, if you choose a twenty (20) minute roast, your coffee beans will roast for fifteen (15) minutes and then cool for five (5) minutes. This is not all that important unless you like to take your roast very dark (dark French/Vienna roast) because you may well come up short on roast time if you want your beans roasted that darkly.
During the roast you do have the option of adding up to five (5) minutes to your original roast length (assuming you did not start with a thirty (30) minute roast length). The additional time is added in one (1) minute increments. You can initiate the five minute cooling cycle at any time during your roast simply by pushing the “Cool” button on the front control panel. Since there is no control over temperature, but only over the length of the roast, what you may want to do is to simply set the timer to thirty minutes every time and then simply stop the roast by hitting the “Cool” button when the roast is where you want it.
The cylinder in which the beans roast is a tempered safety glass so that you can clearly and easily see the progression of the roast as it moves through the cycle. This is another reason why I would also recommend the Nesco: the two best indicators of your roast will be the appearance of the bean, and the aroma as the beans roast. Although the Nesco has the smoke suppression system it was quite easy to smell the beans as they roasted. Being in a clear glass cylinder it was also quite easy to watch the progression of the roast. These factors combine to make the Nesco one of the roasters that make it easy to achieve precisely the level of roast you choose.
My first roast in the Nesco was a Brazil Beja Flor, and it was awesome. I was able to achieve precisely the level of roast I wanted and it translated perfectly into the cup. With the fluid bed method of roast and the efficiency of the cooling cycle on the Nesco roaster the beans did not seem to continue to “coast roast” once the cooling cycle was initiated. What I saw and smelled when I stopped the roast is what I got 24 hours later after I had let the roast de-gas and it was, if I do say so myself, incredible coffee.
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This roaster looks fabulous. Nice review.
I love me some New Guinea Peaberry…