By 

Alastair L. Drong “Alastair D.” (Bloomington, IL USA) –

  

I’ve only roasted 2 batches with this unit, but it’s already a substantial improvement over its predecessor, the FreshRoast +8.

The biggest negative point about this unit is that it doesn’t move the beans well at the beginning. The beans have been circulating well enough for me, but this is likely because the voltage runs at the high end of what is acceptable for household electricity (126v measured). If your home runs at the low end (110v), you may find the beans near the edge of the chamber do not circulate well and need stirred until they begin to roast, making them lighter and allowing them to move more fluidly.

The roasts I’ve done so far have been, by far and away, more even than anything I got out of the old FreshRoast +8 model.

After the first crack, I’ve been turning the fan speed down to the 1/2 way point and have found it easy to hear the 2nd crack. This never happened with the +8.

The cooling cycle starts when the timer runs out and lasts 3 minutes. I’ve been turning the fan speed back up to 100% for this part of the roasting cycle. Something important to remember is that during the cooling cycle, it takes the base, the heating coils and the glass chamber a few extra moments to cool, so it’s a good idea to start cooling just a bit before you consider the roast ‘done’.

Chafe collection works well enough to carry the bulk of the chafe to the garbage/compost. I suggest carrying the chafe collector upside down to help prevent escapees. A few bits of chafe will fall back down into the roasting chamber when the unit shuts down, but lightly blowing down into the chamber will clear these out.

If you carry this unit assembled, you’ll want one hand under the unit and one hand pressing down on the top to hold the unit together.

I’d say this unit could do the job for a household of four coffee drinkers, but is probably best suited for three.

This unit is essentially identical to the SR300, but with added control. Set this model to 100% fan and ‘High’ roasting temp for the duration of your roast and you’ll produce SR300 results. Because of this, I’d say that the SR500 is defiantly worth the extra money. You can use this like the SR300 until you get comfortable with the logistics of roasting at home and then fine-tune your results.

Remember to let your roasted beans rest for 12-24hrs after roasting to vent CO2.

UPDATE: I’m finding that there’s an ideal batch size with this unit. I did a 2-scoop roast and ended up with FreshRoast +8 results (read: fairly uneven) with poor circulation of the beans … The best roasts I’ve done so far has a roast size of four *scant* scoops (call it ~3.667 scoops) and found the beans in the corner moving well-enough (but by no means great) with a fairly even roast.

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 Comment (1)

By 

carol White –

  

I LOVE my new freshroast SR 500. I’m not sure I understand what some of the other reviewers are having issues with. When I put my beans in the carafe, they start jumping from the second I turn on the machine. I bought the SR500 and it has a control for the fan speed, so if at the beginning, your beans aren’t moving as much as you’d like, simply turn the fan to a higher setting for a few seconds to get them started and in a few seconds, you can return the fan setting back to medium. I used the previous model, Fresh Roast Plus 8, for a few years and also liked it, but this is a MAJOR improvement. Did I forget to say MAJOR! For one thing, the carafe is significantly larger and you can roast more beans per batch. Also, because the fan works so much better, my beans are roasting much more uniformly. I’m completely happy with this roaster. As well, with the SR500, you can control the temperature and I usually lower the temperature as the beans get close to being done (I like a medium-dark roast). I thought my espresso was excellent before, but it’s even better now.

My friend bought the SF300 and she is also ecstatic with the quality of her beans. Of course, you have to start with great beans to produce great coffee. I’m completely happy with the green beans that I get every 4 to 6 weeks from Espresso Vivace in Seattle (I get them shipped UPS ground) as these produce an outstanding roast. Again, when you make espresso, every minor consideration affects the quality of your shot. You need an excellent roasting machine, great beans, a great grinder and a great espresso machine. Don’t forget good, clean water. And, of course, the type of roast you choose makes a big difference (not too dark, not too light, etc.). And once you’ve got it all dialed in, you still won’t pull an award-winning shot every time. But you’ll definitely pull a lot of great ones!

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 Comment

We have been roasting coffee for the past four years with Fresh Roast 8+ machines in two different versions. The first Fresh 8 lasted about 3-years of daily 2-oz roastings. The second one is still going strong but I wanted to try the SR-500 out of curiosity and because I wanted to have the trusty 8+ for a back-up.

We have gotten to where we feel we get a decent roast using the 8+, but not perfect. Now the “8 machines” shortcomings are obvious – there simply isn’t anywhere near enough control to get to the next level.

I have roasted 10 3-4 ounce loads with number of different settings each time and have found that if I pay attention I can get a very even roast every time. I am obviously not as picky as some, but I think it is hard to get an uneven roast using this machine. Since roasting is somewhat subjective I think users should experiment with the fan speed, temperature settings, and time to get what they want. The suggestions to start with a high fan speed and end with a slower speed are a given. I basically adjust the fan speed so that the movement of the beans is pretty uniform from start to finish. This is pretty close to wide open until beans are yellow, midway through the middle of the roast and close to full CCW toward the end.

The most pronounced improvement I have noticed is that I have never ended up with blackened or oily beans because I missed the second crack by 10 or 15 seconds.

I am sometimes amazed at what critics expect for a bill and a half. This is a very capable machine that runs on 120VAC and sits unobtrusively on the kitchen counter. Sure there are things that could be improved.

I would like to be able to set the timer more conveniently, for example it would be great to be able to set the time, then turn the roaster on. It would be nice too to be able to increment the time in a more convenient way than ten second adjustments. I’m sure the Fresh Roast folks will make the changes with the next model. In the mean time, I’m going have another great cup of “fresh roast”.

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