Coffee Bean Roaster - Fresh Roast

I recieved this roaster for Christmas and am very underwhelmed. It is constructed with 1950's technology and has no fan speed control and no temperature control. In otherwords, you will never be able to fine tune the ideal roast for different types of beans and personal preferences. What is the point of roasting your own coffee beans if the quality is virtually guaranteed to be lower than that available from your local speciality roaster? This is the type of appliance I would expect to see in a cheap import store selling for $19.95.

I can't imagine anyone actually liking this machine. It's not much more than a hot air popcorn popper that runs at a higher temperature and has a spring loaded timer on the power switch. I think a manual stove-top pan roaster is a giant step up from this poorly concieved device. Don't waste your money.

This coffee bean roaster is quite the bargain for the money. You can go from green beans to a fresh pot of coffee in less than 30 minutes.
No worries as you load the beans, turn the dial and wait a few minutes for the perfect roast, just as you like it.

I would recommend this coffee roaster to anyone who enjoys a better pot of coffee.

I just went through my second one of these and each of them only lasted one year with weekly use. I would roast the two ounces at a time, fifteen minutes apart, until I had a weeks worth--about a pound once a week. I've done the same thing previously with a corn popper that I bought at the thrift store for 3 dollars, and three of them have also only lasted one year. I bought the Fresh Roast in hopes that it would last longer than the one year that a used corn popper works, but it didn't. Considering that the Fresh Roast roaster can't be had for less than about 80 dollars, the corn popper is a much better deal.

Best Product in this category for the price. It Does creat a significant amount of smoke and can only be used indoors if you have a very good ventilation system. Produces consistant results, and is very simple to use.

I received the Fresh Roast Plus 8 as a 30th birthday present from my parents, which has allowed me to take my coffee snobbery to an entirely new level! This model has worked admirably in the 2+ months I've had it, roasting one batch at least every two days. It's not automatic (there isn't a good roaster that is) and you need to carefuly monitor color, aroma, and "cracks" to achieve a consistent roast, but the coffee it produces is balanced, consistent, and far and away better than anything you can buy in the store.

The negatives are that it does feel a mite flimsy: the glass roasting chamber sits precariously on the fan unit and could easily be knocked off and broken. Also, it only roasts a few ounces at a time -- perfect if you just want to roast enough for your morning cup, but don't expect to be able to roast half or entire pounds of coffee for gifts. The smoke is pervasive, so it's helpful to roast the beans under your stovetop exhaust fan, lest you set off the smoke alarm.

Overall, this is an excellent product for the home roaster who's just getting into the world of coffee roasting. Should the interest take hold a little more, it would be wise to upgrade to a larger capacity table-top drum roaster, or a used commercial machine.