500g Automatic Coffee Roaster Machine for Home Use Wth Smoke Filter(Suitable for Light Roasting), The Smoke Pipes (Suitable forMedium and Dark Roasting) and Chaff Collector

I've been roasting coffee for over 15 years, most of that time on a Behmor roaster. I had updated it over the years, changing the chaff collector and updating the control panel. But it finally bit the dust and I set about looking to get a new one. The logical choice was to go ahead and get the Behmor 2000AB Plus. The price had certainly gone up from my initial purchase (Quite a bit! Had cost around $299 and now sells for $479), and there were a few new features, but the it was still pretty much the same machine.I started looking around at other offerings and came upon the Precision roaster. True, it cost even more than the Behmor--basically $500--but I was intrigued with its features and the reviews looked good. So I bought it. So far, after 20 batches or so, I'm very pleased. Most of my comments are comparisons with the Behmor.First, the electric control panel has some great information. You can readily set the roast profile you desire (if you don't want to do it manually, yourself), see temperatures, monitor the ROR of the beans, and adjust power and fan speed. You can use the presets, override the program in semi-automatic mode, or adjust everything by hand yourself in manual mode. The display is easily visible and doesn't get washed out in bright sunshine like the Behmor did.Second, the machine has some nice features. It has a REAL preheat. Beans are introduced when the chamber is up to temperature. With the Behmor, you put the basket in the machine from the start and everything was brought up to temp together. You could do a sort of preheat--turning on the machine without the basket at first and shutting off to add the basket and then starting again--but you had to deal with hot surfaces and the fact that if the chamber were allowed to get TOO hot, it wouldn't allow you to restart without cooling down first. Ugh!Which reminds me. Unlike the Behmor, the Precision does NOT have a dratted fail-safe that will automatically switch to cool down if you fail to hit the Start button in the allotted time. That was the one thing about the Behmor I REALLY disliked.There's also a sampling spoon where you can pull out beans to inspect for degree of roast. You can actually SEE how far along the beans are! With the Behmor, you had to look through a small window, possibly through the perforations of a chaff collector, and into a rotating basket in a chamber with limited lighting. The light bulb in the chamber didn't shed all that much light. And sometimes, no light at all--danged bulbs burned out all the time.The Precision also has excellent chaff collection. A lot of chaff remained trapped in the Behmor basket, so you'd take the basket out when the roast was finished and shake it like crazy for a while to get more (but not all) of it out. Some folks used a small vacuum to help. The Precision beans come out super clean with the big chaff collection tray catching just about everything.Finally, with the Precision, the beans are dumped into a cooling tray at the end of the roast. I've seen some comments from users who say they don't think the temperature drops fast enough and they buy a separate bean cooler. Seems to work fine to me (though, then again, I roast outside and the Fall temperatures are conducive to quick cooling). And the beans cool a LOT quicker than in the Behmor where the cooling cycle is cooling down the roasting chamber at the same time as the beans.There are a couple of things that could be improved. The written instructions, while not hideous, could be better. You'd think companies that spend money on engineers to make a good product could outsource manuals so they would be of similar quality. Also, the section on cleaning and maintenance could be improved. What is the recommended frequency of disassembly and cleaning, for example? They do have a video online showing the tear-down process but you have to go hunt for it. And you need to be careful with the electrical wire connecting the head unit to the rest of the roaster. I only just did my first cleaning the other day, again after 20 or so roasts. Actually quite clean. There was a bit of chaff on the heater shield, but that was it.I cannot speak to the smoke filter unit or the alternative use of the supplied chimney pipe. I use neither and just roast outside.Finally, I don't want to seem as though I detested the Behmor. I used it for 15 years and roasted LOTS of coffee! Can't complain. But I do enjoy using the Precision a lot more for the reasons described above. Now, if it will also last me 15 years or so... :-)

Update: I tried my third batch in the assisted mode. I was aiming for a Vienna roast, but during the time it took for me to write down the time, temperature, power, and fan settings, it went from City+ to French just like that; about 10-15 seconds. I was doing an 8 ounce batch, which is less than the "ideal" size, so maybe that meant it went faster? Next time I'll have an assistant to take the notes while I keep a sharper eye on the progress of the roast.I roasted my first batch today and am greatly pleased. I've used the Gene Cafe roaster in the past and this one is much easier and faster. There are, of course, differences that will take a few uses to get use to. One important thing - it's not mentioned anywhere but you do have to pull out the tray that catches the beans before you open the door of the drum to let the finished beans drop. This is counter-intuitive for me, I thought I had to leave the drawer in to catch the beans. But that way a lot of beans went out in front of the machine onto the floor.I roasted 8 oz (less than the recommended ideal size) for my first batch using the automatic 33 program. It took 6 minutes after warming up; faster than I expected. I missed the beep that told me it was done and just noticed that the power had gone to zero. I would have liked to roast slightly darker. The beans came out Full City, I wanted Fully City+, but that's what the manual mode is for, I guess, and that's what I'll try next time. If memory serves, it used to take me 15-20 minutes on the Gene Cafe to do this. (It's been several years.)The machine seems well built and I have high hopes for it lasting more than the 3 years I got out of each of my two Gene Cafes. That's roasting enough for 2 double espressos a day, so not that much.

This was an upgrade for us. Owned for about 6 months using it 3 to 4 times a week. One morning it was not heating up. Sent company an email and responded quickly (a couple hours). They asked me to check 2 things and it was the heating element. Quick response from company and shipped my part. Easy swap and back to roasting. Company is standing behind product. They ready cared about getting me satisfied. I am very much satisfied.

Buyer beware. Roaster stopped heating after 7 months. To bad, it was easily my favorite roaster to date but it’s got to last longer than that. I will gladly change this review if the company were to work with me on getting it fixed.**UPDATE** - Sent a message to the company and they responded within hours and will be sending me a new heating element. Amazing customer service!

Awesome little coffee roaster at a great price. Unfortunately, my machine did break down but the seller responded immediately and sent out parts to replace by myself. Seller is in China but parts came to me quickly from California. It is not hard to get to the bearings at the back of the machine. Bearings were worn but an error on the controller came up before the motor burned up. Seller sent a new motor and a whole new bearing assembly. They also let me know what size bearings are in there so I hope to have this machine running for a long time. I did not buy this product with great expectations, but it turned out to be a very good purchase. My machine lasted about 10 months with weekly roasts of 500g. I'll try 350-400 grams from now on and see how long it lasts.