[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":239},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guides-en-GB-choosing-a-coffee-roaster":3},{"kind":4,"guide":5,"categorySlugs":231},"guide",{"key":6,"slug":6,"slugs":7,"category":14,"order":15,"featured":16,"schema":17,"title":18,"seoTitle":19,"description":20,"excerpt":21,"keywords":22,"published":30,"updated":30,"readingMinutes":31,"cover":32,"related":35,"body":58,"faq":150,"products":160,"sources":173,"paths":174,"slugMap":175,"categorySlug":230},"choosing-a-coffee-roaster",{"de-DE":8,"fr-FR":9,"es-ES":10,"es-419":10,"pt-BR":11,"pt-PT":11,"it-IT":12,"nl-NL":13},"die-richtige-kaffeeroestmaschine-waehlen","choisir-un-torrefacteur-a-cafe","como-elegir-una-tostadora-de-cafe","como-escolher-um-torrador-de-cafe","come-scegliere-una-tostatrice-per-caffe","koffiebrander-kiezen","equipment",20,true,"Article","Choosing a coffee roaster: batch size, fuel and design","Choosing a Commercial Coffee Roaster","How to choose a commercial coffee roaster: batch size from your sales forecast, gas or electric, drum or hot air, controls, logging and support.","Size the roaster from the volume you expect in year two or three, not from what you sell today, then let fuel, site and support narrow the field. A buyer's framework, not a brand list.",{"primary":23,"secondary":24,"intent":29},"choosing a coffee roaster",[25,26,27,28],"best commercial coffee roaster size","what size coffee roaster do i need","commercial coffee roaster uk","coffee roaster batch size","commercial investigation","2026-10-09",9,{"figure":33,"kicker":34},"kg\u002Fbatch","Roasters",[36,44,50],{"key":37,"slug":37,"category":14,"title":38,"excerpt":39,"readingMinutes":40,"updated":30,"cover":41},"gas-vs-electric-coffee-roasters","Gas or electric coffee roaster?","The choice often makes itself once you know what supply your site has. Where it does not, compare installation, control, running cost and the rules each fuel brings.",6,{"figure":42,"kicker":43},"Gas | kW","Fuel",{"key":45,"slug":45,"category":14,"title":46,"excerpt":47,"readingMinutes":40,"updated":30,"cover":48},"new-vs-used-coffee-roaster","New or used coffee roaster: weighing the risk","A used roaster can halve the biggest line in your budget. It can also arrive with a warped drum, an obsolete control board and no one to fix it. How to decide.",{"figure":49,"kicker":34},"New\u002Fused",{"key":51,"slug":51,"category":14,"title":52,"excerpt":53,"readingMinutes":54,"updated":30,"cover":55},"afterburners-and-roaster-emissions","Afterburners, catalytic units and roaster emissions","Smoke and odour are the most common reason a roastery gets into trouble with neighbours. What afterburners and catalytic units do, what they cost to run, and how to decide whether you need one.",7,{"figure":56,"kicker":57},"Smoke","Emissions",[59,61,63,65,90,92,94,96,98,121,123,125,131,133,142,144,146,148],{"p":60},"A roaster is the largest purchase most roasteries make, and the one that is hardest to change. Choose it from your sales forecast, your site and the support you can get, in that order. Looks and reputation come after.",{"h2":62},"1. Size it from kilos per week",{"p":64},"Start with the roasted kilos per week you expect in two to three years. Add roast loss to get green kilos. Then decide how many hours a week you want to spend roasting. Divide, and you have the green kilos per hour you need.",{"table":66},{"caption":67,"head":68,"rows":71},"Worked example, assumed figures",[69,70],"Step","Result",[72,75,78,81,84,87],[73,74],"Target roasted volume in year three","400 kg a week",[76,77],"Green needed at 16% roast loss","400 \u002F 0.84 = about 476 kg",[79,80],"Hours you are willing to roast","12 hours a week",[82,83],"Green per hour needed","about 40 kg an hour",[85,86],"At four batches an hour","about 10 kg green per batch",[88,89],"Working at about 80% of nameplate","a roaster rated at roughly 12 kg to 15 kg",{"p":91},"The same arithmetic with 200 kg a week and 10 hours points to a smaller machine, and with 1,000 kg a week to a much larger one or a second roaster. See [batch scheduling](guide:batch-scheduling-for-roasters) for throughput.",{"h2":93},"2. Fuel and power",{"p":95},"Natural gas, LPG and electric roasters each suit different sites. Gas offers fast heat response and is common on production machines; electric roasters are simpler to install where gas is not available, but need a large electrical supply at bigger sizes. See [gas vs electric roasters](guide:gas-vs-electric-coffee-roasters).",{"h2":97},"3. Heat transfer design",{"table":99},{"head":100,"rows":104},[101,102,103],"Design","How it heats","Points to consider",[105,109,113,117],[106,107,108],"Conventional drum","Burner under or around a solid or perforated drum; mix of conduction and convection","The most common design; wide range of sizes and second-hand availability",[110,111,112],"Indirect or semi-hot-air drum","Heat source separate from the drum; mostly hot air through the drum","More convective; often good airflow control",[114,115,116],"Hot-air recirculation","Hot air recirculated through the drum, often with integrated smoke burn-off","Can be more fuel-efficient; usually a higher purchase price",[118,119,120],"Fluid bed","Beans suspended in a stream of hot air","Fast and even; very different profiles from a drum, compact",{"p":122},"There is no best design; each gives different control and flavour tendencies. Roast on the machines you are considering, ideally with your own coffees, before deciding.",{"h2":124},"4. Controls and data",{"ul":126},[127,128,129,130],"Accurate bean temperature and exhaust temperature probes, placed where they read consistently","Adjustable airflow and drum speed, or a clear reason why not","Gas or power modulation fine enough to control rate of rise","A way to log data to a computer, for example through thermocouple outputs or a supported connection, so you can record and repeat profiles. See [roast logging](guide:development-time-and-roast-logging).",{"h2":132},"5. Site, safety and emissions",{"checklist":134,"title":141},[135,136,137,138,139,140],"Footprint, ceiling height and door width for delivery","Flue route and height; whether the site needs an afterburner or catalytic unit","A chaff collector or cyclone you can reach and empty easily","Built-in fire suppression or a clear fire procedure","Cooling tray capacity that keeps up with the batch size","Noise of fans and blowers if you have neighbours","Site questions for every shortlisted machine",{"h2":143},"6. Support in your country",{"p":145},"A roaster that is down is a business that is not shipping. Ask every supplier where the nearest engineer is, how quickly parts arrive, what training and commissioning is included, and talk to roasters who already own the model. Imported machines without local support need a plan for parts and servicing. See [sourcing a roaster internationally](guide:importing-a-coffee-roaster).",{"h2":147},"7. Total cost",{"p":149},"Compare the full installed cost: machine, delivery, installation, gas and electrical work, ducting, afterburner, commissioning, training, spare parts kit and the first service. A cheaper machine with a costly installation is not cheaper.",[151,154,157],{"q":152,"a":153},"What size coffee roaster do I need?","Work back from your target weekly volume in two to three years, roast loss and the hours you want to roast, then allow headroom. Many growing roasteries buy one size larger than they need today.",{"q":155,"a":156},"Is a 5 kg roaster enough to start?","For many new roasteries, yes. It can produce well over 100 kg of roasted coffee a week in a few hours of roasting. Plan for what happens when you outgrow it.",{"q":158,"a":159},"Should I buy a sample roaster too?","If you buy green coffee from samples or develop profiles, a sample roaster saves production batches and green. See the guide on samples and sample roasting.",[161,165,169],{"target":162,"label":163,"note":164},"page:hardware","Connect your roaster","Supported probes and roaster connections for live curves.",{"target":166,"label":167,"note":168},"page:factory","Factory, free roast logging","Record profiles on the machine you choose.",{"target":170,"label":171,"note":172},"page:leasing","Leasing","Manage equipment finance alongside the business.",[],{"en-US":6,"en-GB":6,"de-DE":8,"es-ES":10,"es-419":10,"fr-FR":9,"it-IT":12,"ja-JP":6,"pt-BR":11,"nl-NL":13,"el-GR":6,"fi-FI":6,"et-EE":6,"lv-LV":6,"lt-LT":6,"sk-SK":6,"sl-SI":6,"pt-PT":11},{"how-to-start-a-coffee-roasting-business":176,"coffee-roastery-business-plan":177,"coffee-roastery-startup-costs":178,"roastery-premises-and-planning-permission":179,"register-a-food-business-as-a-coffee-roaster":180,"haccp-plan-for-coffee-roasters":181,"insurance-for-coffee-roasters":182,"business-structure-for-a-roastery":183,"how-to-price-wholesale-coffee":184,"retail-coffee-pricing":185,"gross-margin-per-kg":186,"roastery-cash-flow":187,"staffing-a-roastery":188,"roastery-production-planning":189,"batch-scheduling-for-roasters":190,"roast-loss-and-shrinkage":191,"roastery-stock-control":192,"choosing-a-coffee-roaster":6,"gas-vs-electric-coffee-roasters":37,"new-vs-used-coffee-roaster":45,"buying-a-used-coffee-roaster-checklist":193,"importing-a-coffee-roaster":194,"afterburners-and-roaster-emissions":51,"roastery-extraction-and-ventilation":195,"commercial-coffee-grinders-for-roasteries":196,"coffee-packing-lines-and-heat-sealers":197,"coffee-roaster-maintenance-schedule":198,"leasing-vs-buying-roastery-equipment":199,"how-to-buy-green-coffee":200,"green-coffee-importers-vs-direct-trade":201,"importing-green-coffee-into-the-uk":202,"green-coffee-contracts-and-incoterms":203,"green-coffee-samples-and-sample-roasting":204,"grading-and-cupping-green-coffee":205,"green-coffee-moisture-and-density":206,"storing-green-coffee":207,"green-coffee-landed-cost":208,"selling-wholesale-coffee-to-cafes":209,"cafe-wholesale-account-terms":210,"coffee-subscription-business":211,"selling-coffee-online":212,"selling-coffee-at-markets-and-events":213,"private-label-coffee":214,"b2b-coffee-pricing-tiers":215,"coffee-labelling-uk":216,"allergens-for-coffee-roasters":217,"vat-on-coffee":218,"coffee-traceability":219,"food-safety-records-for-roasters":220,"roast-profiling-for-consistency":221,"coffee-roastery-qc-programme":222,"production-cupping-protocol":223,"development-time-and-roast-logging":224,"coffee-roasting-software-buyers-guide":225,"when-to-buy-a-second-roaster":226,"contract-roasting":227,"hiring-a-head-roaster":228,"multi-site-roastery":229},"how-to-start-a-coffee-roasting-business","coffee-roastery-business-plan","coffee-roastery-startup-costs","roastery-premises-and-planning-permission","register-a-food-business-as-a-coffee-roaster","haccp-plan-for-coffee-roasters","insurance-for-coffee-roasters","business-structure-for-a-roastery","how-to-price-wholesale-coffee","retail-coffee-pricing","gross-margin-per-kg","roastery-cash-flow","staffing-a-roastery","roastery-production-planning","batch-scheduling-for-roasters","roast-loss-and-shrinkage","roastery-stock-control","buying-a-used-coffee-roaster-checklist","importing-a-coffee-roaster","roastery-extraction-and-ventilation","commercial-coffee-grinders-for-roasteries","coffee-packing-lines-and-heat-sealers","coffee-roaster-maintenance-schedule","leasing-vs-buying-roastery-equipment","how-to-buy-green-coffee","green-coffee-importers-vs-direct-trade","importing-green-coffee-into-the-uk","green-coffee-contracts-and-incoterms","green-coffee-samples-and-sample-roasting","grading-and-cupping-green-coffee","green-coffee-moisture-and-density","storing-green-coffee","green-coffee-landed-cost","selling-wholesale-coffee-to-cafes","cafe-wholesale-account-terms","coffee-subscription-business","selling-coffee-online","selling-coffee-at-markets-and-events","private-label-coffee","b2b-coffee-pricing-tiers","coffee-labelling-uk","allergens-for-coffee-roasters","vat-on-coffee","coffee-traceability","food-safety-records-for-roasters","roast-profiling-for-consistency","coffee-roastery-qc-programme","production-cupping-protocol","development-time-and-roast-logging","coffee-roasting-software-buyers-guide","when-to-buy-a-second-roaster","contract-roasting","hiring-a-head-roaster","multi-site-roastery","roasting-equipment",{"starting":232,"running":233,"equipment":230,"green-coffee":234,"selling":235,"compliance":236,"quality":237,"scaling":238},"starting-a-roastery","running-a-roastery","green-coffee-buying","selling-coffee","compliance","roasting-quality","scaling-a-roastery",1791626954202]