Guides
Equipment
Choosing, buying, installing and maintaining roasters, afterburners, extraction, grinders and packing kit.
- Choosing a coffee roaster: batch size, fuel and designSize 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.9 min read
- 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 min read
- New or used coffee roaster: weighing the riskA 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.6 min read
- Buying a used coffee roaster: the inspection checklistWhat to ask before you travel, what to look at with the machine cold, what to watch with it running, and the paperwork that should come with it.8 min read
- Sourcing a roaster from abroad: import, standards and supportA roaster bought abroad can look much cheaper until it is landed, converted, certified and supported. The checks to make before you pay a deposit.7 min read
- Afterburners, catalytic units and roaster emissionsSmoke 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 min read
- Extraction and ventilation in a roastery: fumes, dust and fireThe roaster's exhaust carries smoke and chaff out; the room still needs air for the burner and protection for staff from roasting fumes and dust. The rules and the practical design points.7 min read
- Grinders for a roastery: retail ground coffee and QCA roastery needs a grinder for selling ground coffee and another for cupping and QC. What to look for in each, and the safety and freshness points that come with grinding.6 min read
- Packing coffee: heat sealers, fillers and packing linesPacking is where a growing roastery loses the most hours. When to move from a scoop and a sealer to a weigher, and from a weigher to a packing line, and what each step costs in accuracy and flexibility.7 min read
- A maintenance schedule for your coffee roasterMaintenance keeps roasts consistent, prevents fires and is what your insurer asks about after one. A daily, weekly, monthly and annual schedule you can adapt to your machine.6 min read
- Leasing, hire purchase or buying roastery equipmentPaying cash for a roaster is cheapest on paper and riskiest for cash flow. How leasing, hire purchase and loans compare, and how to work out the real cost of each.6 min read
Run the roastery from one place
Green stock, roast plans, wholesale orders and the green coffee market in one platform, with a free roast-logging app for your machine.