We offer a selection of the best home coffee roasters and we receive occasional orders for them from customers outside the USA. All of our home roasters are powered by electricity and electric supply varies by country. The USA electric supply is 120 volts, 60 hertz. The following countries have the same electric supply although in some cases plug configuration may differ:
American Samoa
Bahamas
Bermuda
Canada
Cayman Islands
Costa Rica
Ecuador
Guatemala
Micronesia
Nicaragua
Palau
Venezuela
In other words, roasters made for the US market should work in this group of countries without modification.
Please understand that home coffee roasters, particularly those with timed roasting cycles like Behmor and Hottop, have a defined maximum period during which roasting must complete. This feature is designed for your safety. If the voltage supply is not sufficient than you will run out of time before roasting completes; if there is too much voltage than internal parts may burn up, destroying your roaster. Roasters purchased from us have guarantees for the US only so any purchase for use out of country is not covered.
Roasters heading anywhere else in the world will either not work or may, in some cases, work with voltage regulation and plug adapters. The very best thing that you can do is purchase a roaster that was built for your electric supply rather than buying one made for another country and attempting to convert it. This latter approach usually leads to dissatisfaction.
It is critical to deliver the correct voltage and frequency (hertz) to your roaster. Even if it’s made for the US market there are many locations and situations when voltage is inadequate. During summer heat waves electric companies reduce the output of the electric grid and voltage will drop to save electricity. Also, for voltage sensitive equipment you should not use an extension cord which will reduce the delivered voltage; plug the appliance directly into a wall socket. You can use a voltage regulator to even out and to some extent boost voltage moderately. For example, if your voltage supply is 117 volts (a simple volt meter or Kill-a-Watt device will inform you) you can set use a voltage regulator, like the Variac that we sell, to increase voltage to 120 and the device will keep the supply steady. The frequency of electricity, expressed in Hertz, must be matched to the electric supply. Otherwise timing of motors and clock/timers, where applicable, will not function properly.
Hottop KN-8828B-2K+ Coming Soon
The latest Hottop home coffee roaster is model KN-8828B-2K+ which we expect to have available by the end of July. This model adds USB connectivity to Artisan roasting software running on a computer. You will have the ability to run the roaster from the Artisan software once properly configured; alternately you can control the roaster directly. In either case Artisan will record the roast profile and key events during the roast. Saved profiles can be stored and serve as a background to future roasts if you wish to follow a previously successful roast of a given coffee. This roaster and software combination takes home roasting to a new level and adds immensely to its enjoyment.
Hottop KN-8828B-2K+ Control Panel
Priced at Roastmasters.com at $1600 including free shipping the KN-8828B-2K+ is a revamped KN-8828B-2K which can be had for $1100. The upgrades that your $500 buys are:
Artisan software can be used on Windows, Mac and Linux computers and is open source – free – software. While free it is well supported and updated by a community of users and is surprisingly robust providing near professional capabilities.
Artisan screenshot for Hottop KN-8828B-2K+
It should be noted that while Hottop guarantees and supports the roaster they do not provide same for the software and have several disclaimers to that point.
We have had a chance to test this roaster and have really enjoyed ourselves in doing so. One nice aspect of Hottop is that the body of the machine has not changed in years, however, the company continues to improve the product and offers their customers upgrade kits. If you have an older Hottop model then such kits are available although they can be expensive. For new customers going directly to this model it’s nice to know the company is not trying to always sell you something new and the core roaster has significant longevity.
As to Artisan, it’s excellent software that lets you track bean and environmental temperatures, deltas for each which are similar to rate-of-rise, add notes, follow prior profile guides, produces spider graphs, has room for cupping notes, color analysis for those with such measuring equipment and many other features. Many home roasters have used this developed software for years, mainly recording profiles from handmade notes. Now, not only is Artisan capable of recording real time information from this Hottop model, but, the software can control the roaster including its fan speed, heating elements, stirrer, motor and ejection door.
For those looking for a totally automated experience this will not be the one for you. But this will be great fun for the DIY type who likes to exert full control over their coffee roasting and wants to perfect their roast profiles. The Hottop KN-8828B-2K+and Artisan software combination is as close to professional grade as you’re apt to find in a home roaster at this time.