Fresh Roast SR 300 Review

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(More customer reviews)I am really impressed with this green coffee bean roaster. I've used a FreshRoast Plus 8 roaster for several years, and it's given excellent service. In fact, my Plus 8 still works, but after hundreds of batches of roasted beans, the base has cracked from the heat, I've broken part of the handle on the top chamber by dropping it, and the carafe tends to get stuck in the base. I can tell, one of these days, my Plus 8, warhorse that it's been, is going to give up the ghost and leave me stranded. So I decided to relegate the Plus 8 to backup status and try the new entry-level model from FreshRoast, the SR-300.
Great decision! The SR-300 fixes everybody's two main annoyances with the Plus 8. The Plus 8 could only roast two large scoops of green beans about once every 45 minutes or so (when you include the time the roaster needs to cool down between batches, recommended for long life of the roaster). The roasting capacity of the SR-300 is double that, four large scoops at a time. And where the old model had a very imprecise dial timer switch that could easily be off by a critical minute or two in length of successive batches, the SR-300 uses a digital timer and gives much more consistent roasting results. The SR-300 maintains the advantages of the Plus 8, including effective chaff removal, couldn't-be-easier cleanup after use, and the ability to hear first crack and second crack as the beans roast, which permits operator fine tuning.
The only thing I don't like is that the SR-300 is even "tippier" (less stable) than the Plus 8 when being carried assembled. It would be very easy to tilt it a bit to one side, lose control of it, and drop and break the carafe.
Get this and a coffee bean grinder, an inexpensive French press coffee pot, a good source of green beans (easy to find on the web if you have no local sources), and you will blow away, like so much chaff, those months-old cans of supermarket coffee in quality and those overpriced coffee chains in value (and maybe quality as well).


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The Fresh Roast SR 300 coffee roaster is a larger version of the Plus 8. It will roast twice the capacity of the Plus 8 (4 scoops, 120 gm) with a digital time display. The maximum time to set the control is 9.9 minutes however with the great added features at any point during the roast sequence you can add 6 seconds every time you tap the button. Time can also be subtracted using the same method. The timer can be overridden by tapping the Cool button, the roaster will go into the Cool mode for 3 minutes.

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IRoast2 40011 5-2/7-Ounce Coffee-Bean Roaster, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)Home roasting is one of the most rewarding activities I've gotten into, and the i-Roast is one of the funnest "toys" I've bought in a long time, though this sophisticated appliance is in no way a toy; I call it that because it's so much fun to use.
The i-Roast roasts about 5 - 6 oz. of green coffee beans at a time. This is a perfect amount for a couple of coffee drinkers who, like me, want to brew their coffee (we make espresso) using fresh roasted beans (within the last 12 - 36 hours) and ground just prior to brewing.
The i-Roast lets you adjust the roasting cycle (11 - 15 min.) to get exactly the roast you like though you would probably be perfectly happy with the medium-dark roast already programmed into it. Honestly, you wouldn't have to mess with the roasting cycle at all, unless you start to feel more curious, adventurous, or are finicky about the subtle taste differences obtained.
Minor negative feature: typically, fluid (air-driven) coffee roasters are inevitably louder while in operation than are the drum-type roasters. Even so, the i-Roast is far less noisy than our blender, which would drive me nuts if I had to run it for 15 minutes. Maybe it's just so much fun to smell that unspeakably attractive aroma (roasting coffee) and to study the beans as they slowly change from yellow-green to dark brown that I haven't paid much attention to the sound of the motor.
A little LED window displays some useful information while the i-Roast is underway (e.g. it tells you what stage of the roasting cycle it's in), but I've found that it's a little hard to read the LED without bending down close by. It would've been nicer if they'd made that a backlit display, but they didn't and it's truly a minor thing.
Roasting coffee beans inevitably generates some smoke, so at some point in your roasting cycle all your household smoke alarms will go off if you try to do this indoors. Handily, the i-Roast comes with a nifty little gizmo that lets you attach one of those aluminum dryer vents to its exhaust (in the lid). This makes it easy to direct the smoke to an open window or to your range exhaust vent.

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Roast coffee beans for any brewing system, including espresso, press, drip, or perk, with this versatile roaster. The unit accommodates up to 5-2/7 ounces of green beans--enough to produce up to 24 cups of coffee, plus it delivers professional results in just 15 minutes with its built-in four-minute cooling cycle. Enjoy the purest, freshest, and most aromatic coffee for less than 10 cents a cup. For the casual roaster, the unit offers automatic roasting profiles from light to French and anything in between. For the roasting aficionado, program the time and temperature for each of the five roast stages to create and adjust personal roast profiles. Roasting times can be increased or decreased up to a maximum of 15 minutes, and the roasting temperature can be adjusted by increments of 5 degrees F. Save up to 10 programmable roast profiles in the roaster's memory for future use.
For accurately monitoring the roast process, the appliance comes equipped with an easy-to-read LCD display that shows the time, temperature, roast stage, and more. Other highlights include a glass roasting chamber that provides clear visibility during every stage, two present automatic roasting curves for slower and faster roasts, patented wind-tunnel and thermoflector technology to ensure even roasting, and a locking mechanism, which securely holds the chaff base and pot stable during the roasting process. Even more, the unit's double filtration chaff collection disassembles for simple cleaning. The coffee-bean roaster measures approximately 7 by 7 by 12-1/4 inches.

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Fresh Roast Coffee Roaster SR 500 Review

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(More customer reviews)I've only roasted 2 batches with this unit, but it's already a substantial improvement over its predecessor, the FreshRoast +8.
The biggest negative point about this unit is that it doesn't move the beans well at the beginning. The beans have been circulating well enough for me, but this is likely because the voltage runs at the high end of what is acceptable for household electricity (126v measured). If your home runs at the low end (110v), you may find the beans near the edge of the chamber do not circulate well and need stirred until they begin to roast, making them lighter and allowing them to move more fluidly.
The roasts I've done so far have been, by far and away, more even than anything I got out of the old FreshRoast +8 model.
After the first crack, I've been turning the fan speed down to the 1/2 way point and have found it easy to hear the 2nd crack. This never happened with the +8.
The cooling cycle starts when the timer runs out and lasts 3 minutes. I've been turning the fan speed back up to 100% for this part of the roasting cycle. Something important to remember is that during the cooling cycle, it takes the base, the heating coils and the glass chamber a few extra moments to cool, so it's a good idea to start cooling just a bit before you consider the roast 'done'.
Chafe collection works well enough to carry the bulk of the chafe to the garbage/compost. I suggest carrying the chafe collector upside down to help prevent escapees. A few bits of chafe will fall back down into the roasting chamber when the unit shuts down, but lightly blowing down into the chamber will clear these out.
If you carry this unit assembled, you'll want one hand under the unit and one hand pressing down on the top to hold the unit together.
I'd say this unit could do the job for a household of four coffee drinkers, but is probably best suited for three.
This unit is essentially identical to the SR300, but with added control. Set this model to 100% fan and 'High' roasting temp for the duration of your roast and you'll produce SR300 results. Because of this, I'd say that the SR500 is defiantly worth the extra money. You can use this like the SR300 until you get comfortable with the logistics of roasting at home and then fine-tune your results.
Remember to let your roasted beans rest for 12-24hrs after roasting to vent CO2.
UPDATE: I'm finding that there's an ideal batch size with this unit. I did a 2-scoop roast and ended up with FreshRoast +8 results (read: fairly uneven) with poor circulation of the beans ... The best roasts I've done so far has a roast size of four *scant* scoops (call it ~3.667 scoops) and found the beans in the corner moving well-enough (but by no means great) with a fairly even roast.

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The Fresh Roast SR 500 coffee roaster is a larger version of the Plus 8. It will roast twice the capacity of the Plus 8 (4 scoops, 120 gm) with a digital time display. The maximum time to set the control is 9.9 minutes however with the great added features at any point during the roast sequence you can add 6 seconds every time you tap the button. Time can also be subtracted using the same method. The timer can be overridden by tapping the Cool button, the roaster will go into the Cool mode for 3 minutes. The Fresh Roast SR 500 coffee roaster has the same capacity (4 scoops, 120 gm) and features of the SR 300 - plus three temperature settings that can be adjusted any time during the roasting process: High temp. = 490 degrees Medium temp. = 455 degrees Low temp. = 390 degrees A Fan Speed Control has been added to the SR 500 that allows the finest tuning of the roast. The Fan Speed Control allows adjustments of + or - 10%. Starting the roast, the beans are at their heaviest, the fan speed can be turned up to keep the beans fluid and give an even roast. As the beans become lighter, the fan speed can be turned down and keep the beans from chipping. Instructions are clear and simple with these models and allows complete control to the user without trying to figure out the programming. New to these models are the control panels which face up instead of having to squat down to view the settings and roasting process. As with the Plus 8 model, the chaff collector sits on top making access to remove chaff trouble-free. And true to tradition, viewing of the coffee as it is roasting is part of the fun with complete view ability. Clean up with this model is easy. Both models are great values for the price. Their simple design & operation makes them a great choice for both beginners and those looking for simplicity. Size wise the units are similar to the Plus 8 model measuring approximately 12" tall by 7" wide. Never leave a roaster unattended when roasting coffee.

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