Since I began home roasting, I have become very familiar with a few different machines for roasting coffee beans. These include The Whirley Pop, The Nesco Pro, The Behmor 1600 Plus, and most recently, the Fresh Roast SR540. There are plenty of other roasters out there, but these roasters are dependable and affordable options to get you started.
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In my experience, home coffee roasting is easy to learn but difficult to master. Simply getting beans to roast evenly results in a huge upgrade from what most people are accustomed to. Roasting your own coffee beans will enable you to enjoy fresh coffee year round.
Coffee roasters offer precision and convenience and will pay for themselves over time. They simplify the roasting process compared to roasting beans in the oven or on the stove. Your experience will be smoother and less frustrating by using a dedicated roaster.
If you are brand new to the concept of roasting coffee at home, I would encourage you to research the basics of roasting. Although roasting is not difficult, it is not for everyone.
Read More: Introduction to Roasting Coffee Beans at Home
I have arranged the roasters from cheapest to most expensive, and least convenient to most convenient. They are all good choices but each serves a different price point and style. Update – 12/12/19: Two of these three roasters (the Nesco and the Behmor) have become difficult to find on Amazon in the past few months, and so I will be linking to an alternative roaster: The Fresh Roast SR540.
The Whirley Pop: $50 Budget
The first roaster I ever used was the Whirley Pop. This device is actually a stove-top popcorn maker (and even comes packaged with popcorn sometimes) but is widely considered to be one of the best manual devices for roasting coffee at home. This device is sort of a fan favorite among coffee enthusiasts and comes highly recommended for beginners in home coffee roasting.
If you are willing to roast outside or have good ventilation in your home, this option would work well for you. Although there are a few different variations, the upgraded stainless steel version is your best bet. This model has upgraded metal gears which will last you much longer than the plastic gears of the original.
Roasting using the Whirley Pop involves preheating the unit, adding your beans, and turning the crank consistently for 15-20 minutes. You can listen to a podcast or something during that time, but you will want to pay attention during the last quarter or so of the roast once the beans start cracking. There are plenty of videos on how to use a stove-top roaster, so I won’t go into too much detail here.
The Whirley Pop can make an entire pound of coffee at a time, which is more than many home roasters (although you will want to use less coffee for dark roasts). When you are finished, take the unit outside and dump the coffee into a strainer and shake out the chaff. Afterwards, you can spray the coffee with a fine mist of water to cool it down quickly and store in an air tight container.
The Whirley Pop Stainless Steel Version (view on Amazon) is a great entry level roaster for people who don’t mind being more involved and have a well ventilated space.
The Nesco Professional Coffee Roaster: $150 Budget
Update (Dec. 2019) – This roaster seems to have been discontinued. See alternatives below.
At some point, I grew tired of all that cranking and wanted something automated. I picked up a Nesco coffee roaster, which ended up supplementing the Whirley Pop rather than replacing it. The Nesco optimally roasts about 4-5 ounces of coffee per session, and it takes about 20 minutes or so to roast it. However, the Nesco roasts coffee with almost no interaction from you, all while containing most of the smoke and chaff.
The Nesco is very friendly to beginners because the machine requires almost no involvement during roasting. Occasionally you may need to add a minute or start the cooling cycle early, but otherwise, there isn’t much room for error. You should still supervise the machine so that your beans don’t get over roasted, but you can easily multitask while roasting.
The Nesco has a catalytic converter which suppresses smoke and much of the smell, so you can easily roast indoors. Additionally, there is a chaff collector which does a great job of removing most all of the chaff from the roast.
The Nesco struggles getting the beans very dark, unlike the Whirley Pop. However, the Nesco excels with getting light roasts evenly roasted. The downside is that the machine is pretty loud and you can’t really hear the cracks. You’ll have to rely on sight and smell to get the most out of this roaster.
The Nesco Professional Coffee Roaster (view on Amazon) is great for beginners who wish to simplify the roasting process and don’t mind roasting small batches of coffee more often.
The FreshRoast SR 540 (A Nesco Alternative)
The Fresh Roast SR540 (view on Amazon) is at a similar price point to the Nesco with a similar roasting capacity. I have decided to try and steer folks to this machine since the Nesco has become so difficult to find.
This roaster is referred to as an air roaster and works similarly to an electric popcorn popper (with the addition of features specific to coffee roasting). This roaster features a range of heat and fan settings to allow you to accommodate different roast levels and region of coffee beans.
One standout feature of this roaster that most of the alternatives do not have is a real time temperature reading. This feature offers a huge convenience since the timing of first and second crack is very specific to temperature.
As of December 2019, you will have no trouble finding this roaster on Amazon, and you may appreciate the fact that it is well-reviewed compared to other roasters. This is a great one to get started with!
The Behmor 1600 Plus Coffee Roaster: $400 Budget
Update (Dec. 2019) – This roaster is usually out of stock on Amazon or sold for a much higher than usual price. If you are interested in a roaster at this price point, the Behmor is the one to get, but you may have to look elsewhere (such as Sweet Marias) if the Amazon listing is out of stock.
While the Nesco/Whirley Pop combination covers my lighter roast and dark roast needs but I really wanted an automated roaster that was quiet enough to hear the cracks, but large enough to handle a pound of coffee. This is where the Behmor comes in. The Behmor has a similar footprint to that of a small toaster/convection oven and uses a drum that rotates in front of heating elements. It makes very little noise and suppresses much of the smoke. This roaster is durable and is very well supported by Behmor.
This roaster must be monitored closely. The beans get hot enough to catch fire very easily if you are not careful. Because of this, the Behmor initiates a 30 second timer sometime during the roast, always before first crack could ever begin (so before your coffee is actually coffee). If you aren’t there to press a button within this 30 second period, the machine automatically goes into cooling cycle and your roast is ruined.
Although this can be annoying, it is certainly better than your house burning down. I usually stand by the roaster and read a book while glancing at the timer. A full pound of coffee takes less than 20 minutes, and I really start to pay attention around 10 minutes in. This is working quite well for me, and is the way I roast the vast majority of my coffee.
The Behmor 1600 Plus (view on Amazon) works best for someone who has a bit of roasting knowledge and wants the best electric option for the money.
Best Roaster Overall
My personal favorite pick from this list is the Behmor 1600 Plus. This coffee roaster is the best overall machine for handling different roast levels and batch sizes. The machine is pricey compared to the others, but the parts are built to last and the support is excellent. The only downside to this machine is the difficulty of finding this machine and paying a normal price for it.
Alternatively, I am happy to recommend the Fresh Roast SR540 as a Nesco and Behmor alternative. This machine has many of the advantages of the Nesco roaster while avoiding the pitfalls and is much better reviewed (and more widely available!). Although the roast batches are much smaller than the Behmor, cleanup is much simpler and frequent roasts are generally more convenient. This is a great roaster to start with.
My Roasting Setup
This section is for those of you who may be interested in my roasting setup. I usually roast in the garage on a small platform which holds the Nesco Pro and the Behmor. The Behmor is the roaster that I always start with, and use most frequently. After the Behmor finishes, I’ll switch to the Nesco to roast something different. I typically roast coffee 2-3 times per month.
Each roaster is used for its best suited purpose. I prefer the two electronic roasters at this point, and usually don’t have to break out the Whirley Pop often. If the weather is nice, I may roast outside on a burner attached to my barbecue. Additionally, if the power goes out, I can still roast great coffee with the Whirley Pop.
During a roasting session, I leave open the garage doors for ventilation. I also use a small fan that mounted above the roasters to draw any extra smoke away. Since both roasters draw a lot of power, only one is plugged in at a time. I’ll always start with one and move to the other, and then clean up after both using a shop vac. Once the roasters begin their cooling cycles, I’ll multitask a bit and get other things done.
After cleanup, I will store the beans in some degassing containers and let them rest for a day or two. I recommend the Coffee Gator Storage Container (view on Amazon) or something similar. Any container with a degassing valve will do, but these are simple and get the job done.
Getting Started with Home Roasting
Coffee roasting is an incredibly rewarding hobby that can save you quite a bit of cash. These roasters each offer a unique experience, so consider carefully your preferred style and level of involvement. Or, you could be like me and buy them all. Either way, be sure to check out my introduction to home roasting before moving forward.
If you are a beginner to home roasting, I suggest you start with the Whirley Pop or the Nesco Pro. You will also benefit from Kenneth David’s Book: Home Coffee Roasting: Romance and Revival (view on Amazon). Your choice of roaster is dependent on your price level and preferred level of involvement. Either option is a good way to experience roasting with little financial risk. Even if you end up upgrading to the Behmor, the other roasters will still prove useful.
I hope my experiences with these roasters was helpful to you. I plan on writing an in depth guide to each one in the future, each linked from this page. If you have any questions, please leave them below and I will do my best to respond. If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out my post: Introduction to Roasting Coffee Beans at Home.
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Happy Roasting!
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