Fluid bed roaster any opinions?

[jamie]

I just wondered if anyone had any experience or thoughts about roasting using a fluid bed style coffee roaster. I use the oven currently but was thinking of making something similar to what some coffee guys use, which is basically a stream of hot air which roasts the beans and also circulates the beans around like a liquid.
Pros I see are greater control of temperature, even roast in theory and repeatability.
The only con I see is that it will roast faster than roasting in the oven and I find the longer lower roasts the best.
Anyone ever tried something like this?

[Sebastian]

A company named Jetzone makes these for cocoa roasting.

[Brad]

Interesting this has finally come up as a thread. 3 years ago I bought a fluid bed dryer and put it into storage, thinking that I would be able to use it for cocoa. It's of a size that I can roast about 350lbs at a time, and tilt the bed to literally "blow" the beans out the end. It looks like a little submarine and is all stainless steel construction. I'm hoping to put it into use next summer.

Sebastian, have you heard of any issues with them?

Cheers
Brad

[Sebastian]

Devil's in the details mate - it's all about airflow and temperatures - if you can achieve proper thermal controls (consistency and even-ness) of both the temperature and airflow, you'll be ok. you'll want to give some thought not only to heating, but also to cooling, so if theres the ability to 'zone' it thermally, that'll likely be useful.