Hey Guys,
I am brand spanking new to this community and to roasting on the Bullet. In fact, I haven’t even started yet as I am watching the tracking on my Bullet which is supposed to be delivered sometime today. I have been working to set up an area for roasting out in my shed. It is a 10X16 area. It is basically unfinished on the inside meaning you can see the wood studs and sheeting. My question is in regards to safety. Is there any hazard posed by roasting in that type of environment? I plan to move some sturdy work tables out there to support the roaster, but can you see any type of problems with roasting in that area? Thanks for any help you can provide and I am very excited to start this journey and to be a part of this community!
The shed will be fine to the extent you can tolerate whatever temps you can expect over the range of the year. Make sure you have adequate power for operating the Bullet.
You will want an extractor for the shed to get rid of smoke (do some searches here for ideas). When you set that up make sure you provide a way to get “make-up air” otherwise the exhaust fan won’t move any air out. I bought a 350 CFM in-line exhaust fan and 4" dryer ducting which works ok but can’t keep up on a dark roast.
For fire safety consider a fire extinguisher in a handy spot, a fire blanket ‘just in case’, and an ash bucket in case you get the beans too hot and they catch fire as you dump them (they probably won’t ignite inside the drum… it’s when the super hot beans hit the air. And a spray bottle with water. You will probably never use any of it but if bad becomes worse you’ll be happy you were prepared.
Bruce
Bruce thank you so much for the response! Yes it get’s pretty sweltering out there so I have added a window AC unit and have partially insulated it. I’m hoping this will help. I also have a dedicated 20 amp circuit just for the roaster so I think I should be ok there. As for the exhaust I did some looking through the threads on here. It seems many recommend the cloudline S4 so that is what I went with. I don’t have it hooked up yet but will before I start roasting. As for the recommendations on fire safety I really do appreciate it. I am going to add all of those things to my shed for a “just in case” scenario.
The 4" Cloudline is what I bought. When the roaster exhaust fan is at anything over F4 it seems to move more air than the 4" Cloudline. I roast fairly dark so there’s a good amount of smoke at the end of the roast that isn’t getting exhausted (it hovers near the 4" exit flange). I will either have to replace the 4" exhaust system with a 6" in-line fan or maybe two 4" in-line exhaust fans in parallel to keep up. @blacklabs has a range hood sized for over 600 CFM that is apparently working. So that’s kinda my target flow rate.
Edit- I just checked the flow rate for the S4 Cloudline. It’s rated at 200 CFM which is way less than I had thought it was. And the S6 Cloudline is 400 CFM- double the flow rate of the S4 but less than I’d hoped. Looks like I would have to get the S8 (8") to get over 600 CFM (the S8 can move as much as 800 CFM) and that will require metal ducting. Going to take more research.
Bruce
@mistajakesplsv I assume you might have seen the three threads below of the various setups people have done. My setup is in the last thread about exhaust hood (last picture in that thread). As @bab mentioned I roast in my kitchen (so does @bradm) under a range hood that goes up to 900CFM at the highest setting. As I am inside my house building code here requires make up air for a hood that is 400CFM or above. If you’re in a dedicated shed outside you may be able to get away with not having a “fan in a can” that sucks in the make up air, just leave the shed door open will provide you with sufficient make up air. However, if you plan on roasting in the shed with the door closed completely in the winter time (I don’t know where you’re located) then you may need to provide make up air somehow, but again that can be done with a cracked open window when you take the AC unit down for the winter. However, the source of make up air needs to be a little further away from your hood. Lastly, and I think this is important, is the distance from the top of the Bullet where the exhaust comes out and the hood. In my setup it’s about 6 to 8 inches which is enough to do the job (see post #32 in the last thread which shows an alternate view of my set and you can see the distance) - you do need an air gap when using a mechanical venting system.
The length and diameter of the duct will matter even with a mechanical venting system like the Cloudline. My range hood uses a 6" duct and it is a very short distance as it vents directly out behind my stove (the duct was up a very short distance and 1 bend to go out the back wall). Based on what @bab said about the Cloudline flow rate, I think even the S4 would probably be sufficient if you use a 6" duct and keep the duct short if you’re venting thru the side of the shed. Alternatively you can vent up thru the roof of the shed. Either way, make sure you have the proper vent cap (or whatever they are called) that prevents small critters from coming in thru the duct.
I’ve only had my smoke detector go off once but that was during the colder season with my kitchen window closed and I was doing back to back seasoning roasts (i.e. really dark roasts) and I didn’t bump up the vent setting to the highest 
Other than that one time I haven’t had issues with my house smoke detector go off. Hope this helps!
That is interesting. In doing even more research I’m starting to wonder if I shouldn’t have gone with the S6. I think at this point I will probably try the S4 and see how it does. I can always add another as you mentioned or just upgrade. I would like to get one of those attachments that connects to the 4" ducting but opens up wider almost like a funnel to hover over the exhaust area of the Bullet. Do you have any idea what those are called or where I can find one?
That is extremely helpful thank you. Originally “make up air” isn’t even something I realized I needed so these threads have already been invaluable. I am curious if the air conditioner I have installed would suffice as make up air during the summer? Then in the winter maybe running it on fan only mode to bring in some air as well?
I think it should be sufficient. As always you can leave the shed door cracked open too. I also doubt that your shed is going to be a completely sealed/air tight structure (but then I could be wrong).
Ok thanks. Yeah it definitely isn’t airtight. In fact, there are two vents in the ceiling up high on each end that might be adequate as well.
Those vent might be enough.
On this question I think in one of the threads I included someone rigged something up using a plastic bin turned upside down and a hole cut in the bottom to attach to the duct. You’ll see various other hacks in those threads and I am sure those good folks would be happy to answer any questions about their setup if you hit reply to one of their posts or PM/DM them. You might also peruse your local home improvement store in the HVAC or plumbing section to see what they got. The funnel shape you’re thinking of is a hood and typically that is found with a complete range hood venting system - mine happens to be flat shaped and not a funnel shape due to ceiling clearance in my house. You could even get a cheap range hood vent system that includes the vent motor and install that instead of the Cloudline - in principle works just the same - something like this https://www.lowes.com/pd/Broan-42-in-Convertible-Stainless-Steel-Black-Undercabinet-Range-Hood-Common-42-in-Actual-41-87-in/3576634
Hi, I used to roast in my shop which is insulated, drywalled but does not have heat anymore. It’s pretty big, 30’ x 35’ with 8’ ceilings. I live in the pacific NW in the US and the issue that I had with roasting on the bullet in my shop were the following. In the cold months of the year it would take my bullet a very long time to get to temp and announce “charge”. In fact more often than not, it would never announce “charge”. Also, I stored my green beans in the shop so they were always at the ambient temperature of the room which could be anywhere from 45 to 55 degrees F. I found that on top of the length of time that it took for the roaster to get to temp, it was difficult to have consistent roast times. Eventually I abandoned the idea of roasting in my shop and moved my operation into my house. I now set my Bullet on top of my stove and vent out through my 600cfm vent hood which is more than adequate to pull the smoke from my bullet up and out. Also, the bullet is stored inside my kitchen in a custom pullout drawer and my beans are also stored in the kitchen. Which means that they both are at the ambient temperature of the space which is a consistent 68 to 70 degrees year round. It makes it much easier for me to have consistent roasts with this set up and I don’t have to worry if it’s too cold anymore and I don’t have extremely long wait times for my bullet to warm up.
It sounds like you have a very slick set up now! I can see how it would be difficult to maintain temps in such a large area. I’m hoping that I will be more successful in my little 10X16!