Quality of roast using small batches vs big batches

Roasting on the Bullet R1
1

Hello everyone,

I’m about to purchase a used R1 V2 in a couple of days and was wondering how small batches (below 250g) compare to medium/big batches (Above 500g) in terms of overall quality and consistency of roast.

I mainly plan to use the roaster for the following:
-frequent sampling (Rob Hoos 150g)
-profile roasting 200~350g batches 3~4 times a week for myself, family & guests

I know that with any roaster, as long as heat and time is applied efficiently, you can get great overall cup but my main concerns are the consistency in quality, repeatability, accuracy of temp readings, and scalability when it comes to the batches of different sizes.

I’m curious to know what is everyone’s experience in regards to batches with this roaster. Do smaller batches yield worse or better result than bigger batches for you? Which do you find easier to create a profile with? How consistent are the roasts?

For context, I’ve been roasting with a wok for nearly 2 years and recently decided to get serious about roasting.

I want to thank you all in advance. This community and the awesome members here are very helpful, generous with their knowledge, and I’m excited to start roasting on the bullet and providing value to this community soon.

-Alex

2

Small batches can be tricky to control, both because a smaller bean mass reacts to setting adjustments (power, fan, drum) more quickly, and because the temp and RoR plots are noisier. For several years I roasted 300 g batches, then recently switched to 1 lb batches. The larger batch size yields noticeably smoother temp and RoR curves, but takes longer to respond to changes to setting adjustments.

I wonder if the probe and IBTS temp sensors can provide reliable readings for a 150 batch size. You may be measuring the drum or air temp more than the bean temp. I’d be curious to know if anyone has looked into that!

It’ll take a fair number of roasts for you to develop a feel for how to manage such small charge weights, but you should be able to get consistent results.

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