Best Poppery II Mods

[wakeryder]

Hey Everyone,

I just scored a Poppery II off of Ebay and it looks like everything is in good condition. I have been searching the forums as well as other homeroasting sites for the best mods for a Poppery II. I am a new home roaster, so I am still learning... I am trying to formulate the best mods for me, so any ideas are much appreciated.

Also just so I don't get blasted for not searching the forums, I tried searching and for some reason it no matter how I tried to search, I could pull up what I was looking for.

Thanks for any input.

Andy

[Mister Moo]

My vote for best mod is to get another WBII just like the first (so one is cooling while the other is roasting). I had several that all turned green beans brown, very nicely, without alteration. About the time I figured out which beans taste like what (thanks to WBII's) I needed a bigger roaster anyhow.

Fix a bottomless can to take over with the lid melts down; and if you're a total tinkerfinger, run the heating coil cutoff switch so the popper can do a cooldown cycle.

Have fun - nice of you to join us. Don't forget to memorialize your details in the "I Roast, Therefore, I Am" thread after you've had a go.

[wakeryder]

Ya know buying a second one totally makes sense. Thanks for the reply. I will be roasting my first batch this weekend, so I will be sure to post how it went.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by wakeryder

Ya know buying a second one totally makes sense. Thanks for the reply. I will be roasting my first batch this weekend, so I will be sure to post how it went.

You get a small yield from a popper; not to say they're a bad tool - they're great for learning a lot, fast, and on the cheap to boot. I am a big fan of poppers, modded or not.

But.

Once you heat up an unmodded popper the next cycle will run nothing like the first one did from the cold machine. A heated-up WBII may force a second roast in as little as 1/3 to 1/2 the time of the first; second crack may run moments after first has ceased and what should be a reasonably well developed 8 minute roast will turn into a 3-4 minute under-roasted failure. A popper takes a surprisingly long time to cool down, by the way.

Jumping the heating element may be worth the bother if you know how to do it safely and don't want to have a few poppers sitting around in front of a fan while you try to whip up a half-pound (or more) of fresh roast.

[simmich]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Jumping the heating element may be worth the bother if you know how to do it safely and don't want to have a few poppers sitting around in front of a fan while you try to whip up a half-pound (or more) of fresh roast.

How bout a little help for those of us that don't know how to do this?

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by simmich

How bout a little help for those of us that don't know how to do this?

I wouldn't suggest making any modification on an electrical appliance that could burn you and your house up.

Others do: http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/28/h...offee-roaster/

Altho Engadget has covered the bases pretty neatly, you can always Google "poppery II fan mod" for more ways to skin the same cat. If you modify the appliance please be very careful with the quality of your work if you are not electric-minded. Savvy?

[simmich]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

/ If you modify the appliance please be very careful with the quality of your work if you are not electric-minded. Savvy?

Gotcha...and thanks.

[Blackcat]

I have heard some people recommended using a bypass switch on the heating element so you can have a cool down time. But I agree with Mr Moo, in that, you don't want to mess around with the original electrical set up ( I write this hopping my wife doesn't read this). "Do as I say not as I do".

The best thing that I can recommend is by adding a small shop vac attachment to the bottom of a 5 Gallon plastic bucket, cut a hole to silicon a colander in the lid, turn that baby on and dump your beans when they hit perfection. Cool down time with 245MPH Craftsman Shop vac is about .2 seconds. This lets me get my roast to exactly where I want it and then just stop it right there. Best solution 4 me.