background image

12 

Drying

: from Charge 

to Yellow 

<3 minutes 

Grassy

 

3 to 6 minutes 

>6 minutes 

Leathery

 

Ramping

: from 

Yellow to 1C-start 

<5 minutes 

Toasty

 

5 to 10 minutes 

>10 minutes 

Bready

 

Finishing

: from 1C-

start to Drop 

< 3 minutes 

Acidic

 

3 to 6 minutes 

>6 minutes 

Flat

 

Engineering 

There are currently two main models, the M3s and the M6. The M6 is the larger of the two, with a 

longer roasting chamber and more powerful heaters. Otherwise, they are nearly identical. The current 

roasters differ from the original mainly because they have drums with perforated backplates. 
The box at the back of the Quest roasters and the controls is substantively identical on all the models. 

There are some minor circuitry differences depending on the way the fan control operates. 
There are either one or two chaff collectors. The one below the roasting chamber is for ash and fine 

particle collection. The primary chaff collector is the one at the top, which doubles as a bean cooler. An 

external bean cooler is available as an option. 

Roasting Chamber:

 The diameter and build of the roasting chambers on Quest roasters are nearly the 

same. The M6 roaster’s chamber is ~7 cm longer. Early M3 roasters had the trier on the left side; all 

subsequent roasters have the trier on the right. Some roasters, possibly only some M3s models, have 

insulated shells. 

Heaters:

 All Quest roasters use two U-shaped electrical elements located in the space between the 

drum and the outer case. On some roasters, the heaters are underneath, on either side of the centre line. 

On others, one heater is higher, diagonally opposite from the lower one. The heaters on 110-Volt and 

220-Volt roasters are the same; in the 110-Volt roasters, they are connected in parallel, while on the 

220-Volt roasters, they are in series. 

Drums:

 The original Quest M3 roaster (up to May 2013 production) had a clockwise-turning drum 

thicker than that of the M6, MK-2 and M3s versions, which turn anticlockwise. Note that the drums are 

not interchangeable, as the vanes must be oriented to move the beans toward the front of the roaster. 

Some posters on coffee blogs have opined that some Quest models route the beans to the back; this is 

incorrect. All the drums are open at both ends, except the M3s and the M6 drums, which have 

perforated backplates. The M6 drum is the same as the M3s drum but ~7 CM longer. The drums in all 

Quest roasters turn at a constant rate using a 30-Watt motor attached to a speed-reducing gearbox. The 

shape, number and size of the drum’s vanes have changed over the years and models. 

Air Flow:

 All Quests have a 15-Watt variable-speed blower. 

The airflow is identical in the original Quest and the MK-2. The blower exhausts air from the upper 

chaff collection chamber through the slots at the roaster’s back. Thus, the chamber is a low-pressure 

Содержание M3 Mk2

Страница 1: ...Quest Coffee Roaster Handbook First Edition April 2021 ...

Страница 2: ...2 Cautions 2 First Set up 3 Controls and Basic Settings 4 Basic Operation 5 Cleaning and Maintenance 6 Roasting Guidelines 8 First Operation Seasoning 10 Profiles 10 Engineering 12 Specifications 14 Manufacturer s Information 15 Modifications 15 Annex 23 ...

Страница 3: ...rt using standard metric hand tools for cleaning repair or modification There are no monitoring provisions beyond an ammeter that displays the heater current a sight glass through which to view the roast a trier and ports for probes if installed to monitor bean temperature BT and environmental temperature ET The roasters come with one analogue thermometer which will fit into either port Optional K...

Страница 4: ...ies and handles and set them aside Attach the wooden handles to the charging port cover the cooling chamber chaff collector cover the ash collector drawer if fitted and the sides of the bean collector bin Tightly screw the balance weight onto the drum door handle Check that the filter plate and filter are correctly installed To install first insert the plate obliquely with the filter hole on the d...

Страница 5: ...ere One can convert the displayed electrical current to the consumed power with the formula P I E where P is the power watts I is the current intensity amperes and E is the electromotive force volts Alternatively use an energy monitor such as a KIll a Watt Blower Control The blower is multi purpose it moves air through the roaster removes chaff from the roasting chamber and can cool the roasted be...

Страница 6: ...s Turn the timer switch to its fully clockwise position Using the measuring cup pour the beans into the roaster from either side not from the front this will ensure that the beans descend into the roasting chamber without getting caught in the air transfer pipe Alternatively use a funnel If some beans accidentally enter the air pipe carefully use a bent piece of wire or a small brush to get them o...

Страница 7: ...bin into the chamber stops all air from passing through the roasting chamber even when the blower runs at high speed Unless the heater control is turned off or set to a low current the roaster will quickly exceed the recommended ET BT for an empty roaster of 250 Celsius Continuous Roasting After dropping the first batch set the heater power such that the roaster attains and maintains the desired c...

Страница 8: ...Clean coffee oil stains using an alcohol swab Hand sanitizing wipes work very well choose a brand with high alcohol content Clean the filter cup often Stains and baked on deposits can be removed by soaking in warm water for a while then brushing Stubborn deposits can be dissolved chemically such as with Cafiza Clean the blower fan blades often to avoid an accumulation of coffee powder Access them ...

Страница 9: ...plug into a little white connector with a spring release tab Using a 5 5 mm socket take the wires off of the four heater connections Using a 7 mm socket remove the bolts from the defective heater s The heater s will come out easily They connect to the roasting chamber backplate only with those four bolts passing through holes in the backplate and the rear compartment Roasting Guidelines Since this...

Страница 10: ... roasts are medium brown to brown with no oil on the surface although darker roasts in this group may appear slightly shiny They are balanced exhibiting significant flavour and aroma They are dropped during the quiet period between the end of 1C and the start of 2C Dark Roasts Dark roasts are dark brown to almost black with an oil sheen showing on the surface The roasting process s flavour overwhe...

Страница 11: ...aspects of the roast For example one might shorten or lengthen the time to get to the desired drop temperature Or one might shorten or extend only a portion of the process Additionally one might use different blower settings Controlling the roaster to obtain the desired result consistently is called profiling Profile on the Quest by adjusting the heater and the blower to make changes as the roast ...

Страница 12: ...onsistency requires considerable practice and experimentation to understand how each adjustment influences the roast The best way to proceed is to reduce the number of variables Roasting a consistent sample size and sticking with a single type of bean are two examples Other variables include the temperature at the time of charge varying the temperature during various phases of the roast varying th...

Страница 13: ...ls have insulated shells Heaters All Quest roasters use two U shaped electrical elements located in the space between the drum and the outer case On some roasters the heaters are underneath on either side of the centre line On others one heater is higher diagonally opposite from the lower one The heaters on 110 Volt and 220 Volt roasters are the same in the 110 Volt roasters they are connected in ...

Страница 14: ...op If there s a fourth one it s at the top left as viewed from the front We believe all these versions have insulated roasting chambers Electronics The heater control and the blower control are kluge wired using discrete components The two are virtually identical using circuitry similar to that of light dimmers The controls are variable resistors which control Triacs The circuitry chops the AC sin...

Страница 15: ...nges over the years M6 M3 Mk2 Overall Dimensions cm 24W x 38H x 43D 24W x 33H x 36D Net Weight kg 12 10 Capacity g 300 550 150 300 Circuit Requirement 120 Volts 15 Amperes or higher Heaters Watts 1615 1340 The M6 is 7 cm longer than the M3 all in the roasting chamber the other two dimensions are identical The M6 is taller only because the base is taller Depth measurement does not include the handl...

Страница 16: ...mocouple connected to a digital thermometer Add additional thermocouples to measure more parameters Connect thermocouples to a computer logging application such as Artisan This section of the Quest handbook provides only ideas and basic information Thermocouples Thermocouples are not all the same there are numerous standards Thermocouples generate a small voltage proportional to temperature which ...

Страница 17: ...um and the case The easiest solution is to remove one of the upper M4 hex screws securing the bean chute and insert a 1 8 x 6 thermocouple between the drum and the shell For a better solution drill a suitable hole in the centre of the M4 hex screw and install a 1 16 x 6 thermocouple such as the Omega TJ36 CASS 116G 6 00 SB SMPW M The beans cannot impact a probe at this location Therefore one can i...

Страница 18: ...nection is wanted lab quality meters with a data port are available in one to four channel versions Arguably the most popular is the Mastech MS 6514 It is a 2 port meter that can run on its internal battery or a standard 5 volt USB power supply A meter s advantage over a thermometer is that a thermometer cannot interface to a computer it only provides a temperature reading On the other hand a mete...

Страница 19: ...and Delta axes Starting points could be 0 500 F and 0 40 F min or 0 250 C and 0 20 C min 7 Config Batch choose a prefix name maybe your initials and turn on the counter 8 Config Autosave Check autosave and add to recent Choose a location and set the path If you use cloud storage you can access your profiles from any device anywhere Choose a file name prefix Check the Help screen to decide what to ...

Страница 20: ... pick a font and background image if you wish to personalize your use YOU RE READY FOR YOUR FIRST ROAST Airflow Blower Control A common modification to the Quest is to remove the resistor on models that have a continuously running blower After the change the blower motor will no longer run from 0 to about 3 8 Opening either the bean chute door or the chaff filter door has a similar effect as it st...

Страница 21: ...terior with high heat matte black spray paint Doing so causes the drum to efficiently absorb and conduct more infrared heat to the roast chamber independent of airflow speed convection Increasing the drum s ability to absorb infrared heat increases the batch capacity and heat changes are faster even for large batch sizes EG 10 minutes 300g roasts on an M3 This modification is a bit difficult to re...

Страница 22: ...uest can be used indoors The factory suggests putting it on a counter next to a window and opening the window wide enough to take the stream of exhaust Some owners have roasted under a kitchen fan which works reasonably well but some smell still lingers in the room Here are some ideas to vent the Quest For improving exhaust removal in the kitchen under a range hood cut a piece of thin metal the si...

Страница 23: ...erator would likely run the roaster so that it never gets this hot This modification would thus be considered something to add for safety A better implementation for temperature control would be to use a PID driven by the BT not the MET However users report that it is challenging to adjust the PID parameters for optimum operation Note however that the BT thermocouple temperature is not an actual m...

Страница 24: ...6 7 8 9 Time Power Fan Yellow 1st Crack Begin 1st Crack End 2nd Crack Begin Drop Cool Roasting Notes Cupping Notes Actual Bean Temperature C to F at Important Roast Points C F Roast Level C F Roast Level 160 320 Yellow 234 453 Full City 200 392 1C start Cinnamon 239 462 Vienna 205 401 New England 243 469 Italian 210 410 American 245 473 2C end French 219 426 1C end City 260 500 ET Max empty 224 43...

Отзывы: