Software for the modern roaster
Temperature logging and roaster control
Now in stock and for sale, $50 plus $8 shipping in the US.
Well, I've been promising this for a while and I finally had the camera set up with a decent backdrop.
One of these boards connected to your computer will currently allow you to monitor and record the temperature at 2 different places during a roast. The row of 8 holes next to the silver USB connector will eventually allow controlling a roaster from within Roaster thing.
The row of eight holes next to the USB connector are seven outputs and a ground. Five of the outputs are either on or off, perfect for controlling things like fans or the afterburner in a Behmor. The other two outputs are PWM and their on time is adjustable from full off to full on in 128 steps. Here is a preview of what the profile designer will look like. For the moment you will be able to assign the outputs for each step and the during the roast you'll be able to manually adjust them on the fly. Hopefully I will be able to figure out how to have the program adjust the roast automatically.
The drivers for the board are in the RoasterThing program folder. That's most likely one of the following two folders:
C:\Program Files\RoasterThing
C:\Program Files(X86)\RoasterThing
The board requires "K" type thermocouples. The one's I use in the Behmor came from eBay and cost under $5. Search for "thermocouple K". The pictures with the yellow two prong connector described as "miniature" will most likely fit. Some of the really cheap ones I got needed just a bit of work with a file to make them fit the sockets.
I use Kapton tape to hold one of the thermocouples in place. The tape I use came from Deal Exteme. I used this tape:
Once you're there, a search for "high temperature tape" will show you everything they stock. In general, wider is better. While Kapton is rated for high temperature, I try to make sure it's between the chaff tray and the base and not exposed to the highest temperatures. My tape has been through many roasts, 30 or 40, and it still looks perfect.
Starting with the next version, 3.0.0.7, RT will support multiple temperature logging boards in case you want to run multiple roasts at a time. Also, it will finally support driving the outputs in case you want to try and do something with that.
The board logs 2 temperatures continuously, here you can see the log of one of my roasts. If you don't use a Behmor and wonder why the temperature is so odd, well, I've not gotten a probe into the beans yet and these are 2 environmental temperatures in the Behmor during a roast. This is a duplicated roast about to be started and it shows the temperature readings from the last roast so you can try to match the profile if you were happy with those results.
