The Kaldi Home Coffee Bean Roaster Review – All You Need To Know
It looks like you’ve heard of Kaldi, one of the earliest coffee roaster manufacturers in Korea.
This Kaldi Coffee Roaster review will help you decide whether this drum roaster is a good choice for you. For some its a great choice, but for others; a waste of money.
Read on to find out if its worth your hard earned dollars.
SUMMARY: The Kaldi Coffee Roaster
- Great control of the roasting process
- Useful accessories
- Even roasts thanks to innovative Air Roasting Technology
“A great partner for professional roasters as well as introductory home roasters”
– HomeCaffe.net
The Kaldi Roaster Review
The Kaldi home roaster is a great choice for some roasters, but a terrible choice for others. It all depends on where you are in your home roasting journey, and what you want to do with your coffee beans.
We've taken a deep look into this roaster based on its features, its roasting capacity and quality, and a few other things. Lets see how it stacks up:
The Kaldi Coffee Roaster
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Features
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Roasting Capacity
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Roast Quality
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Roasting Time
Features 4/5
The Kaldi Coffee Roaster is a powerful workhorse without bells and whistles. While you won’t find timers and rows of buttons, you’ll have full control over all the variables, such as drum temperature, roasting time and drum speed (1).
This drum coffee roaster comes with a few useful accessories. First of all, it has a wide hopper that makes it easy to pour in the green beans. The thermometer will show you the exact internal temperature of the drum, but you will also be able to take out a few beans to check the roasting process without interrupting the cycle thanks to the probe rod (2).
“The most common way to describe coffee roast levels is by the color of the roasted beans, ranging from light to dark (or extra dark). As coffee beans absorb heat in the roasting process, their color becomes darker.”
This coffee bean roaster also comes with a removable chaff tray that will catch the beans’ thin layers of dried skin (3): a blessing when it comes to the much-dreaded cleaning process! It also has a handy free volt adapter (which lets you switch between 110V and 220V) that is included in its body.
The only reason we didn’t give it 5 stars: there is no smoke suppression (just make sure you roast in a ventilated room, under your kitchen fan or outdoors) and the gas burner needed to operate this roasting machine is not included, just like any other Kaldi roaster. Not to worry, though: if you don’t feel like buying a gas-burning ring (which is very cheap, anyway), your gas.
This coffee roaster is very practical and user-friendly. Sure, there will be a little learning curve and you might have to spend some time dialling in to perfect your coffee roasting technique, but that’s normal with coffee roasters, especially if this is your first. Once you get used to its settings, it’ll be pretty easy (and don’t forget that the probe rod will be incredibly useful to check the results as you go!). In the meantime, if you want a cheeky head start, learn how to roast coffee beans.
Roasting Capacity 4/5
This Kaldi model lets you roast up to 300g of raw green coffee beans in one go: that’s pretty good for a home roaster! Once you grind your roasted beans, you’ll get around 40 cups worth of coffee from each roast. If thats still not enough for you, check out the Behmor 1600 roaster, which can roast up to 1 pound at a time.
Roast Quality 5/5
The roasting quality of this semi-commercial coffee roaster machine will not disappoint you! The Kaldi Coffee Roaster is basically a mini version of professional roasters: it uses an innovative Air Roasting Technology to guarantee an even heat distribution inside the roasting drum, resulting in consistent roasts (and gourmet coffee!).
The perforated drum is 2mm thick, incredibly efficient and comes with a copper sleeve, useful to prevent the flame from scorching the beans.
Plus, the fact that it’s removable gives you even more room to experiment.
This, combined with the great control over the different variables, makes it a versatile roaster that, once you’ve familiarized yourself with its settings, will allow you to get creative and master different roast profiles. From low-acid medium roasts for iced coffee to dark roasts for a stronger and more bitter coffee or espresso (4): no matter what brew you prefer and what coffee maker you own, this roaster will cater for it!
Roasting Time 4.5/5
The Kaldi Coffee Roaster has a pretty good roasting time, compared to many roasters.
You’ll be able to turn your green beans into ready-to-be-ground coffee in 10-15 minutes. The exact time will depend on the roast profile.
For example, for a dark roast, you should decrease the drum speed whilst turning up the heat source. Make sure you experiment with different roasting times (as well as tweaking the other variables) to craft your favourite roast!
Don't Buy If…
You’re just starting out and don’t have much of a budget – If this is your first roaster and you would rather start with a more basic model, take a look at the Fresh Roast SR540, which we reviewed here.
You want to be able to roast coffee beans anywhere – If you’re looking for a compact and portable roaster, then the Kaldi will not be for you. For roasting on the go, we recommend the Nuvo Eco Ceramic Handy coffee bean roaster.
You enjoy getting technical and can invest more money – The Kaldi coffee roaster’s simple interface is a blessing for many. However, if the thought of a steeper learning curve excites you and you enjoy getting technical about coffee roasting, the Behmor 1600 Plus might be a better option. And while both are drum roasters, the Behmor can roast a whole pound of beans at once. Here’s our review.
The Verdict
The Kaldi Coffee Roaster Motorize type is a good user-friendly drum roaster that will deliver a satisfying amount of fresh roasted coffee in a rather short time.
This durable stainless-steel roasting machine comes with a one-year warranty, but it’s bound to guarantee you consistent even roasts for much longer. However, if you are not 100% convinced and would like to compare it with other coffee roasters, here’s a list of our favourites. Ready to start roasting and enjoying incredible cups of gourmet coffee fresher than you’ll find at your coffee shop?
FAQs
Yes, it is worth it to roast your own coffee if you are happy to invest time and effort in order to get the freshest coffee and achieve more defined flavours and aromas. Moneywise, you obviously have to invest in a coffee roaster. However, buying green coffee beans is much cheaper than buying pre-roasted beans, meaning that roasting your own coffee can save you money in the long run.
The difference between drum and hot air coffee roasters is that the former uses a rotating drum that tumbles the coffee beans around when heated, whereas an air roaster relies on a stream of hot air coming through a perforated plate beneath the beans.
You can drink coffee 24 hours after roasting it. While it’s obviously safe to drink it sooner, freshly roasted coffee needs time to fully develop its body and flavour. This also gives the fresh-roasted coffee beans enough time to degas, meaning that they can release the carbon dioxide and all the other gases formed during the roasting process.
References
- Gallagher, J. (2019, June 28). Understanding Roaster Drum Speed & Its Affect on Your Coffee. Retrieved from https://perfectdailygrind.com/2019/06/understanding-roaster-drum-speed-its-affect-on-your-coffee/
- Perfect Daily Grind. (2020, May 26). Coffee Roasting Probes And Tips on Using Them. Retrieved from https://perfectdailygrind.com/2020/05/coffee-roasting-probes-and-tips-on-using-them/
- Newton, T. (2017, November 3). A Home Roaster’s Dictionary, From First Crack to Silverskin. Retrieved from https://perfectdailygrind.com/2017/11/a-home-roasters-dictionary-from-first-crack-to-silverskin/
- Coffee roast guide. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.ncausa.org/about-coffee/coffee-roasts-guide
