For six harrowing days in the middle of July, we tore apart, modified, and rebuilt our Sirocco smokeless roaster.

We planned this project, so it wasn’t a surprise, but it took longer than expected, and we fell behind in filling our orders.  As of today, we have caught back up, so we can start thinking about celebrating.

We are very pleased with the modifications that were made to our big, red roaster.  When you are an early adopter, as we were with this smokeless technology, you have to expect a certain amount of learn-as-you-go adaptation.  All our learning led us to significant modifications in the design and operation of the machine, and those changes meant we had to learn to roast all over again.

Still, the changes have been great, and the coffee roast quality is fantastic.  The machine runs more reliably, and we even got rid of that annoying squeak that was driving us batty.

Thank you to Jay Enders of CoffeeTec for his inspired design and diligent engineering.  Thank you also to Jackman’s Fuels, Mainly Metals, Vermont Boiler, and Eli and Razzy at White Rock.