Store Bought Roaster

My brother-in-law got his roaster back from being repaired and I was able to get a good look at it. Here are some of the things that I found interesting about it.

• It doesn't measure temperature. I was really expecting it to. Instead it just has a timer that you set. So this roaster suffers from the same problem as using a popcorn popper. The time it takes to roast coffee varies with the outside air temperature. My brother-in-law helps minimise this by placing the roaster in an insulated box when he uses it.
• It has an exposed hot surface. This was something that I was worried about with my design. I will have about .25" of exposed hot metal when it is roasting. This machine however had a huge area of exposed metal and glass that got very hot.
• There is no stop or off switch/button. To stop the machine you simply unplug it. I would think that you would want a switch for that though.
• It does not remember the settings between power cycles. I was thinking about how to implement this feature, so I was a little surprised when I saw that this machine left it out.
• It recirculates the hot air. This is a great idea. I had thought about it, but decided that would make it too bulky. They however did a nice job in getting this feature in and still keeping the machine fairly small.
• It only holds 4 oz. of roasted coffee. That is about the same as a popcorn popper. I was expecting a larger amount from a commercial product.
• It's pretty loud, about the same as a popcorn popper. Since this uses an auger instead of air to circulate the beans, I thought that it would be quieter.
• It has a cool down mode. This is another great idea that I had already talked about.