Coffee Roaster Machine

n you unscrew and remove the plate the motor will dislodge. You can disconnect the heating element of the Stir Crazy easily by clipping its wires at the incoming terminals (right at the point where the power cord enters the unit) but you can also disconnect them less permanently by pulling them from the heater's terminals and wrapping them very securely in insulation tape and heatshrink tubing. Tracing the wires of the motor back towards the AC power cord you'll see another pair of wires in the Stir Crazy interior. This second pair terminate in blade lugs on either side of a ceramic thermostat. Pull both of these wires off their terminals on the thermostat and wrap their ends very thickly and tightly with black electrician's tape. Wrap electrical tape past the end of the exposed metal and over some of the wire's own insulation-there must be no possibility of that wire's exposed end ever touching anything metal or the result could be a French Roasted human being. Heat shrink tubing can be used to further ensure your future safety. Now put the motor back in place under the driveshaft, replace the bottom cover and screw it back securely. The Stir Crazy will just stir now, it doesn't get warm.

Disconnect the SC Heater

The Stir Crazy features a plastic cap/nut that holds the stirring arms in place at the center of the unit. The high temps of the convection top will make quick work of this plastic nut leaving you with a gooey mess. Head down to the local hardware store and purchase a hex nut or wing nut, a nice wide washer and a 1” copper end cap from the plumbing isle. The nut has been described by many roasters as 6mm X 1, but I found this size was too small. I have a 7mm X 1 wing nut that fits perfectly. After you secure the new washer and nut, cover it with a good fat wad of tin foil to help insulate the plastic shaft within. My cap fits down snuggly over the wad of foil and does not dislodge when I dump the beans. Some roasters opt to dremel two slots on each side of the cap to help secure it to the arms.

Replacing the Nut-Cap

Some people report that the main drive shaft for the stir arms has failed due to heat in spite of the outlined modifications. If necessary, the entire shaft assembly can be replaced with metal components. See the included blueprint. Update: My shaft failed. See Updates page for details!

Shaft Replacement

Many roasters suggest adding stuff to the stir arms to improve stirring. It has been stated that this is particularly useful for larger roasts. I have been roasting a cup and a half per roast so far and I have not found it necessary to add anything to my stir arms yet. There are several popular choices for this mod including barrier strip terminals (with plastic backing ripped off) from Radio Shack.

Stirring Arm Mods

Here is my little claim to fame. As I researched, I learned that many roasters use a spacer between the Stir Crazy and the Turbo Oven. A very popular choice is simply a spring form pan. An 11” pan is the best fit, but these must be purchased online or locally at upscale cookware stores. WallyWorld and Bed, Bath and Beyond will have 3 packs which usually include 8”, 9” and 10” pans. A 10” pan works fine. Other roasters have fashioned their own spacer using an aluminum strip. However, everyone complained about chaff! Without a spacer, the TO overhangs the SC leaving a gap all the way around and chaff will float out during the roast. (This makes for quite a mess). The spring form pan and the aluminum ring mods I have seen are all closed. There is no way for the chaff to escape. Lifting the oven a few times during the roast can help, but it is messy and lets out a lot of heat. I bought a 3.5 ft by 1 1/2” by 1/16” aluminum strip for my roaster and slowly bent it into a circular form. Tension holds it in place “sprung” against the lip of the Stir Crazy. When I roasted, I noticed the chaff tended to spin counter clockwise in the chamber. That is when I struck upon this mod: Woz’s Chaff Ejection System! I bought 6 8/32 X 1”  machine screws and nuts. I drilled the spacer with a 5/32 bit and found that the screws would thread the aluminum as I screwed them in. I placed nuts where necessary to hold them in place and maintain the ejection gap. This mod works better than I imagined! Chaff flies out through the ejection port into the bucket below. Some chaff still escapes, but overall a good 90% of the chaff makes it into the bucket.

Chaff Ejection System

There is a number of Turbo Ovens on the market to use for the roaster. Thankfully, no mods are necessary! A popular initial choice was the Galloping Gourmet oven which is no longer being manufactured. (They are still available on ebay). Consequently, the Turbo Crazy roaster is often called a GG/SC for Galloping Gourmet/Stir Crazy. One of the best deals on a new Turbo Oven is the Sunpentown SO-2000 from newegg.com. I got mine for $60 shipped. Other models are available from Decosonic, Fujitronic, Aroma, Infinity, Betty Crocker, E-Z Cook and American Harvest.

The Turbo Oven

Now that the Turbo Crazy is complete and fully modded, how about a little info on the roast process. Start with 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) of green. Set the temp to 500, full throttle, and wind up the timer. Some roasters will start at a lower temp, then crank it after first crack. However, if the oven reaches temp before the crack, the heat will cycle off and cause a delay. My roasts using the full throttle method and the mods I have described will reach first crack at 11-12 minutes and second at 17-18 minutes.