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	Let's begin by clarifying any confusion with "Diedrich speak". The model numbers represent the FULL roasting capacity in KILOS of the drum. Why kilos? Because that is typically how most green coffee bags are packaged. Since all the coffee regions of the world (except Hawaii) are on the metric system, this has been adopted. Understand too, that this kilo size is PER BATCH and depending upon how dark you roast (degree of roast), you can on average get 3-4 batches per hour. Diedrich calculates everything on an "average" 16 minute medium roast and 3.5 batches per hour. There is a common question/confusion from prospective customers as to: “…do I need an IR roaster or CR roaster?” So, here’s the equation to help determine your roaster capacity needs. The model number of the roaster (IR or CR Series) represents kilos per batch. Yes, in a Diedrich roaster you CAN roast to full capacity where in other roasters you can only roast 80% of full capacity. In a Diedrich roaster you can roast 3-4 batches per hour depending upon how dark you roast. For all calculation purposes, Diedrich uses 3.5 batches per hour as an average. Therefore your equation looks like this: IR Example: Model IR-12 = 12 kilos of GREEN coffee per batch X 3.5 batches per hour = 42 kilos per hour of GREEN coffee. Moisture content loss going from GREEN coffee to roasted coffee (that you can sell by the bag) ranges from 16-22%. Diedrich uses 16% as an average. The inverse of 16% is 0.84. 42 kilos per hour X .84 (The inverse of 16% average moisture content loss) = 35.2 kilos of ROASTED coffee per hour. Convert kilos to pounds per hour = 35.2 kilos x 2.2 = 77.4 pounds per hour at MAXIMUM hourly output. Here is a CR Roaster Example: Model CR-70 (1 bag roaster) = 70 kilos of GREEN coffee per batch X 3.5 batches per hour = 245 kilos per hour of GREEN coffee. Moisture content loss going from GREEN coffee to roasted coffee (that you can sell by the bag) ranges from 16-22%. Diedrich uses 16% as an average. The inverse of 16% is 0.84. 245 kilos per hour X .84 (The inverse of 16% average moisture content loss) = 205.8 kilos of ROASTED coffee per hour. Convert kilos to pounds per hour = 205.8 kilos x 2.2 = 452.76 pounds per hour at MAXIMUM hourly output. So, how many hours per week with this sized roaster must I roast to meet my demand or forecast? This is the question to ask yourself when trying to properly determine your roaster size needs with some anticipation of business growth. Most will make this determination based upon either their available hours to roast vs. other business tasks or their employees availability to do the same! Remember don't be fooled when comparing Diedrich to other roaster manufacturers you can use the same formula except you must then multiply the final amount by 0.80 because they cannot roast to FULL capacity only 80% of capacity. Therefore, their 10 kilo roaster is really only an 8 kilo roaster! Capacity questions: Prior to the late 1990's, all roasting equipment manufacturers identified their roasters by the “volume of the roasting drum”. However, this was if the drum was packed full and not allowing any bean or airflow movement. As a result, the common explanation by all roasting equipment manufacturers was, “…you can really only roast a maximum of 80% of the drums capacity.” On the low end, 30% of capacity was identified because of the burners and location of the thermal couple ensuring constant contact with the beans and calculating bean temperature. The result was disappointed customers throughout the industry stating… “Well you can’t really roast to full capacity.” Quite honestly, this was a disconnect between manufacturers and customers, a lack of thorough communication and understanding. Now the late 1990's is a critical date because that is when Diedrich Manufacturing, Inc. finally said…. “Enough is enough!’ Since then in order to meet customer demand, Diedrich Manufacturing, Inc. again a pioneer in this area, began “oversizing our drums” to meet the true capacity needs of the customer. As a result, Diedrich roasters after about 1998, have a 40/60% fill/volume ratio…. Meaning FULL capacity of the roaster is really only filling the drum approximately 40%! This ensures customer satisfaction as well as ensuring adequate air flow through the roasting drum needed on a full batch! Now, on the small capacity side, here’s the disconnect in understanding between the manufacturer and the customer – it really comes down to “definition” and “level of expectation” which seems to be common throughout the coffee industry. In a Diedrich roaster you CAN roast down to a few small handfuls of coffee in our IR series roasters. To most people's amazement, Stephan Diedrich performs this in his Roasting Seminars quite regularly! HOWEVER, you can only do this on a roaster that you have been roasting on for a few hours and is quite warm… this is required due to ensuring the Diedrich engineered heat exchangers (syncs), have an abundance of retained heat. Now you can control the roast and it will perform to the same or better level of expectation as to what a traditional sample roaster (barrel style). Do not confuse this with Profile Roasting! This is a different topic of conversation for the the IR-1 Profile Lab Roasters true purpose. It has long been concluded that Diedrich's IR Series stood for "infrared" due to the cleanest and most efficient infrared gas burners utilized by us in this roaster series. That is not true. The IR actually stands for "in-store roaster" since this was the primary target audience that Stephan Diedrich sought. Over the years, opponents were mis-informed about infrared technology and attempted to condemn the Diedrich roaster. As time moved on and more and more customers adopted Diedrich's roasting techniques, a new era was born regarding "slow" roasting. This positioned perfectly into what coffee consumers were seeking; a hand-crafted roast that brings to the forefront the clean natural characteristics of each single coffee origin. Stephan believed that this freshness and uniqueness differentiated cafe's from the historical fast-roasted coffees produced large institutional air roasters. Roasting on-site or in-store provided that freshness to their consumer.As for the infrared burners, their effect on the coffee is critical. Because they are the cleanest burner on the market, you do NOT get the damaging affluent gases from an open flame burner mixing with the fragile chemistry of the coffee. Diedrich infrared burners have 40-60% less CO, CO₂, NO_X, - zyne and -aldehydes gases that open flame burners produce. In addition, the infrared burners are equally more energy efficient utilizing considerbly less gas than an open flame pre-mix air burner. Our CR Series, stands for "Custom Roaster". These are our Industrial Roasters that are 25 through 490 Kilo per batch sizes. Many people confuse the two Roaster Series, thinking that the IR Series is not designed with the "commercial quality and durability", however this is not the case. Remember, a cafe roasting "in-store" did not exist back then and therefore there was no need for a differentiator as it was Stephan's efforts that pioneered the "in-store roasting" concept. Other areas in the coffee industry also reference the larger capacity sizes as "Industrial-sized". Grinders for instance are a perfect example, most grinders represent their small products as commercial grade and larger products as "Industrial Models". Now let's discuss philosophy on roasting just a bit. There are 2 major types of roasters - drum roasters and air roasters. Air roasters are basically a giant "popcorn popper". This concept applies high temperature air (convective heat) and usually at high velocity into the coffee bean. This process can deliver very fast roasting times in as few as 4 -5 minute roasts. This is the method typically used by "institutional" type coffee roasters or those you find in a can. Drum roasting utilizes a metal drum and typically a gas burner to heat the air and drum while the drum is turning. Diedrich only produces drum style roasters. Now, all drum roasters are not the same. Why?? Well, first and foremost when roasting coffee, your objective should be "bean development" - that is roasting the bean to a nice full "puffy" state with a silky, satin-looking finish. This increases the probability that you are carmelizing the natural sugars in the bean from the center out and not dehydrating the bean from the outside as identified when it is wrinkled, tensed and shriveled-looking. Therefore, controlling all 3 types of heat mediums (conductive, radiant and convective) at any time during the roast is critical. This controllability MUST be independent of each other. Early on in the roast, conductive and radiant heat are most important to bean development whereas later in the roast, convective heat is more important, however at both stages does the least important heat become NON-important. Confusing?? Think of it this way, would you rather have turkey or roast beef slow-cooked long in the oven or microwaved in a few seconds? A little bit of an extreme analogy but you get the idea!

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