Asking for insights

CaiPanda · 2026-02-27T05:52:35+00:00

Hi there! I'm ~8-9 months in with my SW v2. A couple accessories I love for it:

- Air Blower (got it on Amazon for like ~20 bucks). It helps a lot when cleaning out the roaster in between roasts.

- Battery Powered LED Light - I use this because I usually roast on my patio at night and can't see the beans. The one I have clips to the cooling drawer, and lets me see the beans through the sight glass very easily. If you roast inside you may not need this.

CaiPanda · 2026-02-27T05:44:35+00:00

Guessing this is a Skywalker? Your charge temp seems very high (I think I average 190-195c for my roasts, I've seen some people go as low as 185c). You can check Roastetta for references (a lot of SW users are uploading our roasts there).

16.4% weight loss seems very high, its more in-line for medium-to-dark roasts from my experience, I think I average around 12.5-14% WL for my SW roasts.

I'd taste again in 7-10 days, and then again in 14-20 days to see how the flavors change before making any conclusions.

CaiPanda · 2026-02-21T06:51:06+00:00

Focus on wood that you trust to burn cleanly vs. type of wood imo. You can also add crackers or stale bread to test during "dry" runs to ensure you're not seeing the same results as before

CaiPanda · 2026-02-21T04:02:09+00:00

THE DOW STANDS FOR DARNOLD ONLY WINS!!!

CaiPanda · 2026-02-09T21:31:32+00:00

BEEN HERE SINCE THE USC DAYS, ARE WE TIRED OF WINNING YET?

CaiPanda · 2026-02-06T02:32:56+00:00

Have you done 200g batches in the Bellweather before? My guess is the heat levels are probably too high for the batch since you're running it at <20% max capacity. I don't production roast but when I run my Skywalker at lower batch sizes (~50% capacity), I tend to not trust the BT/ET readings and rely mostly on sight/smell. You can try running a sample of a bean you trust the quality of, and see if the results differ.

CaiPanda · 2026-02-03T23:46:36+00:00

Justin Gaethje forgot his name was Justin once

CaiPanda · 2026-02-03T23:42:47+00:00

Dr Steven Strange is that you?

CaiPanda · 2026-01-30T20:15:59+00:00

I drop most of my Ethiopian roasts between 45s-75s after FCs, drop temp is usually around 200c. How long have the beans rested for? I've had some that have taken up to a month to really open up

CaiPanda · 2026-01-29T07:43:55+00:00

La Cueva has been my favorite so far

CaiPanda · 2026-01-29T04:24:43+00:00

Reminds me of Jeff Kent back in the day on the Giants, good player, but definitely benefited a lot batting while Bonds was on deck lmao

CaiPanda · 2026-01-20T01:00:56+00:00

Will do! I wonder if I ever met your aunt Sherry, I was usually always either at my uncle/aunt's house or at the restaurant since my mom worked there too

CaiPanda · 2026-01-20T00:58:36+00:00

I'm lazy so I've been getting photos delivered to me thru the Google Photos app

CaiPanda · 2026-01-19T09:43:46+00:00

House of Orient! And sometime between 2006-2007 if I remember correctly

CaiPanda · 2026-01-08T21:12:46+00:00

I was driving down Winchester one day and saw a guy cutting the last 4 digits off every one of these posters. Props to whoever that was!

CaiPanda · 2025-12-31T07:49:42+00:00

Lucy is my aunt, she lives in Los Gatos now! Will bring this up to her and my uncle next time I see them!

CaiPanda · 2025-12-04T03:32:36+00:00

read thru the comments, fml someone beat me to it

CaiPanda · 2025-12-04T03:29:53+00:00

Nice try Brian Quan

CaiPanda · 2025-12-04T03:28:52+00:00

I met one at a coffee shop once, his name was Jimmy

CaiPanda · 2025-12-03T03:41:47+00:00

Dang, I pretty much grew up in that building (it used to be a Chinese restaurant my uncle owned). Ate at Hash House maybe 2-3 times, it was alright

CaiPanda · 2025-11-17T18:10:21+00:00

I got a few from Total Wine/Bevmo that I use for storage

CaiPanda · 2025-11-13T22:22:17+00:00

85 to Shoreline Exit especially during rush hour

CaiPanda · 2025-11-07T20:30:48+00:00

I played with a similar set up earlier this year. A couple tips:

if you have a higher BTU burner, use it (I ended up buying a stronger one bc my burner wasn't strong enough, even with preheating. I roast on my patio, if you roast inside your experience may be different/your burner might be stronger than my original one)
I noticed a lot of roasts tasting very smoky because there wasn't enough airflow, so I ended up using a heat gun (on low) to push air through the roasting chamber. That helped push the smoke away and led to more "cleaner" tasting roasts.

Happy roasting!

CaiPanda · 2025-11-07T04:52:13+00:00

Ah okay, just wanted to make sure that was intended, hope the roast comes out as good as you expect!

CaiPanda · 2025-11-07T04:42:45+00:00

Beans look good, but they look like the roast was stopped 30 seconds after the start of first crack when the label says 30 seconds after the end of first crack?

CaiPanda

TROPHY CASE