Customer Reviews

Nesco CR-1010-PRR Coffee Bean Roaster, 800 watt

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I love this roaster. The coolest feature is the catalytic converter that virtually eliminates smoke. I have had small roasters that only roasted 1/3 of what this one roasted and gave off way more smoke. The memory that remembers your last roast is great and the ability to interrupt the roast at any time and begin the cool down is very helpful. If, there is a downside, it's that it seems to have a little bit of a difficult time collecting all the chaff. Some of the chaff sticks to glass at the top of the chamber between the beans and the collector and when you empty the coffee, you inevitably get some chaff in your roast.

I have an I-Roast and love home-roasted coffee. I decided to buy the Nesco as it could roast more beans at a time. However I'm really frustrated as had 2 Nesco roasters quit on me now. When they actually worked, they were great little machines! BTW, I have followed the operating instructions to the letter so that's not the issue. I realize you have to let them fully cool between roasts. I was also careful about keeping the both of them clean and chaff-free. The first roaster just wouldn't start after a month of say, weekly use. The little electronic buttons did not respond --couldn't turn it on at all. The company replaced it but of course did not pay the return shipping, which we all know has gone up dramatically. And the replacement roaster worked for about 3 months and then the motor just quit. The electronic buttons seem to be working but nothing happens. So strike 2. I'm not keen on trying out a 3rd one. So guess I'll stick with my trusty little "I-Roast". And here's hoping that Nesco completely refunds my $170. I believe they should refund me the return shipping costs as well. Perhaps you might have better luck than me with this roaster, but if the first breaks on you, take my advice and don't get a second!

I've had my Nesco for about 8 months, during which I've roasted about 100 batches of beans. I'm actually quite happy with it. It does a decent job and produces a small enough amount of smoke that I'm easily able to roast indoors.

Despite other users' complaints, I've not had a single mechanical issue with my roaster and I've heard of others who have roasted 200+ batches with their Nescos.

My only real complaint (which I was aware of when I purchased the roaster) was the lack of adjustable roast profile, meaning you can only adjust the amount of time, not the temp.

Nonetheless, this machine is a great way to get reliable results, especially for beginners.

I've been roasting coffee for over 10 years, on various devices ranging from the simplest popcorn poppers to dedicated home roasters. I've never had any catch on fire. The Nesco wasn't overloaded, it simply slipped a gear - the auger stopped turning - and so the beans inside started to smolder. Despite catching this quickly, there was oily residue all over the roaster. I returned it to Nesco under warranty, and they "fixed" it, but what I got back was exactly the same machine, still reeking of smoke. When I complained about this, they said "this is all we can do". When it worked, it was OK for lighter roasts. This is a poorly thought-out product from an infomercial-level company, and is a danger. You're much better off using a popcorn popper, or exploring some of the other home machines. (see sweet marias for a comprehensive range)

My wife bought me one of these for my birthday last year. Before that, I was using hot-air poppers to roast coffee. This one worked well for about 10 months, but then, without warning, the agitator stopped working one day in the middle of a roast, and the beans caught fire. This design is much more dangerous than hot-air type roasters, which use the hot air itself to agitate the beans.

I began roasting coffee in a WearEver popcorn popper, but living in a cold climate I did not want to be outside in the middle of winter roasting coffee. I purchased a Nesco Coffee roaster from Burman Coffee Traders about 11 months ago. This roaster produces virtually no smoke while allowing the smell of the roasting beans to pass through so you can use the smell to aid your roasting. I needed the smokeless feature because we have no range hood/exhaust fan. About 1 month ago (when the roaster was just over 10 months old) I left my son in charge of watching the roaster while I stepped away for a few moments. Needless to say, the roaster began to smoke and the auger froze. My son did immediately unplug the roaster. After a thorough cleaning all seemed to be well as the auger still worked, etc., but there was no heat. I called Customer Service at Nesco and was graciously and politely assisted by a CS representative. The CSR gave me a return authorization. Two days later I mailed the box and two days after that Nesco received the roaster. One week later I had what appears to be a brand new roaster sitting on my steps after work.
I think the quality of the roaster is above average, but the customer service was outstanding. I must admit that the week without the roaster was difficult, having become quite accustomed to exceptional coffee roasted at home and freshly ground. This is a great product. It is not a commercial roaster and it should not be expected to perform like one. All-in-all this is a great roaster, but it is available cheaper at other sites that also offer free coffee samples to get you started.

This roaster does exactly what it says: it does a great job roasting small batches of beans. But it is CHEAPLY made. The first one I purchased lasted 3 months. It was replaced under warranty, but the second one broke almost exactly a month after the warranty had expired. Removing the bottom of the roaster revealed the problem right away: the pulley wheel that spins the auger had melted. Note, this is a plastic pulley wheel placed directly below the heating element. Does anyone else see a design flaw here? After much banter with Nesco, they have refused to replace it and insist that I have to pay for repairs.

Bottom line: buy this roaster if you want to replace it about once a year.

Like many other people here, I was excited by the idea of a coffee roaster that was "smoke free" and offered a chance to roast beans in small batches. I liked the idea of a smoke free coffee roaster so much that when the first one failed (it was a remanufactured product) I bought a new one thinking that the problem with the first one was just a fluke.

Not a fluke... both machines experienced the same "catastrophic failure" within one year of weekly use. The pulley mechanism is poorly designed. It is coated in plastic and eventually fails; the auger stops moving, the beans overheat, which can potentially overheat and melt the control components, making the machine a fire hazard.

My experience with customer service also has been similar to others' experiences described here. You cannot order spare parts to fix the machine yourself, the machine must be returned to the manufacturer. You have to pay for shipping (both ways) and you also have to pay for the repair.

Performing a Cost Benefit Analysis, I discovered that it costs almost as much to return the machine to the manufacturer for them to replace the failed pulley mechanism (providing you caught the malfunction in time before it melted the other components) as it would to buy a new one.

"Fool me once, shame on you... Fool me twice, shame on me..."

Since I have about 10 pounds of green coffee beans sitting in my cupboard (and I am tired of drinking stale bean coffee) I am looking for a similar machine with a higher margin of safety and a low to zero a failure rate, that performs the same fit, form and function (time controlled, produces small batch, and smoke/chaff free) for around the same cost.

So... if there are any unemployed inventors who are also home-roast coffee aficionados ... you have a "niche" market here, and, by the way, if it was made here in the USA that would ROCK! :)

Pros:
= Easy 1 step, no going outside
= Perfect for light roasts
= Adequate volume (1 cup of beans for light roast, 3/4 cup for dark)

Cons:
= can't leave unattended because of risk of fire
= may not last according to other reviewers
= takes a long time for dark roasts

4 out of 9 reviewers so far say this product will not last and they gave it a 1. About half of the others do not seem to have had it long. I just got it and have tried it once. If it lasts, it will be perfect for me. It's so easy, you can pour beans into the unit and 20 minutes later pour them into a grinder (although you're supposed to let the cooked beans "age" 12 hours).

It's all 1 step because:
1) you don't have to go outside because there is no smoke,
2) you don't have to seperate chaff, and
3) you don't have to cool off the beans

I like light roasts and it takes 15 minutes of heat time instead of 7 minutes (faster units) to do a light roast, which means you can control cook time better. Cool time is 5 minutes. Since the unit stays hot after using, you need to remove the beans right away which are pretty warm to the touch but not hot. The first 2 or 3 minutes it is just heating itself up, so heat time for a light roast (almost a medium by my standards) is about 12 minutes. The chaff looks like it's not coming out, but there was no chaff in the beans when I poured them out. The instructions say you have to clean it after every use, but it seems to me that no holes will be obstructed or unusually dirty even after 5 uses of light roasts. Only the screen needs to be emptied of chaff after each use. For my first use, I poured in the beans, pressed start (default time is 20 which is 15 minutes cook time, 5 minutes cool), and 20 minutes later, poured the beans into a jar for storage.

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October 2010 update
It still works good as new. Drinking 2 cups per day, one roasting lasts at least a week. I've used it maybe 40 times since I bought it. I now let it stay on its default 20 minutes. Since the beginning, it did have enough non-visible smoke to get out to set off a nearby smoke detector, so now I take it outside, keep the top open, and set a brick on top of the switch that detects if the lid is closed. The lid is only for capturing the smoke. This may allow higher airflow for slightly better roasting and keeps the filter young in case I want to use it in the future indoors.

Others probably pointed this out, but it took me a long time to learn to be careful when placing the container back on the "hot plate". The little knobs have to be aligned just right and if you're not careful, you might not notice that it's not on correctly. If you don't do it right it just means the hot air escapes and the beans don't roast as fast as normal.

My experience is identical to that of another reviewer. The machine is really nice in many ways, though it takes a fairly long time to roast. (I see that the newer model has a higher-wattage heater.) But after a month, the control pad buttons stopped working. I sent it back and they replaced the pad, but then a month later the motor just stopped, and the heating element turned red-hot. If I hadn't been standing there, the whole unit would have melted. I've now put it in the basement and gone back to the FreshRoast Plus8. Smaller roast volume, but it's a lot more reliable.