Fresh Roast SR540 – One Year After [Review]

Batch size	100-120g (10-15 cups / roast)
Roast time	7-12 minutes
Chaff management	Easy to clean, not messy at all
Smoke suppresion	Use a vent hood or roast outside
Price	$209
Knowledge base	Lots of video reviews and documentation all over the web

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Introduction

When I first tried coffee roasting, I was obsessed with idea of creating a unique coffee flavour.

Something you could never buy in the grocery store or even in special coffee shops.

So I started experimenting with manual techniques, learning about roasting stages and best practices.

I even tried washing beans in water and roasting them on a metal wok Ethiopian style.

But ultimately, it was hard to achieve a nice even roast.

Some of my beans were light roasted, some were close to medium, and some were nearly scorched.

After nearly ten attempts at hand roasting, I found it time consuming (as you have to constantly move the beans by yourself) and overall results could be better.

I drank my “specialty grade” coffee, anyway. But finally I got frustrated.

And when I was close to throwing this idea away, my parents (who got tired of me torturing the kitchen) got me the Fresh Roast SR-540 on my birthday.

It was a game changer.

So I’ll be happy to share my experience with this coffee roaster below.

First Impressions

In fact, SR-540 is a modernized version of popcorn popper with bigger capacity and more customization options.

(Popcorn popper is not a long-term choice and if you are serious about coffee roasting you will certainly upgrade to a more advanced machine.)

I’m going to say this from the start – I don’t believe plastic things are durable.

Especially those heated up to the 400 degrees F.

Fresh Roast SR-540 is made of not the worst quality plastic material, but I doubt if it will last for too long.

It just doesn’t feel that sturdy.

But hey, even working for 5 years is good for such a budget instrument.

Green coffee beans are obviously cheaper than roasted ones, despite the fact they lose 10-20% of bean weight during the roasting.

If we do some mathematics, I suppose this machine will probably pay for itself in a year or two.

Some users say the previous versions of Fresh Roast lasted even for 10(!) and more years.

So it’s solely dependent on your coffee appetites and roasting style.

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If you want to take a coffee roaster from the good old days as a gift to your grandchildren, my advice is to pick a Kaldi Motorized – it’s made of solid stainless steel.

Yes, it’s twice the price and it’s the next level of home roasting, but it’s a wiser pick in a long term.

P.S. I’ve already been roasting for a year and still had no issues with SR-540. The manufacturer also gives you a one year warranty on this one.

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What I liked in this machine from the day one – it’s lightweight and doesn’t occupy too much space.

If you prefer, you can easily take it outside to roast.

But I’m almost sure that you’ll find it a nice place on your kitchen, having no issues with chaff (the small skins off the coffee beans) or smoke.

Brand

The company Home Roasting Supplies has been producing Fresh Roast machines since 1996.

It’s a father-son operated business, which makes me believe in something sacred on this planet 🙃

These machines are very popular among home coffee roaster newbies.

(I’ve spent much time on coffee roasting forums and can tell you that it`s a first option for people who are tired of unproductive manual roasting methods or messy small capacity popcorn poppers.)

In addition, the SR-540 is well-documented by lots of users on the web, because it’s widely used all over the world.

So if you have any issue with it – just ask more experienced buddies – the home roasting community will help.

Capacity

The maximum batch I tried with this machine was 130 grams of medium-roasted Monsooned Malabar.

I got better results with 100 grams, although it depends on the density of your chosen green beans.

(Pros recommend using your machine at 80% of its capacity.)

I usually drink 7-10g of coffee per cup, so it’s nearly 2 cups / day for a week

Roasted beans are the best after 3-5 days – it’s a myth that you should grind and drink your coffee right after roasting.

The batch needs to degas for some time and you should give it a rest to develop its true flavour.

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If you need to roast more beans at a time, go for SR-800 model – its older brother – which offers a bigger batch and a more powerful fan.

Or, as an alternative, you can check the Behmor 2000AB roaster. It’s also a great tool for beginner, and can roast up to a pound of green beans.

Anyway, if you’re a lonesome coffeeholic, one or two roasts on SR-540 per week will supply you with everything you need to stay caffeinated.

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Upgrade Options

I see guys also upgrade this machine with a double-capacity roasting chamber.

However, the original power of the machine and its fan are not suitable for bigger batches.

Fully loaded, you will probably have uneven roasts and your machine will wear out faster.

It can work for some time, but can hurt your device in a long-term.

But it’s just my point of view and if you want to push your machine to the limit – give it a try.

Roasting Process

Some people see coffee roasting as forbidden knowledge, available only for the chosen ones.

The truth is today you have step-by-step guides on almost everything, and you can just replicate it and learn by yourself.

Of course, home coffee roasting has a basic learning curve.

But in fact, machines like SR-540 make the process as easy as pie.

The main point here is that you need to know the desired roast profile beforehand and understand how dark you want your beans.

I won’t go deep into the process itself, because there is a lot of information available:

• Home Barista and Reddit are great places to gain experience and knowledge.
• Sweet Maria’s tutorials and reviews are a holy grail.
• Cedar Ota Coffee YouTube channel, this guy is a gem for beginners.
• The Captains Coffee YouTube Channel is also a great source of information.
• Facebook groups like Home Coffee Roasters.

Cleaning

As I said above, this machine is indeed designed for a home kitchen usage, as it has a great chaff collector and roasting chamber, which are easy to maintain.

I clean it with a simple dishwasher liquid after every usage, because I don’t like the dark brown stains that appear on the glass.

However, if you prefer to clean it rarely, the method will be the same as cleaning an old grill.

Writing a Log

One important note to mention is that if you want to progress with your profiles, you should write a roasting log on every step. It looks like this.

Some guys even add a thermocouple and turn SR-540 into commercial like machine. In this way, the roasting log is automatically saved on your computer.

Overall Conclusion

Considering the ease of use and the price I suppose it’s the best pick for a buck.

Although the device is not fully automatic (requires attention and adjusting during the process), it gives a nice roast when set up in the right way.

(I recommend using it on the maximum power and temperature level and adjust it completely with a fan speed.)

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The downside is that I found it hard to experiment with profiles.

I prefer a nice Medium City+ roast and found my own way to make it with SR-540.

Get ready to screw some beans, because knowledge requires sacrifice.

The machine is also a bit noisy. The sound it makes is similar to someone drying their hair and sometimes can be distracting.

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All things considered, roasting coffee with Fresh Roast SR-540 can turn into a nearly meditative experience.

With the flavour of roasted beans, the kitchen becomes your place of power.