STiR coffee and tea magazine

40 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 4, 2018 (August / September) you do start a fire, you're facing the cost of replacing expensive equipment. Having someone come out and refit pipes is also expensive, but the most expensive thing is you can't roast coffee on a broken machine, and the last thing you want is to start tell- ing customers that you're missing deadlines," said Thornton. Whitley observes that "as a service and maintenance company, we see that the biggest cause of equipment breakdown is lack of maintenance." Ensure you're maxi- mizing production and profitability by adhering to a regimen of cleaning, lubrication, and maintenance. Ask the manufacturer for their recommended protocol. Thornton suggests inquiring which small parts commonly break down, so you can keep them on hand. "A little relay motor or a breaker that costs three dollars can shut a roaster down: your worst scenario is having ten people waiting to package, then paying them to do nothing." Make sure to adjust your cleaning schedule when your production increases or conditions change. Humidity and darker roasts increase buildup rates, warns Whitley. Observe a protocol "So from a maintenance standpoint, there's a schedule that every roastery should have," says Whitley. "That includes checking things midday, going through a daily cleaning You might find out you have to do a deep cleaning on the pipes every six months or every quarter, or as we figured out a couple years ago, we didn't have to do it more than every other year because we were roasting lightly and we had really good ventilation, so it didn't build up." Thornton compares a roaster to a wood stove, with a similar risk of a chim- ney fire, and reminds roasters that "it's kind of hard to catch on fire but it's really hard to put out. You have a lot of airflow running through coffee roasters, which will stimulate the fire if one starts." Preserving costly equipment Proper cleaning and maintenance are es- sential to keep equipment functioning optimally. Reduced airflow forces the machine to work harder, aging it prema- turely. "Fans that are sucking smoke also get buildup on them, which can put them out of balance and cause exhaust issues and ruin equipment," says Thornton. "If process, and a weekly process, and ap- proximately every 40 hours of roasting it needs a pretty significant cleaning," along with annual deep cleaning. Follow the manufacturer's guidelines and craft checklists specifying what tasks must be performed at four-hour intervals, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and an- nually. Train staff to prioritize cleaning and maintenance and to document clean- ing activities. When production soars, don't cut corners: cleaning and mainte- nance are crucial to keeping your roaster humming, your product consistent, your employees productive, and your custom- ers happy. Rob Hoos at Nossa Familia, illuminates creosote buildup in hot stack.

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