I originally drafted this a few weeks (months?) ago as a potential idea for a YouTube video, but I’m really not a YouTuber and maybe text is best.
In April of 2019 (shortly after our first son was born) I got my Aillio Bullet R1V2. Since then, I’ve roasted over 1000 pounds of green coffee and I figured now was a good time to go over some of my experiences and tips.
What is the Aillio Bullet? Honestly I have no idea if I even pronounce the company name correctly, but the Bullet is a 1KG drum coffee roaster with an induction heater. The induction heat is one of the first big advantages over classic gas or electric based roasters as it allows for quicker adjustment of your heating power. Another key feature of the Bullet is the infrared thermometer which allows you to actually measure the bean temperature instead of relying on the temperature of the air in the drum (there is still a classic thermocouple as well).
When the Bullet R1V2 was initially released it only came in a 220V version, so I have always used a dedicated 220V circuit and outlet to power my roaster. While this is a bit of a pain, Aillio released a 110V model shortly after.
Throughout my time with the bullet I’ve tried multiple methods of ventilation, included just hooking up a filter based fume extractor for internal venting (not recommended…), but I have always gone back to external venting with an inline fan to assist with pulling air from both the roaster and the cooling tray. Aillio offers 3D models of printable adaptors to connect the roaster to various vent sizes. In our first house, I cut a 4” hole in the kitchen wall to vent outside. In our second house, I replaced a glass block window with one that included a dryer vent. In our current house, I haven’t figured out the best solution… as we have side swing casement windows, so I just throw the vent out the window and leave it open while I roast (I really need to fix this before winter —- I didn’t).
Now to actually roasting coffee. While the Bullet has a capacity of 1kg, I typically roast either 800 or 500g batches. A 500g roast will yield about 430g of coffee which is what we drink in about a week. An 800g roast will yield around 680g of coffee, which works out to 2 12oz bags. Loss varies by how dark the coffee is roasted.
To start up the roaster you just set the temperature with the +/- buttons and hit “PRS”. The “PRS” button is used to toggle between different modes (I think it stands for “Pre-heat, Roast, Shutdown” but I just call it the “Press Button”). The roaster will automatically switch to “Charge” (along with an eerie voice) once it preheats, or you just press PRS when you are ready to go. Remove the rubber cap, pop the funnel on, and dump in your beans to start roasting - the roaster will automatically switch to roast mode here as well. Don’t forget to replace the cap, or else smoke will come right out the top of the roaster.
The front control panel on the bullet has buttons to control power, fan speed, and drum speed alongside a few multi use displays for things like drum temperature, bean temperature, Rate of Rise, and status. Below that is a little tryer to pull some beans out (although this doesn’t work well on smaller batches) and the door to empty the finished coffee. You can set a default power setting for the roaster to start at, and I will decrease power while increasing the fan speed as I roast. Scott Rao recommends keeping the Rate of Rise (slow of temperature increase) decreasing throughout a roast, but every coffee is different and it always takes a few tries to dial in a recipe.
While roasting, I always have my computer plugged in and RoasTime open to monitor this graph and you can also remotely adjust the power and fan speeds from the software. Even better - you can overlay or automatically playback previous roasts. I rarely playback but always use the overlay feature to compare previous roasts. There are also features to mark first crack and other key points to measure the phases of your roast.
Once the coffee is to the roast level that you’re looking for (I typically drop around 210-220C), just hit “PRS” once again and pull the lever to open the door. The cooling tray fan will startup, and you can even start preheating for the next batch by pressing “F1” and then “PRS” again.
After the cooling process the roaster will automatically shut down once it cools to 80C, and then I always turn it off (typically you need to unplug it, but I just have the circuit on a light switch). Clean up is fairly straightforward - I remove the cooling tray and vacuum chaff there, and then remove the chaff collector on the back of the roaster and dump that into the trash. Some coffee produces much less chaff, so sometimes I only do this every couple of roasts.
About every 20kg, I also do a deeper clean. This involves removing the fan at the back of the roaster and soaking it in hot water with an Urnez Tabs dissolved in it, and then I use the sample water to scrub any oils out of the stainless steel case that the fan mounts to. I also wipe the window on the door, but I have never cleaned the interior of the drum.
I have had a few issues with my roaster, but Aillio has supported me each time and has shipped me free parts when I needed replacements. First - right when I first turned it on it wouldn’t start correctly. As far as I know, I was one of the first US customers to receive a 220V R1V2 because I immediately ran into issues with the power frequency of US circuits which run at 60hz rather than 50hz. Aillio quickly responded and sent me a firmware update which fixed the roaster. I also had issues with the temperature probe and fan on the infrared temperature sensor (the fan runs to keep coffee oil from collecting on the sensor’s glass). These were both easy replacements and Aillio sent me replacement parts once the issues were diagnosed. The biggest problem I had was a failed Induction control board, although this was a known issue with earlier R1V2 models and once again Aillio stood by their product and shipped me a replacement part to swap. That was more involved, but still fairly straightforward as it just involved a few screws and plugs to switch the boards out to an upgraded model.
Would I still buy the Bullet R1 today? Well, I’d probably buy a newer R2. The Bullet is the best a home roaster can buy and it has performed extremely well over the last 5+ years.
Just a quick mention on the newer R2 and R2 Pro models. I’m not looking to upgrade, as the R1 is still meeting all my needs, but they are some pretty big improvements that are coming later this year. The R2 includes 150W of additional power, airflow measurements, an improved control panel that is also easier to remove, a bean deflector (I made my own), a barometric pressure sensor, Wi-Fi, better speakers (for alerts), and an integrated light (the original includes a USB light that plugs into the control panel).
The R2 adds to that with even more power (2300W total!) allowing for 1.2kg batches and a very slick cooling tray with an automated bean stirrer. It sounds like the cooling tray will be available to buy separately, so… I might be getting one of those in the future.
Both of these roasters are much more than I bought my R1 V2 for (price has increased quite a bit since 2019…), so it’s hard to personally justify the upgrade. The R1 V2 is also still going to be sold and any of these will be excellent coffee roasters for years.
So, here’s to the next 1000 pounds. Thanks Aillio.