Cropster Gas control and Replay assist is now available!

Creating profiles for all those manufacturers was a challenge in the early days – but we figured it out. Recording and replaying roasts is equally challenging and we’ve cracked it! We’re working hard on integrating with many roast machines and will maintain a list at the end of this post for you to check out if your machine is compatible.

Why use Roasting Intelligence for control and replay? We can think of a few reasons. But we thought we’d let some of the beta testers get the ball rolling.

Such consistency in every batch! So far we have improved 40% regarding consistency against our previous profiles.
Camilo Cortes – Blacksmith Coffee Company

Ever since our company won the 2nd place in WBC, wholesales have skyrocket and I have been packing-labeling-bagging like crazy, Cropster saves me precious time by replaying my profiles with 100% accuracy and allows me to focus on the rest of the process.
George Delichristos – The Underdog

Gas control is amazing, this is something we have been waiting for a long time. The ability to replicate a roast is on the top of the game.
Rustam Atlaskirov – Specialty Batch Coffee

We love it, it’s something we’ve always talked about with the team. We consistently told ourselves that you guys must be thinking in the same way. I also like the fact that you can adjust anything during the roast replay, very cool.
Fredrick M Warrens – Grandmother Roastery

There’s a lot in Gas control and Replay assist so let’s hit some of the highlights!

Accuracy, consistency

Replay assist uses an advanced algorithm to track gas changes against the bean temperature. The system tracks your previous roast exactly against time and temperatures – as you would expect. But, it also tracks against the bean temperature for variations. If your bean temp is different than the previous roast, for any reason, Replay assist adjusts automatically. It only makes the next change when the bean temperature in your reference is hit.

The result – more consistent roasts.

Adjustable replays

With Replay assist you are always in control, even when the system is doing the roasting. This is critical for two reasons. First, as a large piece of high heat equipment roast machines should never be left alone. Replay assist is there to do the driving, but you are in control – just like your Tesla. 🙂 Second, we know that sometimes things change between batches. If that happens you want to be able to jump in and make adjustments. So we built that in from the start.

The result – your roasts, your way even with replay.

Intelligent and simpler controls

We spend a lot of time trying to make roasting faster, easier and more intuitive. With Gas control and Replay assist we designed a completely new gas control slider around the way roasters work.

Instead of clicking in 1% increments to move the gas our new slider simply slides up and down with a single movement as you would expect. But it is much smarter than that!

Let’s take a look.

Cropster Gas control and Replay assist introduces a new intelligent slider based on the way you work to make controlling, recording and replaying your roasts simple.

On the left you’ll see the slider highlights a number of different gas percentages. In our research we discovered these are the settings most roasters are likely to use. We also discovered that once a roast starts most people move in 5 degree increments. So, we built those in for you. We also know that depending on where you are in the roast, the increments change, so we adjusted the highlighted temps at the top and bottom end of the scale.

Another benefit of the interface is speed. The direct connection between Cropster and the PLC in the roast machine means changes on the slider happen instantly compared to the standard touch screen interface on your tower. This speed of change was highlighted frequently during beta testing by roasters and also contributes to better roast control, especially if you notice something you want to adjust quickly.

The result  – controlling your roaster more precise, faster and intuitive.

How does it work?

It all starts when you create your first replayable profile using Gas control in the latest version of Cropster’s Roasting Intelligence 4. That is where the interface ‘learns’ your roast. Of course you can do that roast against your best profile. 🙂 After you have completed the roast, set the roast you just did as the new reference. 

See that little button that says replay at the bottom next to start? That means this curve works with Replay assist!

BTW – you’ll always know if your reference curve is replayable because when you select a replayable curve the REPLAY button will appear next to the play button.

Interested in Gas control and Replay assist?

Great! As we said above, we’ve compiled a list below of which machines are compatible with Gas control and Replay assist and which ones will be coming next. Check out this table and get in touch here if you’d like to get an early preview as one of our beta testers. Plus, make sure that you’re running the most up-to-date version of RI 4 to use Gas control & Replay assist.

I’d like to be a beta tester

And finally, supported (& planned) roast machine manufacturers

We’re working hard with a fast growing list of roast machine manufacturers to deliver Gas control and Replay assist. As we reach open beta with each manufacturer we will be adding their names below. If you have a specific manufacturer you’d like us to work with please let us know. Please keep in mind this feature requires machine models that support a smart connection, we will be adding specific model information very soon. In the meantime, if you want to know if your specific machine is supported please contact support with details of your machine (make, model, year of contruction and connection type). We have also introduced Airflow control on compatable machines – with more to come!

Company		Machine and model	Status
		All plug & play machines post 2014	Open beta
		Probatone 2 models with PRS (capacity of 5, 12 or 25 kg)	Released
		Besca BSC Auto models	Open beta