I started roasting coffee years ago, progressing from the cowboy method of holding a moving pan over a cooktop, to a popcorn popper, a hot air professional/home roaster and now this. Like everything in life, your rewards come from diligent attention to preparation! Having a grounded experience with roasting coffee, I believe the important criteria is whether the roaster can get hot enough to roast and is there a fast cool off when roasting is done.So this is how I use this machine, applicable to using it in the basement or outside in 25F temperatures; the time taken is about the same. The most important thing is recognizing the first "pop" and very soon after, the second round of popping which consists of rapid pops, then turning the temperature dial to off while still having the blade moving the beans as the pan is still very hot and roasting continues for at least a minute or so thereafter (no burnt beans). Then quickly transferring the beans to a large cold metal pan for rapid cooling. The second round of "popping" is very important as within a space of less than 1 minute after it starts, you will rapidly move from a standard roast to full to French roast. When you turn that temperature dial off (but keep the blades moving) is a matter of experience with the type of bean you're using (country of origin, processing, decaf, etc.) and practice. The photos above are the first 3 batches I roasted tonight. My settings are based on setting the roaster to 240 degrees, about 8oz of beans, and setting the timer to 15mins; the first round of "popping" starts around 8mins, second round at about 10-11mins, and the pictures show three roasts at 20secs, 40secs, & 50secs after the start of the rapid popping in the second round. This roaster is definite keeper as it can roast a lot of beans in a very short time span, yielding wonderful results (enjoying decaf as I type). Wait at leas t an hour after the roast to start using beans. Beans stay fresh for the first week without the need for refrigeration. Enjoy!