Why choose the Kestrel S35?

Excellent roast quality, preservation of natural gas resources and greatly reduced CO2 pollution into our skies are very good things, indeed, and what's even more amazing is the money you will save while being environmentally responsible, and how much you will enjoy roasting on this new style machine.

The Gas Meter Tells its Story

The Kestrel S35 dramatically reduces your operating costs, and thus increases your profit margins. From six months of actual data a reduction of 80% in natural gas consumption was calculated. The Kestrel S35 operated side by side with a conventional drum roaster with afterburner. Over a six-month period the reduction in CO2 production was 280,000 pounds. Wow!! Your monthly savings in utility costs will more than pay for any difference in initial cost between the Kestrel and any other system.

See a test performed by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) showing dramatic natural gas savings with a Kestrel S35 vs. a traditional drum roaster with afterburner.

The Unique Design Concept Behind the Smart Roaster

The Kestrel S35 Roaster utilizes a patented heat re-circulating process. The burner is in the cyclone! Air within the roaster is drawn through the cyclonic heating chamber where it is reheated. The chaff is separated in the usual manner and some of the smoke and particulate matter is incinerated. The air then returns to the roaster. This reheating system requires much less energy than it would to heat room air up to roasting temperature, and is accomplished by the built-in incinerator. This is not an "after-burner" since it is the main burner. The internal pressure of the system is balanced by allowing the products of combustion from the burner and the smoke from the roasting process to escape through an "incineration tube" that operates at after-burner temperatures. By this process smoke and odor are eliminated.

Another benefit of the re-circulating system is that the quench water spray can be situated in a position to spray into the cyclone and not into the roaster drum. The water flashes to vapor before returning to the drum so no water contacts the beans directly. This works very well to quench the roast progress and knock down much of the residual smoke present in the system at the end of the roast cycle. In this way much less smoke is handled through the cooler.

Feature Highlights

The controls include a computer (PLC), and an 8" color touch-screen. These features enable elaborate control of both manual and recipe mode roasting, while actually making the roastmaster's job easier. Temperatures and times are digitally displayed along with a dynamic trend graph of the key variables. New roast profiles can be created and saved for future reference. A fault screen alerts the operator if a valve, door, pressure switch, utility supply or other interlock needs adjusting for safe operation.

The Kestrel is nearly maintenance free. There are individual motors and gearboxes for each function. The industrial grade Baldor motors drive directly, eliminating all belts and chains. The use of 3-phase motors on the fans is accomplished with single-phase power by using variable frequency drives (inverters). The bearings supporting the rotating paddle assembly (the drum is stationary) are graphite bushings. No bearings (balls), seals, grease are required. There is no buildup in the roaster stack, so no maintenance is required there either. The stainless steel construction requires only a little stainless steel cleaner to maintain a "like new" appearance.

The roving green bean hopper has a built-in scale to weigh your batch and to help blend it from various sources by weight. The vacuum elevator lifts a 77lb batch in 35 seconds. There is even a tramp metal magnetic gate in the hopper.