Sizing a roaster comes down to your weekly roasted volume, the days you roast, and realistic batches per hour. This guide uses U.S. pounds.
1. Start from weekly pounds
Take your target roasted lb per week, divide by the days you’ll roast, then by 4–6 batches per productive hour. A café selling ~220 lb/week is comfortable on a 3 kg (6.6 lb) machine; a wholesale roastery shipping ~1,800 lb/week should look at 12 kg (26 lb) and up. Leave 30–40% headroom for growth.
2. Account for shrink
Beans lose 12–18% weight in the roast. If you need 1,000 lb roasted, you’re feeding ~1,200 lb green — size your hopper and green storage accordingly.
3. Gas or electric?
Gas (NG or propane) is standard at 3 kg and up for response and running cost; electric suits sample and nano machines where a gas line is impractical.
4. Don’t forget abatement
Above ~1 kg most U.S. air districts want an afterburner or ESP. Budget it in from the start — see Emissions & Compliance.
Send us your weekly volume and we’ll recommend a model with a full landed-cost estimate to your U.S. port.