Mill City Roasters®
Roasting System features
Modern specialty coffee is a balance of intuition, technology and memory. Here at MCR HQ, we are building the industry's most advanced roasting systems that combine the thoughtful integration of production-paced tools with advanced features that help today's specialty coffee brands control their craft and grow thriving coffee businesses.
Photo by Arvida Roasting Co
Digital roasting system
Includes all digital features from advanced data logging, Operator Assist and the future of coffee roasting automation. Eight models available in capacities from 2 kilogram to 60 kilogram.
Manual roasting system
Our classic build with precision variable control but available without the digital advancements to keep your costs down. Two models available in a 1 kilogram or 3 kilogram capacity.
Sample roasting
Build your coffee program around the most consistent, heaviest-built sampling roaster available.
DIGITAL ROASTING SYSTEM
Automated Coffee Roasting built for specialty coffee
An entirely new approach to automation that keeps craft at the center of what you do. Once you achieve your ideal roast profile, RoastPATH® will emulate an operators fan, fuel, and drum adjustments with the click of a single button.
The digital roasting system builds on the industries most mechanically stable and heaviest constructed roasting system and allows you total control over your profile and your workflow. Roast what you want, when you want, at the quality you want, with the push of a button.
Automation is available via your RoastPATH@ account for all Digital Control System equipped Mill City Roasters® since 2018. Already have a Mill City Roaster? Reach out to get an invite - together we're building the next big thing in roasting.
Free your mind
Operator-Assist Sensor Package
Standard on all roasters with our Digital Roasting System, the Operator-Assist features are designed to lower the cognitive load of the operator. Advanced sensors at the hopper, drum door, cooling tray cover and chute activate tasks you formerly had to remember to do yourself including starting roasting timers, turning on cooling fans and stirring and resetting your roasting system after you drop a batch. By reducing this menial task load, the system frees you up to focus on the profile. Once you have it, you'll never want to be without it.
know your craft
Advanced data logging
Data is key to a modern coffee roasting practice. Knowing what happening inside your drum is at the heart of your internal QC program but also serves to help troubleshoot maintenance issues, evaluate workflow changes, and better understand your roasting process. All MCR models offer USB-connected data measuring bean temp (BT), environmental temp (ET), drum temp (DT), and drum pressure. The models with our Digital Roasting System offer incoming air temp (IT) and two way communication via advanced MODBUS communication that also tracks fuel, fan & drum adjustments, charge and drop events.
In fact, our machines are so well equipped to serve up data, we had to build our own data logging software just to capture it all.
take control of your inventory
Precision Variable Control
Mill City Roasters was the first in the industry to offer as a standard feature variable fuel, fan, and drum control (we couldn't believe it either) but we've taken it a step further by refining that control for the operator. Long gone are the days of archaic air dampers and simple on/off switches for burner sets. The modern coffee roaster needs the capability to tackle not only multiple green coffee origins but also multiple batch sizes. With this flexibility you can expand your menu, increase green coffee shelf-life, and gain more control of your on-hand inventory. You need a small batch? No problem. With our precision variable control you can roast as little as 20% of your nomimal batch size. Perfect for brands practicing lean manufacturing or tackling special projects.
back-to-back roasting
Rapid Return Between Batch Protocol
Consistency in your roasting can only be achieved with stability in your roasting machinery. Between batch protocol gets a lot of buzz every few years when a coffee consultant proclaims it to be the mysterious reason why your coffee is bad. But between batch protocol, or BBP for short, is not mysterious at all and with our Digital Roasting System, it's actually built in. Roasting is hot business and successful roasting systems manage that heat not only between batches but throughout your workday.
Automatic between batch protocol is standard on all MCR coffee roasters with our Digital Roasting System. You shouldn't have to work around the build of your machinery. Your machinery should be built to work for you.
SAfety first
CSA® and UL® certification
In 2018 our team underwent a two-year long project and earned the industry's first CSA® Design Certification for coffee roasters and this is still the most boring feature on this page. But this certification along with our recent UL® certifications for Environmental and Public Health Standards (NSF) make it so that your Mill City Roaster will sail through inspection in even the toughest regulatory environments (lookin' at you Canada, Massachusetts and California). Certified machinery is more easily insurable, installable and our coffee roasters are backed by an experienced team to help advocate on your behalf with installers, contractors and permitting officials. You'll be hard-pressed to find a more knowledgeable, transparent and helpful team to have on your side through installation.
Here when you need us
Warranty & Support
Our warranty provides parts and support for one year for all electrical components and two years for all machinery components, but more impressive is our reputation for support throughout our relationship. We know what it's like when an issue slows down your production day and we have a dedicated support team with years experience in helping you troubleshoot, maintain, make a repair or adjustment, and get back to work. Plus we stock nearly 100% of parts you may need for ANY Mill City Roaster ever produced and we can overnight the part you need to your door next day.
Have a roasting problem? We do that, too. The benefit of having an in-house roastery is that we actually spend a lot of time roasting coffee. You can work direct with our Roastery Team for quick questions and advice, or sign on for more in-depth private training.
But wait, there's more.
Additional features
- Monolithic, low carbon steel weldment – the heaviest constructed roasters in their class.
- Fully gusseted for dimensional strength and stability.
- Fully coated to prevent corrosion.
- Integrated double-walled roast compartment is heavily insulated which further converts the chassis into a thermal battery – storing heat, rather than wasting it.
- Materials in both the chassis and the roast compartment absorb heat more efficiently and release heat more consistently for increased stability of temperatures during profiling.
- Trapping heat = trapping noise. Ambient drum noise is limited to a whisper quiet 60 decibels making it easier to hear those early outliers before first crack
- Double-wall, stainless steel drums standard on every model. The heaviest, most-efficient drum design in the industry.
- Construction accuracy is machine trued to within +/- .025”.
- 3mm air gap between inner and outer drum diffuses heat more evenly throughout inner drum.
- Diffused heat at inner wall eliminates conductive roast defect, even at higher inlet temperatures.
- Dramatically increased thermal efficiency by storing & using heat, rather than quickly releasing.
- “Bomb proof” construction prevents warping due to operator error.
- Every model equipped with quick response, variable drum speed allowing the operator to achieve ideal bean loft and conductive vs. convective ratio. Result is the flexibility to profile batches from 20%-120% of listed drum capacity on most models.
- Advanced drum gap adjustment mechanism is standard on all models two kilogram capacity or greater, making adjustments easier and more precise.
Standard on all models
- Custom-designed, CSA® Design Certified low loss gas train designed by Mill City Roasters and used exclusively in our roaster line-up.
- Custom burners designed specifically for coffee roasting.
- Burner layout is specific to each model to achieve optimal burner-to-drum relationship.
- Easy access, external shut-off valves on every roaster.
- Built-in temperature limitors to allow for safe operation.
- Built-in safety shut-off on pilot valve.
- Easy conversion from LP to natural gas.
Manual Roasting System
- High precision CV needle valves.
- Precision analog gas gauge.
Digital Roasting System
- Digital electronic modulating valve offering greater control for your most challenging profiles in variable batch sizes.
- Fuel adjustments at the push of a button
Standard on All Models
- Power-vented dual exhaust system standard on every model with fan placement designed to allow for easy cleaning and maintenance.
- Roaster exhaust fan is high pressure, high output 3-phase VFD speed
controlled with linear response curve for more predictable and more precise airflow control and roast profiles repeatability. - Cooling tray exhaust fan is a dedicated, high-pressure fan providing rapid cooling to stop roast progression once batch is dropped in cooling tray. Dual exhaust system allow for simultaneous roasting and cooling, reducing back-to-back batch times and increasing production to 4+ batches per hour.
- All machines include face-mounted digital drum pressure gauge.
- All models equipped with dedicated, off-board chaff filtering collectors
with easy access doors to aid in frequent clearing of chaff and completion of safety checks. - Optional quick-release venting kits available for every model.
- Fully specified requirements for venting to termination including layout and cap recommendations.
Digital Roasting System
- Fan adjustments at the push of a button
Standard on all MCR Series roasters
- CSA® Design Certified CSA 1.8 for US and Canada, IEC, CE, ROHS on all
roasters 30kg and smaller. - CSA/UL certified Honeywell automatic ignition controller
- All UL/CSA certified Delta PLCs and VFDs.
- CSA/UL certified motors, relays, switches, and wiring.
Food & User Safety on All Models
- Optional UL® NSF Certification available on every model.
- Entire contact path of roaster (hopper, loading chute, faceplate, tryer,
drum, discharge gate, discharge chute, cooling tray cover, cooling tray
floor, stirring/mixing arms, cooling tray gate, cooling tray latch, cooling
tray gate) all custom fabricated with certified food grade stainless. - Optional loader assembly on 20kg models and larger.
- Teflon cooling tray wipers
- Heavy duty 5mm x 44mm Borosilicate sight glass
- Food service safe LED light.
- Food safe resin-impregnated tryer handle
- Stirring arms automatically stop when the cooling tray cover is opened
Standard on All Models
- Models are designed with off-board cooling fans and chaff collectors to
allow for easier moving, better access and easier maintenance. Off-board
components can offer more flexible layouts for users with space limitations. - Detachable control panels of models 20kg and smaller for moving components through standard size door openings. Removeable hoppers on all models.
- Adjustable leg heights on most components.
- Lockable casters on 3 kilogram models to allow for easy moving.
- Venting kits available for most models to quickly connect components.
- Cooling trays on models 6kg and larger are detachable from roaster body via quick disconnect electrical and sensor connections. Separate components allow for easier shipping and moving.
- Wide access doors on all roasters for easy access to interior components.
- Cooling trays 6-60kg feature large, full swing, removable access doors on
both sides for easier cleaning. - Warranty
PROUDLY SERVING THE GLOBAL COFFEE COMMUNITY FROM MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, USA!
Call (612) 886-2089
