Loring: Fitting right in

Talk to any roaster about what they want from their equipment and the words efficiency and reliability are bound to come up. California-based manufacturer Loring has long been focused on driving the efficiency of its products. This extends beyond the individual design on each piece of machinery and into consideration of how each machine fits into the production process and interacts with the other machines in that process, Loring’s President and CEO, Bob Austin, tells GCR Magazine. “We would consider ours an integrated roasting system that optimises throughput, and interoperability,” Austin says. “This is all done in a minimal footprint and finally, a single supplier can support all this equipment for the end user.” All of Loring’s roasters use the company’s patented Flavor-Lock Roast Process Technology to reduce the oxygen in the roast, preserving more of the flavours in the beans and some of moisture, plus providing a sealed chamber that resists barometric changes. This feature ensures that the roast chamber will roast consistently true to the profile, regardless of the ambient temperature or weather. Cold, rainy days, or hot, sunny days will not have an impact on the roast characteristics. Loring roasters use two heat zones — one for roasting and one for incinerating smoke before it exits the stack. This eliminates the need for an afterburner, which greatly reduces Loring roasters’ fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, and can cut operating costs for roasters by up to 80 per cent. The key to reliability for many roasters is being able to control every step of the process, and Loring has just launched its D35 and D70 Destoners, which have been designed to integrate with Loring’s other roasting machinery, giving roasters a complete, modular set-up that can be tailored to the needs of their facility. “The benefit is for the post processing after roasting – aka grinding,” Austin says. “Stones can damage or destroy the burrs in grinders, and cause costly repairs. If integrated into a system, the destoning process can be done without any loss of throughput, while significantly lowering the risk to the next step in the processing sequence (grinding).” Loring’s full roasting package includes a green bean cart, which comes with the S35 Kestrel and S70 Peregrine roasters, which have a batch capacity of 35 kilograms and 70 kilograms respectively. The cart is designed so that it can be easily rolled into position for the roast master to weigh the green beans, then rolled to the roaster. The cart also acts as the first step in the destoning process, as it removes some of the debris from the green coffee. The vacuum elevator hose is then attached to the cart and the beans are lifted into the hopper. This process draws the lift air through a filtering system to minimize the amount of green bean dust released to the roasting area. After the roast, the S35 Kestrel or S70 Peregrine can be paired with either the D35 or D70 Destoner (respectively). The Destoners are designed to accept the roasted beans right from the cooling tray of the roaster. The Destoners have variable operator controls to adjust for bean sizes and densities. They feature a stainless steel frame, chute and hopper with a self-modulating feed that will not clog or jam and can process the roasted batch in about two to three minutes. The variable speed control in the operator panel can be adjusted to optimize lift for the bean size and density. The models also feature a built-in cyclone dust filtration system and easy access to the stone collection drawer. GCR