Hey! Thanks for the reply, I was just reanalyzing my current coffee dilemma and was disappointed that I had not yet heard from you because I had made no attempts to resolve the issue in the meantime and then, viola: you come to the rescue.

1) Popper lid is on

2) I'm roasting pretty close to the main feed - I don't think that's the issue

3) I was roasting outside in pretty cold weather. I thought it would provide a great solution to the "smokiness" problem and actually never tried roasting outside prior to the mod. I did not think the temperature difference would affect the roasting of the beans, so thanks for mentioning that! This is likely the issue. After seeing 4) I'm realizing what I'm working with here and I'm really taking this thing for granted as it is.

I will apologize in advance to my housemates and brew away this week; I'll let you know how it goes.

A side note: have you found any solutions to increase the "batch" sizes? I tend to use larger batches but makes sure to stir or shake the beans every 2 minutes. I am curious to your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks again for your help and of course the idea!