So I bit the bullet and I moved the project back indoors and there were no problems with the roasting. I used about 1/2 cup of beans and it seemed to have worked out as it did before, pre-thermostat removal. Of course it stunk up the house and required a few windows to be open.

I didn't realize there was such a large variance in 1st crack times. I like darker roasts, but am also rather new to this whole thing, so I have been sticking to about 7 min total roast times.

About how much volume is 85 grams of beans?

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!

Hello! So I just made this modification to the same Air Bend model; however, I am getting rather poor results. In fact, the results were better when the thermostat was in its original position. I was wondering if you could help me troubleshoot this.

So, my first attempt consisted of less than 1/2 cup of Sweet Maria's beans. I watched the Air Bend outside for 15 min and I didn't hear a single crack.

I reopened the Air Bend and verified the thermostat was in an appropriate location. While not fixed, it's sitting at the bottom near the circuit board. I have some qualms that this unfixed thermostat may be causing a problem, but then I think "well, it's no longer attached to the hottest piece of the unit, so it should be reading a lower temperature and the unit should be performing accordingly".

My second attempt: I used less than 1/4 cup of the same beans and watched it again for just under 8 min. Same thing; no cracks. I can post a picture of the results from attempt 2 if you're curious.