An intelligent separation method of peanut kernel and red coat, feeding peanuts to be removed red coats into a device for a gas explosion of the red coats of the peanuts, to complete a preliminary separation of kernels and the red coats of the peanuts; feeding the primarily separated kernels and peanut red coats of the peanuts into the drying device to fully separate the red coats from the kernels; delivering the fully separated peanut kernels and red coats of the peanuts into a negative pressure adsorption device to collect respectively the fully separated kernels and red coats of the peanuts with different densities and qualities by a negative pressure adsorption mode, finally obtaining the kernels of the peanuts without the red coats, and the red coats of the peanuts respectively.

A system/method of steam cleaning a roaster bowl, such as one used in a roasting/glazing apparatus, in which an electronic technique is employed to determine, during cleaning, whether water is boiling within the roaster bowl. The method entails adding water into a roaster bowl having sugar adhered thereto and placing a cover on top of the roaster bowl. A steam vent is formed between the cover and the roaster bowl. The method further comprises heating the roaster bowl and then electronically determining whether the water within the roaster bowl has reached a boiling point (i.e., is boiling). After electronically determining that the water is boiling, the water remains boiling for an amount of time sufficient to cause the internal surface of the roaster bowl and the cover to be properly steam cleaned. The water in the roaster bowl (with sugar dissolved therein) is then poured out.

A roasting and glazing apparatus comprising a roaster housing, a roaster bowl disposed within the roaster housing for receiving a mixture of nuts and sugar, an agitator rotatably mounted within the roaster bowl for mixing the mixture, and a heater controlled to selectively heat the roaster bowl. The agitator includes at least two blades for mixing the nut/sugar mixture during a roasting or glazing operation. The agitator also includes a central hub and each of the blades extends from the central hub and includes a respective substantially vertical component and a respective horizontal component. Each horizontal component has a bottom surface that is disposed adjacent to the floor of the roaster bowl, and the bottom surface extends upward from its front edge to its rear edge at a relief angle of at least 5 relative to the roaster bowl floor. The agitator with such structure is able to prevent/minimize build-up of sugar from the underside of its blades, which in turn prevents blade seizure during operation, among providing other benefits. Each blade may also beneficially have a top surface that extends from the front edge to the rear edge at substantially a 30 angle relative to the roaster bowl floor to provide enhanced mixing and other benefits.

A roasting and glazing apparatus comprising a housing, a bowl assembly having a bowl support and a roaster bowl, an agitator rotatably mounted within the roaster bowl, a heater to heat the roaster bowl, and a cantilever arm disposed external to the housing. The cantilever arm, when moved, moves the roaster bowl between fully lowered and fully raised positions. A first piston is coupled to the bowl support and provides, when engaged, a counterforce to the weight of the bowl assembly. The first piston is engaged at least during the raising of the roaster bowl. A second piston provides a counterforce during the lowering of the roaster bowl from a partially lowered position to the fully towered position. The second piston is not engaged during lowering of the roaster howl from the fully raised position to the partially lowered position. After producing roasted and glazed nuts using the apparatus, the roaster bowl is raised to facilitate removal of the roasted and glazed nuts, and then the roaster bowl is lowered. After the roaster bowl is lowered to the partially lowered position, the engagement of the second piston results in additional downward force to further lower the roaster bowl thus preventing injury or damage during the final lowering of the roaster howl into its fully lowered position.

A method of producing roasted and glazed nuts includes the steps of providing a roaster apparatus having a roaster bowl, placing water and a mixture of nuts and sugar in the roaster bowl, mixing the water and the mixture, heating the roaster bowl while mixing to produce roasted and sugar coated nuts, adding water to the roaster bowl to produce roasted and glazed nuts, and lifting a cantilever arm coupled to the roaster's housing to raise the roaster bowl from a fully lowered position to a raised position. A first piston coupled to the bowl support is engaged during the raising of the roaster bowl to provide a counterforce to the bowl assembly's weight. The method further includes removing the roasted and glazed nuts from the roaster bowl when in the raised position, lowering the cantilever arm to lower the roaster bowl from the raised position to a partially lowered position, and then lowering the cantilever arm to lower the roaster bowl to the fully lowered position. A second piston is engaged during the lowering of the roaster bowl from the partially lowered position to the fully lowered position to provide an additional counterforce thus preventing injury during the final lowering of the roaster bowl. The second piston is not engaged during the lowering of the roaster bowl from the raised position to the partially lowered position.

An apparatus/method of cleaning a roaster bowl having a pouring lip and a cover (e.g., sugar or other coating is adhered to the bowl, its pouring lip and the cover). Water is added to the roaster bowl and the cover is placed over the roaster bowl. An appropriately sized and located steam vent is disposed between the cover and roaster bowl, adjacent to the bowl's pouring lip. The roaster bowl is heated to boil the water to produce steam that dissolves the sugar adhered to the roaster bowl and to the underside of the cover. Steam exiting the bowl via the vent condenses on the pouring lip to dissolve the sugar that is adhered to the pouring lip, and the sugar-laden steam drips back into the bowl thus cleaning the pouring lip.

The invention concerns an apparatus for roasting coffee beans comprising: a vessel (1) to contain coffee beans, a heating device (12) to heat coffee beans contained in the vessel, a control system (180) operable to control the heating device and configured to apply a roasting recipe (R), wherein for a customised quantity m of coffee beans of type Ny introduced inside the vessel, the control system is configured to obtain at least the quantity m of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel and the type Ny of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel, and based on the obtained type Ny, the control system is configured to get access at least to a roasting recipe Ry, said recipe being adapted to the roasting of one pre-determined quantity M of beans of type Ni, and to said pre-determined quantity M, and based on the accessible roasting recipe Ry and on said obtained quantity m of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel, the control system is configured to determine the roasting recipe (R) to be applied to the quantity m of coffee beans of type Ny introduced inside the vessel.

A roasting and glazing apparatus includes a roaster, an agitator mounted within the roaster bowl for mixing a mixture of nuts and sugar during a roasting or glazing operation, a heater controlled to heat the roaster bowl during the roasting or glazing operation, and a cover removably mounted to the roaster bowl. The cover includes a reservoir for receiving water from a user and restricting water flow from the reservoir into the mixture of nuts and sugar in the roaster bowl. The cover and the roaster bowl together define a vent on a side of the cover opposite the reservoir. The vent is configured to direct steam out of the roaster bowl in a direction away from the reservoir.

A bean roasting system includes a removable vessel, a roasting drum, and air handling system, a roasted bean container, an air outlet conduit, a coupling, an air exit subsystem, and a fluid conduit. The removable vessel includes a residual chaff chamber and a residual water chamber fluidically isolated from each other by an inner wall. The roasted bean container is configured to receive roasted beans from the roasting chamber. The air outlet conduit couples the roasting drum to a chaff separator. The coupling couples the chaff separator to the residual chaff chamber of the removable vessel. The air exit subsystem removes exhaust air from the air exit subsystem and/or roasted bean container. The fluid conduit routes condensed water from the air exit subsystem to the residual water chamber of the removable vessel.

An apparatus for roasting coffee beans includes: a vessel to contain coffee beans, a heating device to heat coffee beans contained in the vessel, and a control system operable to control the heating device and configured to apply a roasting recipe. For a customised quantity m of coffee beans of type Ny introduced inside the vessel, the control system is configured to obtain at least the quantity m of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel and the type Ny of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel, and based on the obtained type Ny, the control system is configured to get access at least to a roasting recipe Ry. The recipe is adapted to the roasting of one pre-determined quantity M of beans of type Ni, and to the pre-determined quantity M, and based on the accessible roasting recipe Ry and on the obtained quantity m of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel, the control system is configured to determine the roasting recipe to be applied to the quantity m of coffee beans of type Ny introduced inside the vessel.