Order questions: 3 to artisan? Quick swap motor/solid? Home made second cooling?

[day]

Well like another user I plan to place an order today or tomorrow (used option unraveled and Li prices these well enough I dont see why I should buy used)

500T 48rpm perforated drum----------1180 USD with quick connect.
Natural Gas ir stove-------------------------99 USD
Exhaust hood---------------------------------49 USD
Extra digital probe for MET-----------------18 USD
extra tray--------------------------------------16USD
extra fan---------------------------------------48USD
Extra Funnel----------------------------------14 USD
Extra drum SOLID----------------------------98 USD
Extra motor set 72rpm-----------------------78 USD
Shipping---------------------------------------186 USD
Total-------------------------------------------1787 USD
Exchange “ET” Analog thermometer for digital probe. All probes digital.

My questions are:

I have a Mastech already, do I really need all three in artisan or could i just hok one up to  regular thermometer to measure it?

What is quick connect? And how hard would it be to swap? I may want to do some chicory roasting and need the solid drum, and other spices possibly too. But how impractice would it be too swap out motors and everything?

[day]

Oops, forgot my third question. I have read about how having to stir the beans is irritating. I was thinking about making a larger home made cooling option and just dumpig into a tray and pouring it into the cooler, and therefore not getting the second fan and tray. Any thoughts from users?

[hankua]

Well two fans is not necessary, but two trays is kind of. 

[day]

Well two fans is not necessary, but two trays is kind of. 

Two trays? Would a regular bowl work befor dumping? i figure the the real
Issue is just surface area, a bigger screen to lay it on is what matters, coupled with airflow, to avoid stirring. Got the extra fan anyway just incase the first one dies.

[hankua]

The trays do double duty for chaff collection and bean dumping. Having an extra or two is a good idea, as it's a specialized part.

[edtbjon]

Going back to the first post... If you Mastech is compatible with Artisan (probably via a serial to USB etc.), you can use that with the BT thermocouple, at least to get started. But you do have to take care with a proper and long warmup of the roaster, so that when you start roasting the roaster neither takes or gives excessive energy to the beans. Having Artisan show two or three measuring points is nice and useful, but it takes knowing the roaster, which comes with experience.
The Quick Connect is a machined piece which sits between the 90deg exhaust tube from the front plate and the T. The idea is that it's much more easy to lift the whole exhaust for cleaning, dismantling, tucking the roaster away between roast sessions etc. Search the forum and you'll find pictures of it.

Last on cooling the beans... In general with any roaster, you want the cooling process to start the very second you open the dump hatch. Then (IMHO), cooling down to room temp in about 3-4 minutes seems to be the norm, giving the best results with most beans.
I've used the normal Huky setup with a dedicated second fan and a second tray. I find it very effective, in fact more effective than some other solutions I've seen on top grade professional roasters. Personally I don't mind "fondling" the beans a bit. For the first minute I use a wooden spoon, after which the beans are cool enough to use my fingers instead. This also gives me a good opportunity to check for defects, like yellow beans, burnt beans etc. Please note that I'm not saying that you have to stir the beans all the times. It may be enough to stir them for the first 30 seconds and then once every 30 seconds, which is what I sometimes find myself do.
I would really like to see a good alternative to the "standard" setup, but I'd be hard pressed to construct anything to improve on that standard fan, which is nice and compact. A construction with a built in stirrer would be much larger and more complicated.