Fresh Roast air roasters are probably the most popular entry point for home roasting, and there's a lot of tribal knowledge scattered across forums, Reddit, and YouTube. Let's collect the best of it here.

I've been roasting on an SR800 for years. Here's what I've learned:

Setup Tips

Roast outdoors or in a well-ventilated space. Air roasters throw a lot of chaff and smoke, especially at medium-dark and above. A garage with the door cracked, a covered porch, or near an open window works well.
Preheat matters. Run the roaster empty for 60 seconds on high heat before charging. It makes your first-crack times more consistent.
Weigh your beans. Don't eyeball it. The SR540 sweet spot is 100-120g; the SR800 is 180-220g. Overfilling produces uneven roasts. Underfilling makes the beans fly around too aggressively.

During the Roast

Start fan high, reduce gradually. I start at 9 and step down to 6-7 by first crack. This keeps the beans moving early (important for even drying) but slows airflow later so you don't cool the roast.
Listen, don't just watch the clock. First crack sounds different at different batch sizes and ambient temperatures. The crack is the milestone, not the timer.
The heat/fan controls are integers (1-9). RoastSource models these as discrete steps, not smooth curves. Each step is a meaningful change.

Mods

Razzo V5T extension tube — The most popular SR800 mod. Increases capacity to 250g+ and gives the beans more room to circulate. Noticeably more even roasts on larger batches.
Razzo V4T extension — Similar concept, slightly different airflow geometry. Both work well.
External chaff collector — DIY or purchased. Keeps the built-in collector from filling up mid-roast on larger batches.

Common Mistakes

Roasting indoors without ventilation (smoke detector will go off, ask me how I know)
Not cooling beans fast enough after drop — keep the fan running at max with heat off, or dump into a colander and stir
Trying to roast too dark on a small batch — air roasters move fast and it's easy to overshoot from City+ to French in 20 seconds

What tips would you add? What mods have you tried? If you're on a different roaster and curious about the Fresh Roast, ask away.