I made it darker for you!

Send me a notice when you’ve purchased some black ink so I can read it.

As I mentioned, meta-efficiency is not about evaluating a product’s energy efficiency, rather it is about evaluating the overall effectiveness of a product. I used the word efficiency in the title of the website, simply because “MetaEffective” didn’t have the same ring to it.

Ideally, every review we post would address all the topics listed on the About Us page. However, we do not have the budget of an organization like Consumer Reports. If you’d like to make a donation to help our efforts, you are welcome to do so.

Your About page is very interesting indeed.

“We evaluate products based on on their effectiveness. We ask the following questions:

Does it actually work? And does it work well?
Is it simple to use?
Is it inexpensive, and does it require upgrades?
Is it non-toxic?
Is the design universal?
Is it green?”

Nowhere on the About page is efficiency mentioned, which is interesting. Instead, the much more nuanced word ‘effective’ is used. The authors of Cradle to Cradle have quite a bit to say about effectiveness vs. efficiency.

I would also note the last three questions on your list are in no way addressed in this review. Arguably, I think home roasters fail the test of the last three questions under most circumstance. Again, I think this focus is what separates (or what should separate) MetaEfficient from Consumer Reports.

Cheers,

Ruben.

Ruben,

I appreciate your attention to detail on the subject of embodied energy and energy consumption. However, if you read the “About” page on MetaEfficient, you’ll see this site is about finding the best available options. As a result, our choices are almost always a compromise — that is I why I use the term “meta-efficiency” rather than just “efficiency”.

You’ll also notice that we feature a manual pop-corn roaster for those who choose to avoid dedicated gadgets.

Home coffee roasting is a tradition, practiced extensively in Europe and other parts of the world. It is about customizing your own roasts, and getting a level of freshness which is often not available elsewhere.

Justin

While it is great to find the best roaster at the best price, that is why we have Consumer Reports. I do not have MetaEfficient in my RSS so I can read reviews of standard consumer products, I am here for the efficient products. And while even the notion of efficiency is contested at least it has some useful meaning around energy or materials. However, this review made no mention of energy consumption by each model, did not look at the materials embodied in the products and did not compare to the energy use of commercial roasting. So, there is really no efficiency here–this should be on MetaAffordable.

While I do appreciate the important attention to durability, I come to MetaEfficient for LED lights, bicycles and accessories, water-saving showerheads, microwaves with no clocks so they use less energy, et cetera. Efficiency.

While I appreciate the notion of people enjoying their roast coffee in a local roasterie, not everyone has this luxury. I know the closest one for me is over 20 miles away. For many, home coffee roasting becomes a hobby, one that they can share with friends and neighbors. This review was for the home coffee roasters who are contemplating moving beyond the cast iron skillet and weighing the pros and cons, answering the question what’s the most effective design at the best economical price.

A review of roasters whose best qualities are that they are not too outrageously expensive is not efficiency. A home coffee roaster is the antithesis of efficient, especially when you can use a cast-iron frying pan. Please note the frying pan will never break down and will get better and better over time.

Coffee roasting is best done by professionals in large volumes. Enjoy their fresh wares in a delightful café where you can interact with your friends and neighbours. Imagine the silence if each of those people were to roast at home. Further imagine the silence of formerly verdant areas stripped for resources to build mile after mile of single-use devices that waste space except for the five minutes a week they are used. Efficiency, if you are going to use such a dubious term, must be about more than the sticker price at WalMart.