Rex Roaster Readies Release of 4-Pound Capacity Flagship Machine

Howard Bryman | April 15, 2026

The 4-pound-capacity Rex Roaster. All images courtesy of Rex Roaster.

Aiming to serve startup roasters with sturdy, affordable equipment, a new company called Rex Roaster is stomping onto the scene with a 4-pound-capacity electric drum machine designed in California and built in Idaho.

Preorders for the Rex Roaster are now open, and the company said it plans to start shipping units this summer. The company lists the roaster as $6,000 at full price, with discounted and priority pricing options.

The stainless-steel machine is fully manual, with dual K-type thermoprobes compatible with Artisan roast profiling software. Users can set the drum rotation speed and intake fan speed while adjusting temperature by toggling the electric heating elements on or off. A rear vent allows exhaust to exit into the user’s own venting, ducting or smoke-abatement system.

Four steel-rod heating elements around the drum are rated at 450-500 watts apiece, allowing the machine to complete a maximum 4-pound batch in less than 15 minutes on any 120-volt, 20-amp power source, according to the company. The manually operated hopper can hold a full charge of green coffee. A drum window and a traditional trier provide sensory access during roasting until the user manually ends the roast and swings open the drum door to release the finished batch.

“One of my biggest focuses was to make it very simple, with the least amount of parts that can break or wear out,” Rex Roaster Founder and Designer Ed Puzankov told Daily Coffee News. “If they do, like the heating elements, the motor, the bearings, the fan, it will be stupid-simple to service and exchange. Anyone who knows how to use a screwdriver can change out the part.”

Puzankov’s quest to build his ideal bare-bones roaster began in 2019, when he and his friend Slavik Skovpen attempted to start a commercial roasting company using 1-pound-capacity Behmor roasters.

“I was younger back then, about 26, I believe. He was 19,” Puzankov said. “I was helping him start a little company. I thought it was going to be just him home-roasting and then it quickly grew to a lot of people loving his coffee.”

Skovpen continues to run a roasting and coffee catering business in Sacramento called Coram Deo Coffee Roasters. He said the Rex Roaster project was born from his own search five years ago for an affordable roaster in the 3- to 5-pound capacity range.

Outside the Rex Roaster business, Puzankov is also the co-inventor of the VM Vaporizer, a commercial-grade oxalic acid vaporizer used to treat mites in industrial beehives. Puzankov and his father designed that device together, launching a manufacturing company 13 years ago.

“That’s where my experience comes from, heating and metal work and stainless steel. It’s a fully stainless steel product,” Puzankov said. “I said, ‘You know what? We’ve been heating metal for the last 13 years. I can probably figure out how to heat some beans.'”

After four prototypes, the Rex Roaster is poised to enter production in a private warehouse in Idaho stocked with materials and equipped with a CNC laser cutter, welders and other equipment.

“Our production is set up pretty good in terms of cranking these things out. It doesn’t take a lot, actually, to put together,” Puzankov said. “Two people can put one together from start to finish — from cutting metal to powering on — in one day.”

Currently, Puzankov fields all inquiries and sales-related questions personally as the company seeks to establish itself as a U.S. manufacturer.

Future ideas include a larger 240-volt model, as well as a half-size, 2-pound-capacity model geared toward home use. For now, the focus remains on shipping the first 4-pound Rex Roasters this summer, with plenty of additional factory space available to ramp up production as demand increases.