Hottop (Chang Yue Industrial)
Tabletop and countertop machines, Tainan, Taiwan.
History
The reference home roaster of the 2000s is made by a company that also makes dehydrators, rotisseries, yogurt makers and steamers: Chang Yue Industrial, in Tainan. The roaster is one line among others, which says something about its degree of specialization. Marketplace listings speak of “twenty years of experience” without giving a date, and no dated milestone could be established: a historically important manufacturer of the home segment, and very poorly documented.
The KN-8828 series is the one found on amateur forums for two decades, with its variants B-2K, B-2K+ and P-2K, around 250 g per batch.
What it makes
Home electric drums of about 250 g, with a complete roasting then cooling cycle.
The models
KN-8828B-2K, KN-8828B-2K+, KN-8828P-2K.
What you gain
A sturdier build than hot-air home roasters, and a real drum, which gives body in the cup and a control that the popcorn popper does not have.
What you lose
The limits of any very small electric machine: power capped by the outlet, hence capacity capped, and a low inertia that makes the profile sensitive to ambient temperature and to back-to-back batches. The detail of the heating principle is not verified.