This hardly deserves a separate topic, but for the people who may consult this forum in the future, it may be helpful.

So this past week saw construction complete on our new roasting space. Trim, paint, the whole nine. We went with a low VOC paint, but regardless the smell was still prominent enough to make focusing on sensory cues difficult, so it was all airflow on deck to dry the paint and pull the stank out; HVAC, ceiling fans, and our space was formerly a pottery studio with a separate room in the back that had a small exhaust fan to pull heat from the kilns outside which seemed like a bit providence (and honestly something I was surprised I hadn't seen in other roasteries in the south). Seems pretty intuitive, right?

Well I had all of it running, dropped the first roast in, and learned right away a ceiling fan above the roaster isn't a good thing if you're using a lighter to gauge airflow. Reading the flame was difficult and the fan prevented the heat from the roaster from collecting near the ceiling (13' up), so instead I was getting bathed in it for a bit without realizing it. I cut the fan off pretty early in. I doubt I'll be using it as often as I thought. Thankfully it was left over from the previous tenant, so the decision and cost wasn't ours.

Further into the roast, things were going alright until I noticed condensation collecting on the cooling arms. Further in and steam started pouring out from the tray, which I assumed was the result of a vent cap blowing off and rain getting into the duct. I'd bump the fan on every now and again to clear it out, but it got to the point that water was dripping from seams in the ducting. This happened for three roasts before I realized it was the kiln room exhaust fan (16" in diameter, pulling air through a propped open door, venting a ~1700 sq. ft space) was creating enough negative pressure in the room and cooling fan ductwork to draw the already heavy steam back out of the duct and into the cooling tray.

So while some of it may seem pretty obvious, but when designing a roasting space:

1) Mind the placement of your ceiling fans. They may be less helpful than you think.

2) While an exhaust fan (however small) for a roasting space seems like a great idea for pulling ambient heat out, it may be more harmful than helpful, especially while you're working.