Sweet what is your fav?
I’ve been roasting my own beans for about a year and half. I use a 14" wok and my turkey fryer base. It works well and was pretty cheap.
You don’t have a lot of control over what roast you get bet I like my coffee dark and I’ve never found a way to get a City roast out of my setup. Full City and darker works fine.
Sweet Maria’s is great to deal with. Very good beans, lot of variety and good service.
Paul
I think you just need to pull the beans sooner to get City. They’ll continue to cook so dump them out before they get to the color you want.
Yep euge is right dump them sooner, I use a colinder on a box fan to cool them fairly fast.
At one time I used a spritzer bottle with water to cool. Now due to the volume I roast I drizzle water into my bread machine till the temp reaches about 220F or so.
I didn’t have any trouble getting the beans cooled off this last time. It was 3deg. F while I was roasting them. 8^)
I’m still working out the right quantity to do at one time. 8oz. works okay to get a consistent color. 16oz. is too many at one time. Less than 8oz. makes too many batches when its this cold. A dedicated roaster is on my Santa (someday) list.
I might give the water spray a try.
Thanks!
Paul
I started roasting many years ago with a Zach and Dani’s roaster(now Nestle makes it), have burned up a couple of IRoast II units and am back to popcorn poppers. I have 2 poppers, I do a batch in each one Sunday morning, after lunch, late afternoon and just after dark .That gives us enough coffee for a week.
I let my roasted beans sit on a cookie sheet from Sunday evening until Monday(sometimes Tuesday) night, then they go into a glass jar. I can’t even think of drinking store bought coffee, I,m even worse about coffee than I am beer.
Awesome! I’ve been using the popper method for quite a few years now. The old poppery II that I had in the States was perfect. The one I got here in Belgium is a bit too hot, so I’ve worked out a more manual process. I turn the machine on and off while trying to roast the beans more slowly and sometimes dump the beans to let them cool slightly. I try to hold of first crack to around 4 minutes and finish up around 7, depending on how dark I want to go. I should note that I do like a pretty dark roast.
I remember tasting the first espresso I made after my first home roast. It was an “Oh my god!” moment.
I like a strong caffeine buzz and roasting too dark will kill that, but with the small batches I roast I have great control. I may do 6 medium roast batches and 2 very dark, oily batches and blend them. I get the nice dark taste but still have all the jolt my body needs.
Can you “freshen up” already roasted coffee? For example, I’ve got some light roast in the freezer. Would a couple minutes in the popcorn popper make it better without changing it too much? Sort of thinking along the lines of frying spices to bring out their flavour. Could the same thing work for coffee?
Disclaimer: I have never tried it, but have read about it in various articles & forums and it’s about 50/50 yes/no. The “yes” folks say it’s a totally different flavor than taking it to that roast level to begin with. I’d say try a small amount and let us know how it turns out. Cheers!!!
Just have to say, this thread is great. I’ve looked for years at the roasters at Williams Brewing and thought that it was just too much of an investment for something that I might not stick with.
But after reading this thread and the info at Sweet Maria’s, I’m heading down to the Walgreen’s at the corner to buy up a couple of their poppers (if they have them) and give this a go.
Lucky for me, I just piped an outlet on my back porch, so I’ve got an ideal spot to roast and let my neighbors deal with the smoke and chaff!
Check your local Thrift Store (Goodwill) first. I wasn’t so lucky but I know some have been. I picked up 2 of the poppers on eBay for ~$12 each, and be sure they are the kind where the air is circulated through the vents around the perimeter of the bottom. Those are the preferred ones. Plus 1200 watts minimum. Cheers!
I have done this. Yes it does work. I’ve taken totally unusable store-bought beans and a little spin in the popper to darken them up made them into something much more acceptable.
Bear in mind you can do this in a skillet on the stove or on a baking sheet in a hot oven. Already roasted beans have lost their chaff and won’t smoke nearly as much unless you really scorch them.
I bought a third popper a few months ago trying to cut down on the time I spend roasting, but halfway through the first batch it quit and never came back on. I think the 2 I use are Pop-Lite, I’ll check at lunch.
I roast on my back porch. My neighbor saw my 2 poppers one day and asked what I use them for in terms of homebrewing. I made him a cup of coffee, nest thing I know he’s on his back porch roasting coffee in a popcorn popper.
The quest for the perfect cup is contagious!!! Just like the quest for the perfect beer and the quest for the perfect BBQ.
Cheers!!!
Here’s what I found at Target today. This looks like it’s the right design to me. Unless I’m mistaken.
They didn’t have any in stock, so I’d have to go back but it ain’t far.
That’s on Sweet Maria’s preferred list so it must work.
You guys are going to have me dissecting my air popper, aren’t you!!! (That or digging the bread machine out of storage and making sure the heat gun doesn’t smell like linoleum…)
For the later steps: what sort of grinder is preferred? I’ve got a cheapy burr grinder, but I think the granule size may be less consistent than I get with a whirly blade. I also usually just brew drip, 'cause I’m lazy. Is there any advantage to roasting one’s own coffee if one isn’t doing french press?
I use a fairly inexpensive burr mill (Mr. Coffee) that I purchased from Target a while back. It seems to work okay for my needs. http://www.mrcoffee.com/Product.aspx?pid=8543
Cheers!!!