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☕ Coffee ☕: Ingredients, Roasting, Grinding, Brewing, and Tasting

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Roasting over coals would probably result in some odd flavors. But a drum on a rotisserie over gas flame (with shield to keep the flames from hitting the drum) would work fine I think. With a little temperature feedback, it can't be too far off from what the pros do. Anyway, at some point I might give it a try. First I need to find a gas grill :)

^I bet you could can find a cheap little gas grill on craigslist that has sat in some old lady's backyard and had about 2 packs of hot dogs cooked on it's entire life haha. i'm sure whatever that's in there could be washed out & burnt off too.
Get yourself a thermometer probe that is positioned somewhere near the lower part of the drum and I bet you'd have GREAT control over the roast! Set a little timer on one of the wings of the grill and pretty soon you'd know at how many minutes you turn down the temp. to your learned set points.



coffee used to be roasted over coals way back in the day :eek:

here is a 16 cylinder, coal fired roaster. i too wonder what that must have tasted like. i'm guessing something like this cheap store bought junk i'm stuck with for the 3 weeks while I play the waiting game. My Quest M3 is heading north to Canada this morning. Hopefully it doesn't get beat up along the way

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Sooo.... found this collecting dust in the back of my pantry....:pipe:

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...this may very well be converted to a roaster by this weekend. i don't have a heat gun or any way to monitor temp. Might swing by the local harbor freight and get this dialed in. probably sell it in a month once the new roaster is in place
 
^I bet you could can find a cheap little gas grill on craigslist that has sat in some old lady's backyard and had about 2 packs of hot dogs cooked on it's entire life haha. i'm sure whatever that's in there could be washed out & burnt off too.
Get yourself a thermometer probe that is positioned somewhere near the lower part of the drum and I bet you'd have GREAT control over the roast! Set a little timer on one of the wings of the grill and pretty soon you'd know at how many minutes you turn down the temp. to your learned set points.



coffee used to be roasted over coals way back in the day :eek:

here is a 16 cylinder, coal fired roaster. i too wonder what that must have tasted like. i'm guessing something like this cheap store bought junk i'm stuck with for the 3 weeks while I play the waiting game. My Quest M3 is heading north to Canada this morning. Hopefully it doesn't get beat up along the way

image298.jpg


image314.jpg

Cool pics, and I would be curious what the inside of them looked liked. I wonder what one could chip out with a screwdriver? Or maybe they were glistening clean. Idk.

Glad to hear you got the m3 sold quick.
 
Glad to hear you got the m3 sold quick.

Thanks, Apples - I'll be a nervous nelly until it shows up in good condition though. ETA is Monday barring customs interfering. The buyer seems like a cool guy who is a pro roaster. He works on a Probat L12. He bought the QM3 to profile/sample new coffees.



found this collecting dust in the back of my pantry....may very well be converted to a roaster by this weekend..

here is the finished product complete with a tidy plastic removal around the heat gun area. I attached a couple other pics to show the clean rewiring job and removal of extra parts. I'd like to add an on/off toggle switch if the store has one when I stop in for a heat gun & digital thermometer. As is, it spins at full speed when plugged in; which is just fine with me:

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I'd like to pass this off to someone who wants a nice roasting kit when my new machine gets in. This HG/BM will probably be good for 12oz batches (or more at the cost of control/max quality) and will include a bean temp probe and an adjustable Heat Gun. It will be a hot rod little kit for cheap... tempting to keep around as a backup for myself.
 
How late is too late to roast? I roasted at 8:30 the other night. Think I pissed neighbor off, doh. Hey man, I need my coffee. Its cold here the only ones outside were probably me and him and nobody keeps their windows open. I trusted the setup, probably too much. I am now using the thick hg cord in my entertainment center pinched with the lower door and voilla it rests beautifully on the bm for a hands free operation. Four batches in a row, boom 1c at 10 min and finish after 145ish more. 12 min is 2c. I went outside at 10mins unchecked cause it was cold, and it was snapping like a dutiful little soldier. Full power, solid 1c that died off on cue and after a little silence, I stopped the roast at 1145ish. I have not experimented with heat adjusting lately, because I like the robust first crack. Granted I don't know anything, but am experimenting with keeping a good solid first crack going. Assuming this kind of technique could be totally different on a drum or different setup.

I brought it to work and my friends and I drank it and we all agreed it was some of the best coffee we had ever had. There seems to be something about the Ethiopian beans imo. I have liked them more than any other ones. This was the Nitsu_ruz from bodhileaf.
 
Thanks, Apples - I'll be a nervous nelly until it shows up in good condition though. ETA is Monday barring customs interfering. The buyer seems like a cool guy who is a pro roaster. He works on a Probat L12. He bought the QM3 to profile/sample new coffees.





here is the finished product complete with a tidy plastic removal around the heat gun area. I attached a couple other pics to show the clean rewiring job and removal of extra parts. I'd like to add an on/off toggle switch if the store has one when I stop in for a heat gun & digital thermometer. As is, it spins at full speed when plugged in; which is just fine with me:

2eq5slw.jpg


28ldlc.jpg


6xyzom.jpg





I'd like to pass this off to someone who wants a nice roasting kit when my new machine gets in. This HG/BM will probably be good for 12oz batches (or more at the cost of control/max quality) and will include a bean temp probe and an adjustable Heat Gun. It will be a hot rod little kit for cheap... tempting to keep around as a backup for myself.

Thanks again for helping take my coffee to a new level jammin.


Perfect use for the quest no?!

I am curious what you will think of the Harbor Freight heat gun. Mine smelt so bad I just couldn't keep it. The Home Depot had the same smell but it burned off quickly. I accidentally left my Harbor Freight one running when I went to Home Depot to buy the other one and it was still going when i got back, which is impressive. But it still did have that smell. It's time for me to get a thermometer. Any tips on Drilling?
 
^soooo i got a little antsy and drove to Lowe's and showed up 9 minutes before they closed

I bought the same HG I used back in 2011 when stationed in Baghdad and a BBQ thermometer. I want to say it corresponded with a 5/32" drill bit. I am going to relocate the insertion point lower and closer to the side to accommodate smaller batches and avoid the stirring arm.

My first batch was 12oz and I started the HG off @ about 80% power.... oops. Hit 1C at 6:30 which is way too fast for the dense Guat beans I was roasting. I had completely forgotten & underestimated the power of an HG/BM kit so I bumped my 2nd roast up to a full pound which gave much better results. I did this roast @ 67% power and cut that in half as soon as 1C made it's 1st snap: 10:00 1C & 11:15 finish. I'm sure this roaster could handle 1.5lbs with ease and possibly more with augmented stirring fins.

Here is a shot of the 2nd roast. Keep in mind this is a 1lb charge of 4 different types of beans (didn't want to use up my best stuff while learning).

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^^i have a second one i use for cinnamon roll and pizza dough. In college I used to buy 50 pound bulk bags of flour and make bread. Now I only use it for dough, but man I would appreciate some tips on bread making in it, because all the bread I made sucked. On the topic of quantity, I wish I would have bought 20 pounds when those Ethiopians went on sale.
 
^^i have a second one i use for cinnamon roll and pizza dough. In college I used to buy 50 pound bulk bags of flour and make bread. Now I only use it for dough, but man I would appreciate some tips on bread making in it, because all the bread I made sucked. On the topic of quantity, I wish I would have bought 20 pounds when those Ethiopians went on sale.

Everything I make in there is great. Maybe I'm just lucky. There's a breadmaking thread here on HBT, as you probably know. That's the place for technique. However, I doubt they would be fond of making bread with a machine :)

Here's the recipe I use all the time. Jo's Rosemary Bread
 
Maybe sometime a few of us can split a coffeeshrub order? It's Sweet Maria's sister site and features some really great coffees, just in a lot larger quantities. The price/lb is usually pretty good though.
http://www.coffeeshrub.com/shrub/content/green-coffee-list

Yea, prices are $1 - $1.50 less per pound. Not sure that would make up for the dbl shipping.

I was fantasizing about getting a 100# bag of beans. Wow.
 
Yea, prices are $1 - $1.50 less per pound. Not sure that would make up for the dbl shipping.

I was fantasizing about getting a 100# bag of beans. Wow.

I think USPS envelops are just under $7 and they hold a solid 10lbs. Something to think about if we spot something we all want
 
UPS Ground to my place is $16 bring the price to about $5/lb. so call it $58 shipped for a 10lb bag to each person


Edit: I just checked my recent purchase receipt from the GCBC 5lbs of a nice Ethiopian. It was $40 shipped. I think that's a good reference point
 
I'd be in for a split on a good coffee. I'd say it would probably have to be something pretty good to be worth the hassle.

EDIT: I also don't think i use as much coffee as most of you here, so 5lb is probably what I'd want. 10lb on any one coffee would last me a while.
 
Bodhi Leaf prices seem much higher than Marias. Am I missing something?

[edit] just bought 11# of beans (africans and a few central americans) for $71 delivered.

Are you on their mailing list? This weeks deal is sulawesi for 3.75 a pound. They only charge like 6 dollars for 5pound usps. So 25 for 5 pounds shipped quick. I have really liked the coffee they send me too, just my experience.

Thanks for that nice recipe.

Edit sorry that deal ended friday. Went to buy some. Oh well hope next week its something good.

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Are you on their mailing list? This weeks deal is sulawesi for 3.75 a pound. They only charge like 6 dollars for 5pound usps. So 25 for 5 pounds shipped quick. I have really liked the coffee they send me too, just my experience.

Thanks for that nice recipe.

Edit sorry that deal ended friday. Went to buy some. Oh well hope next week its something good.

I saw lot of $8.50/# beans. For something amazing, that's one thing, but a lot of their beans were there.
 
I saw lot of $8.50/# beans. For something amazing, that's one thing, but a lot of their beans were there.

I've noticed that with Burmans too - lots of beans in the 7s and 8s. I used the think SMs was a more expensive supplier but they are looking mighty afordable these days.
 
UPS Ground to my place is $16 bring the price to about $5/lb. so call it $58 shipped for a 10lb bag to each person


Edit: I just checked my recent purchase receipt from the GCBC 5lbs of a nice Ethiopian. It was $40 shipped. I think that's a good reference point

What coffee is being considered?

I would go for 5lb of this one,
http://www.coffeeshrub.com/shrub/coffee/ethiopia-dry-process-yirg-buufata-konga-0

or this
http://www.coffeeshrub.com/shrub/coffee/kenya-nyeri-ichuga-aa
 
I would be in for a buy, 5# would be my sweet spot but I could be talked into 10# if that gets things moving.

Would be interesting to compare roast results with others using the same bean.
 
I would be in for 5# as well. Just started roasting so I don't know much about different beans. So whatever everyone thinks is good . . .

I could probably be talked into 10# if it helps out.
 
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