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Don't roast your own coffee beans!

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You can do it by eye or by temperature. I find the best way is by ear. You listen for two stages. The first stage is called "first crack". It sounds like snap-pop sounds. Then the sounds will subside but the beans are only half way there. You keep going until you get to the "second crack". This is a few minutes after. You'll just know when it starts. It is not the same sound as the first crack. This one involves sounds that are more like lots of little sizzle crack sounds. A good visual for this crack is that you'll get little round slivers come flying out of the popper and land on the ground.
If you want a substantial roast, you take it to where you just start getting the first few sounds in the second crack. This would be the full city+ roast. If you keep going until your right in the middle of it going nutty then stop. This is just shy or at the beginning of a frnch roast. This is where I like to go.
If you wait until the second crack finishes you will be at a dangerous place. This is the fine line between a solid french roast and charred carbon (not tasty).

Even at the beginning of second crack you'll get smoke. Don't get scared, keep going. When done, I pour them into a metal strainer and shake shake shake. Then I dump them on a large cookie sheet to cool off quickly.

Careful not to seal them in a jar tightly. The gassing at first can be explosive!

Glad to hear folks are enjoying it. I have 10 lbs of a brazilian on its way. I had to buy already roasted beans at the supermarket this weekend. They were twice the price and half the flavor.
 
I thought I would chime in here. I just had my first glass of Northern Brewer's Peace Coffee 2nd Crack Stout and I tell ya what, this is a damn good beer. Also now I understand why they call it 2nd Crack.

The blend from Peace Coffee is 2 parts French Roast, 1 part Peru, and 1 part Sumatran Full City. 4oz of that blend is steeped for 20 minutes in the whirlpool of this beer:

10.75lbs Maris Otter
.5lbs English Dark Crystal
.5lbs English Chocolate Malt
.5lbs English Black Malt

1oz EKG
1oz Fuggles

It's a fantastic beer! Now stop tempting me to roast my own coffee too!
 
I thought I would chime in here. I just had my first glass of Northern Brewer's Peace Coffee 2nd Crack Stout and I tell ya what, this is a damn good beer. Also now I understand why they call it 2nd Crack.

The blend from Peace Coffee is 2 parts French Roast, 1 part Peru, and 1 part Sumatran Full City. 4oz of that blend is steeped for 20 minutes in the whirlpool of this beer:

10.75lbs Maris Otter
.5lbs English Dark Crystal
.5lbs English Chocolate Malt
.5lbs English Black Malt

1oz EKG
1oz Fuggles

It's a fantastic beer! Now stop tempting me to roast my own coffee too!

Come to the dark roast side! We have coffees!
 
Certainly a fun thing to try - used sweetmarias for my beans, use the hot air gun + aluminum dish method, works well - but isn't the end-all-be-all for coffee IMO. I blame my palate though - I get much more benefit, in my mind, by having a drip machine with an integrated grinder (blade, I know, not as good as burr) and having fresh ground than store-bought pre ground.
 
Is anyone using one of these coffee roaster drums for use on a outdoor gas grill? http://www.rkdrums.com/index.php/en/ Big upside I can see is that this drum has the possibility to roast your own speacialty grains. Maybe?
IMG_20180531_180647.jpg lots of fun
 
I haven't done this in years, but great success roasting small amounts outdoors with a heat gun and aluminum dog bowl. Good hot air flow, stir with wooden spoon. When roasted, toss back and forth between two strainers to get the chaff out. I never had the palate to be wowed by the difference between our usual whole bean freshly ground, and home roasted - but I love the process. Think I should try it again.
 
I warn you. Do not make the mistake I made. Do not find quality unroasted beans, then roast them yourself at home. Someone gave me this advice and I did not listen. It is too easy for an amateur roast. All you need is a hot air popcorn popper and a grinder.

Woke up this morning and realized I forgot to make more coffee for the weekend. I was left to make a pot with the Maxwell House stuff in the cabinet. It used to taste fine, now most coffee tastes like cr@ppy dishwater. It is very hard to get a cup a coffee that measures up to the quality you get used to when you make your own. You also get partial to the particular blend you buy and make, so even a half decent cup somewhere else tastes odd.

I have shafted myself. I m now a coffee junkie. I need to go roast. Excuse me.
. Or a grill and a nice day..
 
.. tell me if you have roasted grain... I would like to hear and read.. I am using the coffee drum.. and I am interested grain roasting

He has not been on her since early 2016 I don't think you will be getting a response
:coff4:
 
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