Roasting Coffee

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rowan57

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I am a huge coffee fan but haves relatively low caffeine tolerance. I exclusively drink French press and even at 3 cups a day I struggle to get through 1/2 lb a week, meaning I am often drinking old coffee. I have seen a few people talk about roasting their own and wondered how easy it is? This way I could potentially roast say 100g at a time to make sure it is always fresh. I have a very good source for green beans but would need to invest in a reasonably grinder.

Thoughts welcome.
 
I just started home roasting about a week ago. I use an inexpensive West Bend Air Crazy popcorn popper. It works quite well.

The individual roast batches are small, about 1/3 cup (not sure how many grams it is), but the roast goes pretty quickly. For me it's been about 5-6 minutes for ~Full City to Fully City+ roast. So, you can do a a few batches in short order. I'd actually like to slow down the roast speed and a trick some use is to connect the air popper on a long extension cord to introduce some voltage drop.

While it's pretty easy it can be a little messy with the chaff coming off the green beans. Also, it's a bit smelly; more smelly the darker you roast.

The other thing I didn't know going in is that the beans should rest 12-48 hours after roasting. You can grind and brew right after roasting, and I have, but it really is noticeably better if you wait.

Sweet Maria's has a bit of info, and a couple videos if you poke around: http://www.sweetmarias.com/instructions.php

There are also videos of air popper roasting on YouTube.
 
Brilliant, thank you! The videos at Sweet Marias make it real clear and obvious. I see a popcorn maker in my future.
 
I'm doing it currently with just a cast iron skillet using a two step method. Start in oven, finish on stovetop.
Mostly because I don't like bulky things that have 1-2 tasks, and I find my results are evenly colored to my eyes and taste buds I see no need for a swirlytop/coffee roaster in my small kitchen.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/co...-milling-sparging-tasting-452446/#post5806496

Either way, good luck and let us know how it turns out!
 
I've been roasting coffee for about 1 1/2 years... Purchased the roasters and beans from Burman Coffee. They have been fantastic.

I started using a FreshRoast SR-500 and it lasted about a year. Then tried the cheaper SR-300 for a little bit. The SR-500 & SR-300 can only roast about 4.5 oz at a time. About a week ago I upgraded to a Gene Cafe home roaster. This is an amazing roaster and wished I'd splurged back when I started roasting for this machine. Roasting takes about 20 minutes and then around 5 minutes for the machine to cool the beans. I roast 8-10 oz of beans every 3-4 days.

One of the nice things about a coffee roaster like the ones above is how it handles the chaff, the temp and timing controls for even roasting. With the Gene Cafe, I am using 3" elbows to vent the exhaust out of my garage through a window. When roasting the aroma can be overpowering and stay around a few days...
 
I have also been roasting coffee with a pop corn popper. Your situation sounds perfect for this method. My only complaint about it is that it is hard to get consistancy from batch to batch because of ambient air, but every batch has still tasted great.
 
AleForce1 said:
I've been roasting coffee for about 1 1/2 years... Purchased the roasters and beans from Burman Coffee. They have been fantastic.

I started using a FreshRoast SR-500 and it lasted about a year. Then tried the cheaper SR-300 for a little bit. The SR-500 & SR-300 can only roast about 4.5 oz at a time. About a week ago I upgraded to a Gene Cafe home roaster. This is an amazing roaster and wished I'd splurged back when I started roasting for this machine. Roasting takes about 20 minutes and then around 5 minutes for the machine to cool the beans. I roast 8-10 oz of beans every 3-4 days.

One of the nice things about a coffee roaster like the ones above is how it handles the chaff, the temp and timing controls for even roasting. With the Gene Cafe, I am using 3" elbows to vent the exhaust out of my garage through a window. When roasting the aroma can be overpowering and stay around a few days...
Click to expand...

How do you like the Gene? I have a Behmor, and while it works and roasts some decent coffee, I want to have more control over the roast profile, and the four programs on the Behmor are just plain weird. The one benefit to it is that the smoke level is tolerable; I can vent it using my exhaust hood in my kitchen without setting off the smoke detectors.
 
The Gene is great! I have a brewing friend that has a Behmor. I showed him the Gene the other day and he practically started drooling... I haven't seen the Behmor in action though. Comparing the Gene vs. the SR-300/500 though is night & day. The Gene gives you a lot of control and the roasts have been very consistent.. I can't wait to wake up every morning so I can mill the beans and brew the coffee...
 
I've been using a Behmor for a few years now (been roasting for...what, almost 10 years now?). I agree that the control with that machine isn't what I would consider ideal, but you can do little things to control the ramp, lengthen the time between 1st and 2nd cracks, etc...

Never used the Gene, but you lot have me curious for sure.

But definitely a +1 for the hot air popcorn popper as your starting point. You'll get a great sense for how a roast progresses with that. Also, remember that the darker the roast, the less caffeine in the bean. Just be wary of the third crack (flames). :)
 
Stopped by the Goodwill store today while I was out and about. Scored a West Bend Poppery II air popper for $3. Now I have a backup while I experiment with the Air Crazy... :)
 
Just ordered up a West Bend Air Crazy to get my feet wet. I go through a pot a day personally and grew up around grandparents that always bought coffee fresh from a local roaster. I have always been able to tell the difference in quality and am anxious to see what kind of results I can get at home.
 
rowan57 said:
I am a huge coffee fan but haves relatively low caffeine tolerance. I exclusively drink French press and even at 3 cups a day I struggle to get through 1/2 lb a week, meaning I am often drinking old coffee. I have seen a few people talk about roasting their own and wondered how easy it is? This way I could potentially roast say 100g at a time to make sure it is always fresh. I have a very good source for green beans but would need to invest in a reasonably grinder.

Thoughts welcome.
Click to expand...

At the rate of 100g at time an air popper is the way to go. Roasting in a popper is fast 7 mins or less and in my opinion creates a very bright cup. There are plenty of mods you can do to an air popper to control the chaff or even installing controllers, just search the net for "air popper roaster mods" and you should find a lot!

I started on a popper about 3-4 years ago and have built 4 iterations of roasters since that time. My household drinks a lot a coffee though!!!
 
I actually this minute ordered a popper to get started! Now to select the first coffee to have a go with, tough choices!
 
ajrunningbiking said:
At the rate of 100g at time an air popper is the way to go. Roasting in a popper is fast 7 mins or less and in my opinion creates a very bright cup. There are plenty of mods you can do to an air popper to control the chaff or even installing controllers, just search the net for "air popper roaster mods" and you should find a lot!

I started on a popper about 3-4 years ago and have built 4 iterations of roasters since that time. My household drinks a lot a coffee though!!!
Click to expand...

Any mod you would recommend? Aside from the can chimney, I have been running the popper as is. I am switching to electric brewing, so I picked up an extra probe. I want to split the heater and fan.
 
I was going to use an air popper, but only doing 3 oz at a time would not have worked out. That's about a pot's worth, and I drink a pot a day. I can do a full pound at a time in my Whirley Pop pan, so that has worked much better for me. I might try to do 2 pounds at a time, but I'm guessing that won't work well.
 
Hey all. I got my 4lb sampler from Sweet Maria's and roasted some beans in my Westbend Air Crazy popper. It got to first crack in about a minute and a half but took almost 20 minutes to get to second crack. From everything I'v been reading that seems as if it is much longer than usual for roasting in an air popper.

I roasted it in my kitchen so ambient temperature shouldn't have been an issue.

Any thoughts? Is this a problem, other than it took a looooong time to roast?
 
CGVT said:
Hey all. I got my 4lb sampler from Sweet Maria's and roasted some beans in my Westbend Air Crazy popper. It got to first crack in about a minute and a half but took almost 20 minutes to get to second crack. From everything I'v been reading that seems as if it is much longer than usual for roasting in an air popper.

I roasted it in my kitchen so ambient temperature shouldn't have been an issue.

Any thoughts? Is this a problem, other than it took a looooong time to roast?
Click to expand...

That's very very quick. I don't get to first crack until about 5 minutes, but that's with my Whirley Pop pan. I'm not suggesting it's a problem. Apparently the hot air poppers crank the heat.

How did the beans look when done?
 
The beans look ok. The first batch I did were just past the first crack and very light. I made a pot of coffee with them the next morning and it was too light for me so I tried roasting some more. I got a darker roast but it took a long time to get to where they are, which is still lighter than I like it. I got a crack or two at second crack and stopped, but it was over 19 minutes into the roast.

I watched the video at Maria's and it looks as if I have a full city roast. I think I would like to get to a Vienna roast, but I am not sure if the length of time is an issue or if I will ever get there. It seems that most using hot air poppers are getting to second crack in less than ten minutes.
 
CGVT said:
The beans look ok. The first batch I did were just past the first crack and very light. I made a pot of coffee with them the next morning and it was too light for me so I tried roasting some more. I got a darker roast but it took a long time to get to where they are, which is still lighter than I like it. I got a crack or two at second crack and stopped, but it was over 19 minutes into the roast.

I watched the video at Maria's and it looks as if I have a full city roast. I think I would like to get to a Vienna roast, but I am not sure if the length of time is an issue or if I will ever get there. It seems that most using hot air poppers are getting to second crack in less than ten minutes.
Click to expand...

With the air crazy you can either pop the rivets and let the thermostat dangle inside the housing or bypass the thermostat altogether and wirenut the 2 wires together.

With the thermostat bypassed I reach 1st crack @ 4 min and 2nd crack @ 8 min.
 
BBBF said:
Any mod you would recommend? Aside from the can chimney, I have been running the popper as is. I am switching to electric brewing, so I picked up an extra probe. I want to split the heater and fan.
Click to expand...

The best thing I did to gain control of the roasting was heater control with a dimmer switch. This allows you to control the temperature during the roast.
 
My first popcorn maker roast. Feel I probably took it a touch dark but happy for a first go. Cooled it down nicely and quickly by tossing it between 2 trays.




ImageUploadedByHome Brew1394739713.071964.jpg


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
I tried a dimmer on an air crazy but @ 1200 watts it doesn't have oomph to even overcome the resistance of the switch on high and give a decent roast.
 
whoaru99 said:
Did you open it up and wire the dimmer just to the heating element, or try to run the whole thing from the dimmer?

Also, most standard dimmers I've seen are only rated for 600W, or something like that.

I may order one of these from Auber to control the element in mine. http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_30&products_id=332
Click to expand...


Ideally, you want to separate the fan from the heating element. You can dim the heat, but the fan stays on. When you are done roasting, you can completely turn off the heat and use the fan to cool the beans.
 
Right. I should have been more clear about that being what you want to do, rather than like a question.
 
Well I am very happy with the roast I am getting out of the popcorn maker. I'm not looking for perfection, just good, fresh coffee.
 
Roasted a few loads in the Air Crazy this evening. Managed to land a couple piping hot beans on the web of skin between thumb and first finger. Damn that hurts for just a few seconds of contact...
 
Hi guys, just my two cents worth.
I had a coffee roasting business and for home I built a roaster that would roast approx. 500gm at a time.
Was designed around the Sivetz principles.
I know home Brewers like to create they're own machines, so thought I would give some info on it.
I used a squirrel cage fan and a speed controller combined with a gas blow torch fitting.
Basically air is blown into the chamber and super heated from the gas flame which them blows the beans up into the air roasting them. The beans are roasted in the air so you don't get hot spots. And I get to a French roast in around 8-9 minutes.
Cool down is quick. Just turn off the flame and increase the air flow.

I built the thing for about $100 and it's roasted every weekend for the past 8 years.

Will stick a photo up and a sketch of the design when I get a chance.
 
Also I just remembered about a roaster that I use to sell, its was the CR100.
Its basically a like the popcorn machines but a little more robust, has a chaff catcher and gets pretty damn hot.
Were/are a good product and there after sales was really good.
You can get them from the manufacture http://www.imex-hcc.com
Not sure how much they are now, but used to be around $150 USD

Just some info if anyones looking at getting serious.
 

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