Yeah, I think we've discussed this before. Being the only coffee drinker it's a little tough to justify. Maybe I will at some point. I'm always tinkering with something new in the kitchen. Maybe coffe roasting is next.
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If you want to try coffee roasting without making your S.O. mad at you for shelling out big bucks, certain air popcorn poppers that have been modified work very well for coffee roasting. You have to disconnect, or at least relocate the thermostat, so you can get a high enough temp to fully roast the beans.
They are occasionally at the thrift, or Goodwill stores brand new for 5 bucks or so. I wanted to save to buy a roaster until someone showed me these. I don't have an expensive one to compare to, but these have always worked great for me.
I have an extra one I can send you for free if you want. I'll even put a some green Sumatra beans in the box for you to accidentally burn your first time.
I'm not a big fan of Sumatra after trying it recently, but it's all I have until it runs out.
So.......let me know.
You'll hate other coffee once you start doing your own. Especially when you buy some quality beans to roast in there.
Aloha!
I never thought of repurposing a hot air popcorn popper as a small coffee roaster. Brilliant. I actually have one sitting around somewhere. Haven't used it in decades. May try my hand at roasting.
Mahalo!
-Zip
They're awesome as long as they're modded, but the only ones that work without having to stir constantly are the one's with the vents on the SIDE of the chamber. The little vents cause the air to have a nice rotation, which stirs the beans for you. The ones with holes on the bottom will work if you stir constantly, but who wants to have to stir with a wooden spoon the whole time lol
I wish I could take credit for it, but if you YouTube it, there's a lot on there about it
Thats very generous and kind. Thank you for the offer. If I decide to get into roasting I might take you up on that. Between the sausage making, smoking, curing, bread baking, and, yes, coffee making, my wife already thinks I've gone a bit too far. Thank you. But maybe at some point in the future.
Yeah just let me know.
I roast about a week's worth of beans in about 15 minutes, and there's no real clean up to speak of. Of course that's because I do it outside where it doesn't get chaff everywhere. You'd want to do that anyway because of the smoke / smell.
Anyway, just message me your address sometime if you want me to send you that extra popper.
You'll be addicted if you try it.
The good Cowboy coffee is in the pot. Just spent the last four mornings on the mountain enjoying it!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6d14936e9b.jpg
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Now I have a restaurant quality stainless steel sauce pan that I use and it serves me well but.......another nugget O wisdom from Kent Rollins my newest hero ha ha.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmjLgic62s4
You can roast a lot of different ways but it will smoke and set off a home smoke alarm so
do it outside or use a great exhaust fan.
The line from not roasted to roasted to burned is quite thin. I used to live
within walking distance of a good small roaster. He retired and sold his shop
so now I have to drive for freshly roasted coffee.
Friends that use the popcorn popper manage the temp with a decent thermometer.
You cannot see enough to get it right. Temp is an important tool.
I have roasted on my BBQ in a cast iron pot and am happy to allow a professional
to do it ;-) it is easier to hone a razor....
Find a source of green beans and have fun. Start with the inexpensive beans.
Fresh roasted should sometimes relax a day to outgas before it is ground so if you find
a local roaster fresh can be yesterdays. Try both ... if you can. Most will humor you
if there is no big line.
Try the different roasts but I found that half a light roast and half a dark roast of the
same bean is ideal -- my custom blend.
Some roasters (the machine) heat very evenly and the entire bean is the same from inside to out.
Home roasting and some commercial roasts are not as evenly roasted inside and will
brew differently.
I confess to liking a cone filter or an Aeropress for making my coffee.
The cone filter cleans up nicely and no grounds to clog the drain.
The aeropress makes amazing coffee considering the price. Both are
portable enough for travel.
My mom was perkolator person, the neighbor was a vacuum brew, the
crews I worked with in Arizona and Wyoming made cowboy coffee with a
bit of accidental diesel... it sure was satisfying. I think the diesel was on the cup
not in the coffee.
I drink my coffee black unless it needs help in the form of milk and sugar.
Some truck stops need help.
For your viewing pleasure .............
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQBZZ6P3aB0
This is also quite interesting .............
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQuZS61SezE
Never felt the need for a thermometer, or heard of anyone that felt they needed to, but to each their own I guess. All my beans come out great, and I know a lot of people who go only by sight, and sound when roasting their names this way.
I'm my opinion people tend to over complicate things sometimes.
But yes, I couldn't agree more on the Annette part. Anyone about to try this, don't do it inside if you don't want your S.O. to kill you, or at least put you in the doghouse.
Very smoky, and stinky.
This is MY opinion and not a disagreement with anyone. :ziplip:
First off I am speaking of those who roast their own beans.
If your roasting and only do enough for a week or two I have experienced no reason to either freeze or vacuum seal the beans, an airtight has always been satisfactory for me because I use the beans before they degrade in taste.
I agree with jwtruth45, and also have this suggestion. I repurposed a bread maker by bypassing the heat element and reposition the thermostat outside of the machine to detect only the ambient air as to not shut the machine down due to overheating. In other words machine is only used to agitate the beans while the heat source is a heat gun held buy the lid or holder in top.
Here is a video of process if interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23AJYJCvI1I
Cold brew coffee sure seems to be popular right now, and I love most of the ones I've tried. So yesterday I thought I'd try making my own. I used 3 - 900ml mason jars and my french press to hold the brew. I did a coarse grind, the same as what I use for my french press, and did around a 5 parts water to 1 part coffee grounds. I let it sit for around 22 hours, and did a flip of the jars at 12 hrs. Strained it through a metal sieve, and then through a reusable basket coffee filter. I may pick up some paper filters for next time, because there was some sediment left in the bottom of my first glass.
Turned out fantastic! Not a whole lot of flavour on the tongue, but tons on the back end. My wife even like it, and she doesn't drink coffee. I can see this being something I can enjoy even in the colder weather.
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There's a pretty cool sieve setup on Amazon that fits right into the wide mouth mason jars. Around $12-15 and works well. Easy cleanup. Cold brew seems to be less acidic to me. Good taste too. Not very cost effective to me vs. espresso for the 'kick'. I used a lot of cold brew coffee for the same kick.
Tip for the fines... Don't shake the mason jar before you pour your cup. When you get down to nearly the bottom of the jar, just dump that last 1/4 cup with the fines. A lot less trouble than all of the filtering.
Here is a site that I can recommend highly as many fine videos from a person that knows coffee;
Moka Pot
Roasting
Roaster puzzle
listing Google search and go to Kave.....
Many English language videos here!
If you are not a member of Vimeo, you can sign out when the videos are poor and reload to get to see many more.
~Richard/ Espressme
PS ere is his Home Page for a lot of wild ideas and products!
I'm no specialist when it come to coffee. I just drink it all day. The muddier the better. I like mine to bite back!
Well on the recommendation of a friend, I ordered this coffee roaster this morning
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
He says it works great for him so I guess I'll see
Our Saeco Odea has started acting up sadly!
Was making some strange noises during the pull and not working properly.
Have a "brew group" o-ring replacement kit on order from Amazon and am having to settle for French pressed Folger's this week. Been spoiled after two years of perfect coffees.
Can't wait for the repair kit to arrive.
Noticed online that Seattle coffee, among others, are offering these Philips made Saeco units at pretty decent refurbished prices now.
Cannot recommend this all in one unit highly enough for those that LOVE a fresh pulled espresso or long Americano in the morning.
G'day gents. Middle of a weeks vacation up here and today it rains. So indoor hobby's it is today.
Dave - I have a similar one (SR500 - no idea what the differences are) and it has been working just fine for me for a good five years now. My suggestions:
- don't drop the top part - it breaks pretty easily. Don't ask me how I know that... However it patches up well with Sugru. :)
- keep a small brass brush handy. The screen in the top will get dirty and plugged up from the oils, etc. An occasional soak and rub down with the brass brush works nicely to get the air flow restored. I just use a cheap little one I found at a dollar store
- if you like darker roasts, be prepared to take your time and slow the fan speed down towards the end of the roast. I have a hard time getting it as dark as I like if I do an under-sized batch.
Good luck!
:tu
Thanks Cangooner, I appreciate the tips. As far as I could see there wasn't any real difference in the two.
I like a medium roast, so I guess it takes a bit of figuring on when to slow the fan down.
But I'll get it.......or just keep bugging you until I do :rofl2:
Well my roaster got here yesterday. I also ordered some beans with it off of Amazon. The beans are Arabica, I also have some Brazil Adrano beans as well.
So I fired up the first try at this, with the Arabica beans. I have come to enjoy a medium roast coffee. So I tried adjusting the fan as I have read about peoples trials and errors......the first batch burnt.
So dump that one out and try again.
Now this time I kept the fan on high the whole roasting cycle. And after about 3 1/2 minutes, I liked the color of the beans. I looked at the ones I have been using to get an idea of what color I was looking for. Then hit the button and let it go into cool down.
Then another cool down cycle to finish removing the husks off of the beans.
Into the burr grinder. Smelled a bit different than I am used to. Probably the smell of the burnt coffee still in the air lol
So this morning, using my vacuum pot, I brewed it up.
I have to say, this is a very smooth coffee and quite enjoyable. A flavor much better than I expected.
I guess this coffee roasting is my new rabbit hole.....................now to try different coffees and roasts.
Thanks Cangooner for your input, I see what you're saying about the top screen.
From any of you home roasters, what green beans do you suggest?
I do like full flavor, and now that I roast my own, I can get the roast I prefer.
Hello all, I've never posted here but like to keep tabs on whats going on and am impressed with the knowledge.. After reading Richards, (Geezer) recommendation, I purchased a Lido grinder and have been using for about a year now.. I do like a nice strong cup of coffee and have the setting on a fine Turkish grind which is almost a flour consistency.
I may not be a purist for using the Areo Press, (which I also read about on this thread). I would at some point like to get a vintage Espresso maker and roast my own beans. Small steps. Gotta keep learnin.
Mike
https://i.imgur.com/Uz1tV7F.jpg
My personal favourite is Ethiopian Sidamo. Beautiful stuff IMHO. I roast just until the second crack starts and you can just see the oil starting to come to the surface of the beans. Mmmmmmmm... :)
I found it helpful when I started to pick one type of bean and stick with that until you have its particular roast down pat. Then either try some others or vary the roast of the first type. The roasting profiles of different beans can vary widely. Some beans are larger, other smaller, some have husks, some don't, etc. For example my favourite Sidamo roasts more slowly and has waaaaaay more chaff than my #2 Yirgacheffe.
And if you can, see if you can find a green bean supplier locally who can give you small samples to check out. I've had a couple that I have been really glad not to have paid for a full pound, and some others that I really enjoyed that I likely would not have bought if I had to get the full pound. Also, roasters tend to be just as obsessed about beans and coffee as we are about razors and shaving, so they tend to be more than happy to take time to chat and help out.
EDIT: this book was suggested to me when I first started home roasting, and I found it really helpful: Home Coffee Roasting: Romance and Revival
by Kenneth Davids
Thanks a lot!!!!
I am going to stick with this bean for a bit anyway. I enjoy it, so that's not a struggle :D
Appreciate the link to the book, you're a good man. No matter what Tom says :rofl2:
Not to many local roasters in my area, but will check out our surrounding counties. Ya just never know.
Sweet Maria is a great source for green beans. They specialize in home roasting and have a full line of coffee roasting and brewing paraphernalia.
I started roasting with an I roast years ago. I could never dial in the roast I wanted. The beans would burn fast you have to watch those machines like a hawk when you roast and I also found out those machines aren't made to last more than a few years. Behmor makes a roaster which is pricier than what you have but is still reasonable and it does a way better job unless you like really dark roasts.
Often times local guys will sell you green beans for almost the same price as roasted and that's a rip off. Typical green beans should be in the $6-$7 a pound area. Of course some can go way higher and robusto beans they practically give away.
Question, does it always smell like burnt popcorn after roasting?
Or is that only with beans that still have husks?
I know I’m not burning the coffee beans. Did that once :D
No it should not. That was the problem I had with the I Roast. It roasted too fast and started burning. "A pox on that machine."
I use a Cafe Gene these days. It does what I want.
Actually freshly roasted beans have little smell. As they degas they began to take on that nutty smell.
Thanks, I didn't think it should. Dang it
Try starting off with a higher fan speed. I found at first that I was burning some of the beans really quickly, then realized I had the fan so low the ones on the bottom just got scorched. So now I start off with a higher (about 3/4 power) fan speed until the beans have started to change colour and get lighter. (I mean lighter as in lower mass, not colour) Then lower the fan so they are still agitating, and keep on adjusting as needed.
Also, I like a darker roast which means the beans get more oily. When that happens, there's a tendency for a couple of beans to stick in the bottom of the container. Make sure you check for hangers-on or they *definitely* will burn next time around.
Thanks, but the fan is on high all the time. I will just run it longer to darken the roast.
Well I spoke with the seller of the roaster this morning. Very helpful gent.
He explained a lot to me about roasting, and the aroma. I guess with dry processed beans, which I have, the husks do create quite an aroma. Also the degassing after roasting needs to be a bit longer than I was doing. I explained to him how I was roasting the beans, he told me I was right on track there. I feel better about that. Operator error is usually the main problem :D
He told me of a great coffee supplier he's used for over 15 years that's close to me. Well in Wisconsin, so shipping won't be more than the coffee. And they sell wet processed beans. So 1/3 of the husk material.
I have an order in now.
For most beans degassing is a 24 hour thing but there are some beans that can take up to three days. Coffee sellers typically bag them right after cooling. Once they go into those foil bags with the valves in them the CO2 displaces the O2 and that's supposed to keep them fresh for a time.
I try to avoid dry process because it's cuts down on the amount of coffee I can process through my machine at one time and the chaff amount is high as you have discovered. Actually dry processing is in the minority. Most beans are wet processed. With higher temps you can also get a fire with the chaff with dry process. Some roasters are worse with that than others.
Actually it is Burman Richard. Seems like a great place to buy from.
Great descriptions of the coffee's and how they're processed and their flavor profile.
Thanks Spender, I haven't got to read a lot of the book Cangooner linked to yet. But I appreciate any and all info. I'll get the book read when the little ones give me a bit more time to myself :roflmao
I'm going for the 24hr degassing now. I was only giving it 12 or so at most