Coffee Roasting

[anutcanfly]

Thanks for the tips!  I would never have thought to put the beans on my air conditioning unit.  I really like how fast you can lose heat by having several cold heavy steel baking pans to pour the beans into! 

I'll remember to smell the chamber first, after a long period of disuse.    Mold doesn't go well with any blend!   

It is hard not to peek.  I made it ALL the way thru without peeking on todays roast and at 375 degrees I had a nice Vienna roast.  Next roast I'll try roasting to 380, with no peeking period, and see what I get.

I spray the beans (3-4 squirts only) immediately after pouring the beans out of the popper.  So far this has worked fine, no adverse effects that I can tell.  Have you had problems with it??

[DeejayDebi]

Your pot should be fine as long as you clean it out well after using.  I rub mine down with papper towels to remove the oils and never wet them.

How do you like the peaberry Anut? I seem to really like the peaberries in all the types I have tried. I read somewhere they were sub-standard or something but I really like the flavor best. Where you find the Tanzanian Kigoma Kanyovu coop Peaberry? I haven't seen that one yet.

[Caseus]

I've never cooled with water.  I do like knipknup and pour the beans back and forth from one colander to another.  This rapidly stops them from further cooking, and as a bonus, it gets rid of all the chaff.  I've learned not to stand downwind when doing this.     As much as I love the smell of freshly roasted coffee, I don't like wearing the intensely aromatic chaff confetti.   

I have a small desk fan that I point straight up and set the colander on top of it for a few minutes, then dump the beans into a large aluminum baking sheet to finish cooling. 

I've never had mold in my whirlypop, but I use it regularly, every six or seven days.  I wipe out chaff and surface oil after each use with a clean paper towel.  I've only needed to scrub it once since I started roasting last August.  It gets lightly browned, but it seems pretty clean.

[knipknup]

I figured my whirley-pop was properly seasoned but then didn't roast coffee for a couple months.  When I pulled it out to roast, the inside of the pot and lid were covered in a green fuzz.  I didn't see what it tasted like.  Before storing, I had only wiped it out with dry paper towels, but not too vigorously.  Now I clean it better and use more often.

I have never sprayed the roasted beans  with water so can't comment on that.

I am becoming better at roasting by sound only and not peeking, though I still peek a few times 

[anutcanfly]

Hi Debi,

Burman's has that peaberry.  I'm pretty sure I like the peaberry, but I over roasted the blend that was supposed to showcase it.  French Roast is too dark for evaluation purposes.  I did notice that I like the blends that use the East African coffees better than the blends that use Colombian beans (I'm using the mellow East Africans).  Also, the low acid blend was really good at a Vienna roast and normally I don't like Vienna much!  Very Significant, will have to play further to know anything for sure.  The reason for not liking Vienna may be due to the Espresso maker I was using, as it's temp was too low and I was pulling short acidic shots.  I'll have to make a point of brewing a pour over of each blend before I make espresso with it.  I'm steeping the grounds in a thermos for 4 minutes before pouring thru a filter.  That's working out quite nice.

Hi Caseus,

  I covered myself in chaff the first time too.  Now I pay attention to which way the wind is coming from!  I like your use of a fan and I think this will be the method I use in the future as the days get warmer.

Hi Knipknup,

I find I'm not really sure when 2nd crack begins and ends.  It sounds to me like it goes on for 4 minutes (total roast is 12 - 16 minutes)!  I don't like beans roasted to the end of the 2nd and am reluctant roast that far too often.  I'm using blends, and that may be why it goes on longer as different beans roasts in different amounts of time.  This makes it challenging to roast by counting into the 2nd crack.  I've had better luck at using using the change in smoke as a starting point and counting in from that.  Easier yet will be using the temp of the roast chamber.

I wish I learned about this sooner!  I love roasting my own coffee!  There are so many more wonderful flavors than I could ever have imagined!  With experience I should be able to roast and blend all types of beans to their very best flavor.

[knipknup]

You mention roasts by names - vienna, italian, etc, do these correlate directly to city, full city, etc?

I love the French Roast k-cups sold in bulk at Costco, but all my roasts have been mild in comparison across several different bean types and med to dark roasts.

With my latest batch, I stopped about 90sec into the second crack (more like a sizzle than a crack).  Beans were more oily than the light and med roasts but sill lacked the roasty flavor.  I'm a bit reluctant to push it longer and end up with a pot of ash.

[Caseus]

i use Sweet Maria's roast scale depicted here:  https://www.sweetmarias.com/library/content/using-sight-determine-degree-roast

It runs from green unroasted to imminent fire.   

[knipknup]

Wow, I never realized there was more on the Sweet Maria's website beyond ordering.  Thanks for the link.  I'm learning tons on this board already and it isn't all about cheese!

[DeejayDebi]

I find Sweet MAiras hard to use because most of the beans still look green to me. The chart in my ebook it closer to true colors.


http://deejayssmokepit.net/RoastingCoffee_files/DeejaysCoffeeBeanBasics.pdf


http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/RoastingCoffee.htm


You notice when you first start roasting just before the first crack is smells kind of grassy, then just as the first crack ends it moves to almost peanuts then the coffee smell starts to shine through and if you look close you will see little bits off smoke and your into the second crack. Now your getting oil and have to watch or you'lll burn your beans.

Coffee should be raosted at between 10 and 18 minutes to maximize the flavors.

[anutcanfly]

Thanks Debi,  you've got a treasure trove of knowledge stowed away! 

Yes, I've noticed that everyone seems to have a different idea of roasts.  It really doesn't matter as long as you know what you like and how to get there predictably!  When the smoke starts to get too thick to see the color of the beans you know that the oils are coming to the surface and 2nd crack underway.  For me I've found that if I stop immediately I get Vienna, count in for 30 seconds for Espresso, count in 60 seconds for French Roast.  When you're done roasting how much oil is on the surface?  I find that easier to work with than a color chart.  But I would suspect the amount of oil showing at any particular roast is affected by how long you took to get to that roast...  I'll have to remember to make notes of things like that in the future.

Just a suggestion Knipknup.  Take some inexpensive beans and deliberately go to the end of 2nd crack.  They won't too tasty, but you'll know what it sounds, looks, and smells like when you approach the end.  I totally killed my first batch(Italian/Spanish) and found that they made great blenders with lighter roasts, so don't throw them away.  By themselves they were flat and charred.

I wish I could smell what's happening, but so far that eludes me...

[DeejayDebi]

Yes Anut I am a data junkie!

I have a few beans I take too the second crack and go another 10 to 15 seconds. I find the oil starts AFTER the second crack not before - but I can hear it in my roaster. Once you have smoke your way past the second crack.

[anutcanfly]

    You're confusing me Debi!  I agree, the oil comes up after 2nd crack begins.  I phrased that poorly-- it should have said "2nd crack is well underway" It's after that I have trouble as 2nd crack goes on for a long time, 4 minutes or so.  The difficulty is in determining how far into 2nd crack to go.  I have trouble telling when it started, but I do notice when the smoke starts thickening and obscuring my view.  Relative to that thickening I can count and stop at the roast I want.  If I went by when I think I hear 2nd crack begin, my roast would be too light.  What I call Vienna is when beans are a nice dark brown and dry, with maybe a dot or two of oil if you really look hard.  I get this if I stop when the smoke starts to thicken.  So I can't be that far into 2nd crack?

[DeejayDebi]

I Think your roasting lasts longer than mine does because you do more at once. My little roaster only holds about 1/4 pound at a time. I do like mine a bit darker. There are some beans that are best with a good bit of oil as you saw in the pictures of my last roast and some are better lighter. Take time to figure it out. I am still experimenting with one bean at a time and roasting them at different ranges. Some lighter roast bring out more acidity, fuller body  and more brightness and some darker roasts bring out more carmel and less acidity and stronger flavor so a blend of the same bean roasted to different levels can also change the flavor and body of your coffee. Most coffee cupping is done at a lower mid range roast oddly enough to jusdge the beans.

[knipknup]

Thanks for the tip anut.

I roasted about a half pound last night and stopped about 15 seconds into the second crack.  No oil on the beans and a nice brown.  The cup this morning is mild with a chalky bitterness at the finish.  I'm sure some of the flavor has to do with the bean type, which is another 'search' I haven't started.  As you can see, I'm not very practiced at describing the flavor or taste profile

I did notice that, with the warmer weather, the roast only took about 12-15 minutes.  I didn't take any notes, just looked at my watch at the beginning.  I did install a dial thermometer on my whirley-pop and it hit just over 350F.

This one is from Sweet Maria's - Ethiopia Illubador - Camp Cooperative.  It was one from the 8 pound sampler.

[Caseus]

knipknup and anut, are you starting your beans in a cold Whirlypop?  I preheat mine.  I have a deep fry thermometer inserted in a hole I drilled in the lid.  It reaches down to about an inch and a half above the bottom of the popper, so it is measuring air temperature only.  I light a cigar, then I heat the popper until the dial hits 400 degrees, then I dump in the beans, close the lid, start the clock, take another puff on my cigar, and start cranking about a revolution per second.  Of course, the cigar is not essential to the process.  I just enjoy smoking a cigar while I'm roasting.   

The temperature drops steadily over a couple of minutes from 400 degrees to about 300 degrees when I put the beans in.  I have to adjust the heat up or down on my propane stove depending on outside temperature and/or wind to keep it from going lower than 300 and to hit my target of having the first crack start somewhere between 6 and 7 minutes.  First crack runs about 1.5 minutes, discounting a few early and late outliers.  By then, I'm usually back up to around 350 to 360 degrees. 

Then I try to slow the process down a bit so I get a slower ramp up to 375 to 385 for second crack.  I move the popper off the burner to maintain the temperature at 350/360 for 30 seconds to a minute, then I put it back on the heat, adjust my burner, and go for second crack.  How long I leave it off the heat and how I adjust the burner depends on ambient temperature and wind.  You just have to develop a feel for it given your roasting conditions.  I'm aim for starting second crack about 9 to 10 minutes into the roast.  If my roast time to reach second crack is over 12 minutes, I notice that the coffee tastes somewhat flat. 

Depending on what roast level I'm aiming for, I will stop the roast anywhere from the start of second crack up to 45 seconds into it.  I usually have about a 5 to 10 second coast time that I allow for, which gives me time to pour the roasted beans into the colander and move a short distance away to keep the chaff from getting all over my porch.

Note that all of the temperatures I give are of the air inside the popper over the beans.  I'm not sure how well that may correspond to the temperatures reported by  purpose-built coffee roasters during various stages and levels of roast.  Many of those are measuring actual bean temperature, because they usually have a probe that is touching the beans.