Guest Post : Devin on Home Roasting

Posted on Dec. 02, 2009 by Uncommon Grounds in Guest Posts

Today’s Guest Post is Part I of a two-part series on how one of our customers, Devin, roasts coffee at home! We are thankful that he took the time to detail his use of our coffee in such a vivid, instructive manner. Anyone else out there interested in roasting coffee at home? Leave a comment below, let us know what you think!

Whenever I’m doing something of which I require the utmost quality, I strive to reduce the number of links that result in the final product. This allows me to minimize faults, mistakes, and inefficiencies while working to improve the essential steps in the process. When it came to coffee, beans were my weakest link. When purchasing roasted beans, I could never be sure when (or how) the beans were roasted, and I’d often forget when it was that I had purchased the beans. Due in part to my laziness and in part to commercial roasters failing to supply a roast date, I was never sure how old my roasted beans were. Not to mention the variability encountered when comparing beans roasted and purchased yesterday, verses last week. The solution was simple, and surprisingly economical: home roast.

I must first dispel the myths that home roasting is an expensive investment, as well as a time consuming process. I made no initial investment to begin home roasting, and home roasting only adds 5 to 10 minutes of work, which consists mainly of keeping a watchful eye on the roasting process (read: you can enjoy a newspaper and a coffee while home roasting if you desire). Spread across the 3 to 6 brews I get out of each roast, that’s less than four extra minutes per brew max additional time. The 30% off price tag of green beans (as compared to roasted beans at Uncommon), the control over the roast, guaranteed freshly roasted beans, the knowledge gained from home roasting, et alia all make these four extra minutes well worth it.

Being one of the few green bean purchasers from Uncommon, and an avid Twitterer (Hi @UncommonGrounds!), the powers that be at Uncommon asked me to write a little bit about my process; about how Uncommon fits into my life at home. I strongly encourage you to try home roasting, and join me in purchasing green beans from the only seller in Saratoga Springs (Uncommon, duh!), and one of only two green bean sellers in the Capital Region.

Hey, maybe we can start a club?

Picking up the beans!

Purchasing the Beans

When seeking out raw beans at Uncommon Grounds, it may be wise to ask for a manager since they are most well-versed in picking out the correct beans from the often strangely labeled burlap sacks in the back of the store. The first time I purchased green beans from Uncommon, the employee helping me was really excited to go search out the green beans; he was ready for the ‘challenge’ of digging up my request from the supply in the back of the store and was excited to learn a little about home roasting.

It really doesn’t matter what kind of beans you home roast.

I know you have an adventurous spirit if you’re trying home roasting, so try something new!

Roasting Equipment

Basically all you need to roast is intense heat. This can be accomplished in the oven, on the stove, or over a fire. I’ll be covering the technique I use most often: the air popcorn popper.

Some of us already have an air popcorn popper at home; I did. Otherwise, it’s a simple department store purchase for only $20 – $30. And you can still use it for popcorn! The popper needs to be the kind that has vents around the interior bottom of the cylindrical popping area. These vents push the chaff (the skin that will come of the beans when roasted) up the chamber, and out the popper. You should use a bowl to collect the chaff. If you got a popcorn bowl with your air popcorn popper, that’ll work perfectly. Don’t be surprised if the chaff blows out of the bowl though and makes a slight mess, it’s very light.

Notice the vents at the bottom of the container.

The Roast

Be aware: the roast will likely produce some steam, CO2, and even smoke. I roast on my stove and turn on the fans.

My roasting setup, with large popcorn bowl to collect the chaff.

Fill the top of the popcorn popper with green beans. It is recommended to follow the manufacturers recommendations as with popcorn popping, and fill the basket with as many green beans as you would popcorn kernels. You can do less, but it is not wise to do more. Turn on the popcorn popper, and drop in the beans.

Fill the basket with beans, as recommended by the manufacturer

I’m not an expert on the various degrees of roasting (from Cinnamon to French). I think you should experiment and figure out what you like best. Afterward, you can figure out what kind of roast you’ve been performing. Regardless, your roasting process should take anywhere from 4 to 8 minutes. I find the first crack to occur between 4 and 5 minutes, and the second crack after 7 minutes. I prefer to roast to the point where the beans are quite dark, and becoming oily, as I feel that most of the flavor has been developed at this time. The air popcorn popper roasting method will not provide an even roast to all the beans, and many people see this as a con to the popcorn popper method. I like an uneven roast, as it broadens the flavor spectrum of a sample of beans.

Chaff collecting in the large bowl. A few beans have jumped out too, no big deal.

Roasting beans!

Check Wikipedia for a decent article on different roasts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_roasting#Darkness

The Cool Down

It is important to realize that since the beans are still hot, they will continue to roast once the popcorn popper has stopped. As such, you want to start the cool down process just before the beans reach your desired roast. Once the popper is turned off, the beans will come to rest inside the roasting column. It is important to pour out the beans before they have a chance to burn. Cookie sheets work great for cooling, as they absorb heat well. I use a circular pizza sheet that has holes in it, allowing for better air circulation. In colder weather, you can leave your cooling tray outside for a few minutes prior to roasting to bring its temperature down. You can also take your beans outside for cooling. After pouring the beans onto your cooling tray, mix the beans around for a minute to facilitate cooling.

Cool down of the beans on a perforated pizza sheet.

It is recommended that the beans rest for at least an hour before grinding and brewing, longer for certain varieties of beans. You can transfer them to a container once they’ve reach a tangible temperature, but don’t cover them tightly as they will continue releasing CO2 for another 6 to 12 hours. I usually roast in the morning if I plan to brew later in the evening, or roast in the evening if I plan to brew the next morning. I don’t find air tight storage to be very beneficial, as I typically use all my roasted beans within a week. If beans have been sitting for over a week, I usually roast fresh ones. If you do home roast, don’t ruin your beans by refrigerating or freezing them.

Check out these articles related to home roasting and brewing:
http://www.sweetmarias.com/airpop/airpopmethod.php
http://www.sweetmarias.com/skilletmethod.php
http://www.sweetmarias.com/ovenmethod.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_roasting#Darkness

Find me:
twitter.com/iamdooser
blog.iamdooser.org

Check back tomorrow for Part II of Devin’s guest post detailing the brewing of his home roasted beans!

Tags: Devin, green coffee beans, guest post, home roasting