Coffee Bean Roast #2 – Modification & Results

(If you want the whole scoop of our initial attempt at roasting coffee beans, please go HERE).

In previous posts I forgot to include a picture of green coffee beans. Here is what we started with…

The modification: Mr. W placed a steel plate over the fish cooker burner to diffuse the heat. Just a plate of 3/16” steel.  Excellent idea! I’m told you can also use a cast iron pan for that purpose. We roasted two batches – again using the Colombian Supremo green coffee beans from Coffee Bean Direct (via Amazon). And again using the Whirley Pop. There was a little smoking involved, but it wasn’t unpleasant (like before). We’ve learned that we may have to ignore the thermometer a bit as “first crack” seemed to arrive at 250 degrees F or so (if we wanted to believe that thermometer).  Also, by the end of the roast, we had barely reached 400 degrees F.  We can now understand that it’s probably best to learn to judge the beans on smell and appearance, as well as listening for those 1st & 2nd cracks.

The best part this time was that we were able to actually see the beans while they were roasting. With our maiden roast, it was smoking too badly and we couldn’t see the beans when we opened the lid. This time we could actually check every 3-4 minutes (or more often toward the end) and see that the beans were going from green, to the various stages of brown. Awesome! The smell wasn’t nearly as bad this time. Let me emphasize this – we could actually breathe in the Roasting Room (aka Blacksmith Shop).

We did two roasts this time. Each one took approximately 15 minutes. We kept the heat on high, but with the diffusion from the steel plate, the roasting process was slow and nice.  And, I assure you, these roasted beans smell yummy! Definitely not burnt offerings. Here are the successfully roasted beans, in all their glory --

I put the beans in our Melitta Mill and Brew pot last night, set the time for 5:10 a.m., and we were awakened with….

…the wonderful aroma of fresh ground, fresh roasted coffee. The taste? Delicious. I think at this point we’re hooked.

If you’d like a synopsis of why people roast their own coffee beans, check out Wikipedia's explanation. Thanks goes again to Jayme for introducing me to home roasting! Without her encouragement, I would have given up with that first burnt offering batch.

Coffee Bean Roast #1 – the results are in…

(Please stay tuned to the VERY end for news of an exciting GIVEAWAY over at a dear friend’s place!!)

I was the only brave soul who would try this coffee. The results of our first home roast = Burnt offering! Yes, indeed. Those beans looked like burnt offerings, smelled like burnt offerings…

and truly the brew tasted bad. Seriously… yuck. Also, I put in plenty of beans for a good hearty brew, but it looked pale and weak. I found that part strange – since the beans were apparently burned? So our first roast was a definite…

But! We are not giver uppers. We will keep on trying to perfect our home roasted beans to our liking.

Thanks for your interest, and I hope we can help others by sharing our mistakes. Hopefully soon we’ll have success to share.

Now, as promised, on a much sweeter note, please head right on over to Misha’s blog "From My Front Porch In the Mountains" and see what she is giving away! You won’t believe it… a pair of Ariat boots of the winner’s choosing! Read the rules carefully, and leave your comment. And… while you’re there, you must get to know her beautiful horses (and that sweet little foal Annie), and the rest of her wonderful Tennessee Mountain crew!! Stay awhile and look around. It’ll make ya smile – I promise :)

Coffee Bean Roasting in the Blacksmith Shop – Take 1

Inspired by Jayme at Tales from the Coop Keeper, Mr W, and I set out to turn green coffee beans into beautiful roasted coffee beans today. Friend Daniel just happened to be visiting here at the right(?) time so he was drafted to help in this process. I think we may just have smoked and stunk him out! Poor guy… he may ne’er return again.

Mr W and I are major coffee fans. We’ve purchased coffee beans for fresh-ground weekend coffee for years (our weekend splurge). The next step seemed logical – to start roasting our own beans (it’s a little less expensive that way also).

Jayme gave me just enough information to get me really interested in this venture. She also recommended the Whirley Pop popcorn method. I purchased a separate Whirley Pop to use exclusively for coffee bean roasting (didn’t want to taint the taste of our buttery popcorn!). Also, dear Jayme recommended doing the entire process outside because of the stink/smoke involved. Wow, was she ever correct?! One would think that roasting coffee beans would be ahhh…. aromatic… delectable-smelling. Nope! So, out to the blacksmith shop we went, and kept the door wide open.

I ordered green coffee beans from Coffee Bean Direct (tip: search for “Coffee Bean Direct green coffee beans” on Amazon to get free shipping with a $25 order), and Sweet Maria’s (link below).  Sweet Maria’s also had the thermometer which reads to 550 degrees and fits nicely into the Whirley Pop popcorn popper. A thermometer is a great thing to have, especially for novices like us. Mr W drilled a tiny hole in the top of the Whirley Pop to insert the thermometer. He set up the fish cooker burner in the blacksmith shop. I also gathered a metal colander to cool the roasted beans in, a metal cake pan to put the cooled beans into, an oven mitt, a measure that holds exactly 8 ounces of beans at a time.  And of course my instructions printed from my various trusty internet sources. We had the air compressor next to the cooker so we could immediately begin to cool the beans after roasting (very important to cool them quickly, so I’m told). You can also use a hair dryer set on cold, or a fan for this purpose.

We poured our 8 ounces of Coffee Bean Direct’s Columbian green beans into the Whirley Pop, turned on the heat, and started cranking.

Keeping close watch on the thermometer on top. We’re waiting for “first crack,” which may happen at about 6 minutes into the process. You will start to hear pops and cracks, and the beans should start to turn brown. *Some sources suggest the ideal temperature for roasting will be around 450-500F degrees.

Our “first crack” happened much sooner than 6 minutes, which told us we had the heat too high. From here on out, major smoke and stink warning :)

 

“Second crack” should happen between minutes 9 and 12 according to one source. We went to “second crack” much too soon also, and quickly removed the popper, poured the beans into the metal colander to cool. We helped the cooling process along by using the air compressor, forcing cold air onto the beans. Also much of the chaff from the beans was blown off during this step.

We went on to batches 2 and 3, trying to regulate the heat. I think we almost got it, but unfortunately our beans from today’s roasting are very very VERY dark. Could they be classified as espresso? I hope they’re drinkable! We’ll see…

Let me just say, while our first efforts were valiant, I think we’re going to need more practice.  Best tip from today: SLOW DOWN – lower heat. Yes, we’ll try it again. Soon I hope. And after we allow our beans to “degas” for 12-24 hours, we’ll try a pot of fresh-ground home-roasted and I’ll post our review.

If you have an interest in becoming a home coffee bean roaster, there are many sites which are quite helpful. My favorite so far is Sweet Maria's. They really do have a wealth of information and tutorials on roasting your own beans. Join us – we’ll learn together!