Coffee Roasting [Cooking]
2007 Mar 10
When roasting with a popper, basically you do this :
- put beans in - fill to the line a bit above the louvres
- turn popper on
- time how long it's in
- turn popper off
- put beans into colander and move about to cool off
- let them rest 12-24 hours in an open container before using.
Now, because this can cause a lot of smoke, you don't likely want to do it indoors unless you have a range hood exhaust, which I do not. And doing it outdoors when it is cold out does not work because the popper won't get hot enough. Unless you trick it :-). Basically you put the popper into a box like a banker's box or in my case a large plastic brew bucket. On a day like today only -5C you don't have to cover it, but on colder days you cover pare or all of it with alu foil.
Every popper will have a different timing under different conditions. Right now I'm using a "Popcorn Pumper". The "West Bend Poppery II" is also very popular. I have a few of those too and find them slightly less powerful - good for warm weather in the summer. Both of these are likely the 2 most well documented poppers on the internet. On my popcorn pumper I get a very dark city roast at about 8 minutes with a cool popper. About 6.5 minutes on the 2nd batch with the popper preheated. But I've come to like lighter roasts as you get more bean flavour vs just plain charcoal.
But I don't really go by time anymore. It's a good way to start out but now I go by sound and smell. Mainly sound. I use the sounds of first and second pop to tell me when it's done. I like a good medium roast now which is just at the beginning of 2nd pop. My wife prefers it when I go 30 to 45 seconds into 2nd pop for a darker roast.
I've been buying up poppers for 2 bucks each. I have 2 of the popcorn pumpers, and I think 3 or 4 of the Poppery II, as well as a Kenmore or something like that. At some point I would like to try doing some popper modifications on one of them. Like for example convert one to have separate heat and fan controls. Some people also have a 2nd popper with the heating coil removed for cooling the beans. Considering you can get a popper at your local thrift store for 2 bucks, you can do some experimenting without worrying abot breaking the bank.
The beauty of home-roasting is that green beans are less than half the price of gourmet coffee. And green beans keep practically forever so you don't have to worry about having a lot on hand. Roasted beans start to deteriorate after a week or two. And of course you get to enjoy precisely the roast you want. 30 seconds in the roaster can make a pretty big difference in the final product.
- put beans in - fill to the line a bit above the louvres
- turn popper on
- time how long it's in
- turn popper off
- put beans into colander and move about to cool off
- let them rest 12-24 hours in an open container before using.
Now, because this can cause a lot of smoke, you don't likely want to do it indoors unless you have a range hood exhaust, which I do not. And doing it outdoors when it is cold out does not work because the popper won't get hot enough. Unless you trick it :-). Basically you put the popper into a box like a banker's box or in my case a large plastic brew bucket. On a day like today only -5C you don't have to cover it, but on colder days you cover pare or all of it with alu foil.
Every popper will have a different timing under different conditions. Right now I'm using a "Popcorn Pumper". The "West Bend Poppery II" is also very popular. I have a few of those too and find them slightly less powerful - good for warm weather in the summer. Both of these are likely the 2 most well documented poppers on the internet. On my popcorn pumper I get a very dark city roast at about 8 minutes with a cool popper. About 6.5 minutes on the 2nd batch with the popper preheated. But I've come to like lighter roasts as you get more bean flavour vs just plain charcoal.
But I don't really go by time anymore. It's a good way to start out but now I go by sound and smell. Mainly sound. I use the sounds of first and second pop to tell me when it's done. I like a good medium roast now which is just at the beginning of 2nd pop. My wife prefers it when I go 30 to 45 seconds into 2nd pop for a darker roast.
I've been buying up poppers for 2 bucks each. I have 2 of the popcorn pumpers, and I think 3 or 4 of the Poppery II, as well as a Kenmore or something like that. At some point I would like to try doing some popper modifications on one of them. Like for example convert one to have separate heat and fan controls. Some people also have a 2nd popper with the heating coil removed for cooling the beans. Considering you can get a popper at your local thrift store for 2 bucks, you can do some experimenting without worrying abot breaking the bank.
The beauty of home-roasting is that green beans are less than half the price of gourmet coffee. And green beans keep practically forever so you don't have to worry about having a lot on hand. Roasted beans start to deteriorate after a week or two. And of course you get to enjoy precisely the roast you want. 30 seconds in the roaster can make a pretty big difference in the final product.
2007 Mar 12
One final thing about home-roasted - it's just way better tasting. I know lots of people who've started roasting and will never go back to pre-roasted.
And after 30 minutes of roasting you get to smell like freshly roasted coffee for the next 2 hours ... mmmmmm.
And after 30 minutes of roasting you get to smell like freshly roasted coffee for the next 2 hours ... mmmmmm.
2007 Mar 12
Speaking of coffee roasting, is there an Ethiopian restaurant in town that does a coffee ceremony? We have been to a place in Toronto that does this (roasts the beans on demand and wafts them for you, serves in special round-bottomed pot) but not here.
2007 Mar 13
Interesting to "roast the beans on demand", since as Bushidoka mentioned, you want to let the freshly roasted beans "off gas" for 12-24 hours before using them.
2007 Mar 13
Flyfish: I remember hearing about a restaurant that does the coffee ceremony...could be East African on Rideau?? I checked the 'tags' section but unfortunately they don't have a website.I'm sure you could call them and ask and if they don't do it, I bet they know who does!
2007 Mar 13
Yes, i did mention above to let them rest 12 to 24 hours in an open container, though to be honest i've last-minute-roasted a number of times (mother necessity) and used the beans immediately, and don't notice a big difference. They are still markedly better than pre-roasted gourmet.
2007 Mar 16
I find that if my coffee has not had enough time to degas the flavour is just not as developped but it certainly beats anything comercially available. Once you roast, you can never go back ... and you feel insulted at the horrors that certain places sell you for $5 a cup.
That being said, I had the coffee ceremony at East Africa and it's more than just roasting coffee, there is some thigny that is lit ... mirh (don't quote me on that) that is lit and fills the air with fragrant smoke and some spices are added to the coffee so the subtelties of a given roast are probably not as important.
For those intrested in roasting, you might want to invest in a small roaster. I'm really happy with my Zach & Danny roaster. My main criteria was : less smoke and it really does the job. I still have to shield the smoke detector but I can do it indoor with the windows closed. You can get them from Toronto from a place called greenbeanery in Toronto. They also sell tons of green beans and they get them to you very quickly at a decent price.
That being said, I had the coffee ceremony at East Africa and it's more than just roasting coffee, there is some thigny that is lit ... mirh (don't quote me on that) that is lit and fills the air with fragrant smoke and some spices are added to the coffee so the subtelties of a given roast are probably not as important.
For those intrested in roasting, you might want to invest in a small roaster. I'm really happy with my Zach & Danny roaster. My main criteria was : less smoke and it really does the job. I still have to shield the smoke detector but I can do it indoor with the windows closed. You can get them from Toronto from a place called greenbeanery in Toronto. They also sell tons of green beans and they get them to you very quickly at a decent price.
2007 Oct 20
Gonna have to hang out here more often. great idea with the popper. I'll be heading to the salvation army.... d'oh, monday I guess. don't think it's open sunday. Anyways, also wanted to mention the roater that RKEM mentions is listed as "Nesco Roaster (formerly Zach and Dani's)" turns out it's one I have my eye on already. actually I'm told by a buddy that the grinder that you can get in the combo with this one is a great model, so I may hold out. hopefully the popper idea will tide me over.
zymurgist
I just finished roasting about 225g of green beens from www.coffee.ca over in Gatineau. Took about 30 minutes, and lasts me about a week.
There are a number of ways to roast coffee at home. Most people use a hot air corn popper, and I'll get to that momentarily. But first I'll describe how to use a skillet on the stovetop to roast your green beans. It's not the most consistent method but it's easy and produces good results, and can give you an idea of what kind of results you can expect, without purchasing any special equipment. You simply pre-heat the skillet on about 3/4 heat, put in enough green beans to just cover the bottom of the skillet, and then keep the skillet moving - like when making popcorn - until it's done. A fair amount of smoke will be produced as the chaff - like the skins on peanuts - burns off, so make sure you either turn on the range hood exhaust, or open lots of windows.
As coffee roasts, it goes through two stages known as "first pop" and "second pop", as the beans dry out. First pop sounds a lot like popcorn popping, while second pop sounds more like rice krispies crackling, though much more intense. Depending upon the roasting method, the beans, and ambient conditions, there may or may not be a minute or two of relative silence between first and second pop. I found that when roasting indoors in a hot air corn popper there was a good two minutes of relative silence between first and second pop. Using the same popper outdoors in a roasting box, first pop transitioned right into second pop with no silence in between.
People who prefer a very light roast will stop the process somewhere around first pop. Those who want a medium roast will stop between first and second pop, or just into second pop. Stopping the roast well into or even beyond second pop will produce a dark roast. When you have reached the desired level of roast, you simply turn off the heat and dump the beans into a colander and swish them about to cool them as quickly as possible. If you do not cool them quickly, the roast will continue to develop to a level beyond what you had intended. Then you let the beans rest in an open container for 12 to 24 hours before using them.
Any easier and more consistant method than the skillet is to use a hot air corn popper, which you can get for 2 bucks at your local Salvation Army Thrift Store or other 2nd hand store. There are 2 basic kinds of poppers, and only 1 will work (the other may catch fire!). When you look down into the metal bowl in the popper, you'll either see holes in the bottom of the bowl for the hot air to come up through, or you'll see louvres in the sides of the bowl. You want the louvres, not the holes.