Coffee Bean Roaster: Tips on getting the best from your own coffee roaster

Do you have a coffee bean roaster? Are you roasting your own whole coffee beans in your own coffee roaster? What an excellent way to get the most out of your green coffee beans! The roasted coffee beans you get will be fresh and toasty, with a full flavor you can't get from any commercially roasted coffee.

And, you know, learning how to roast your own coffee beans is easy to do. It only takes a few minutes; and most home coffee roasters really enjoy the process. If you aren’t sure if you want to roast your own beans, you can experiment with a stovetop skillet or hot air popcorn popper!

1. Requirements

If you are roasting your beans for the first, don't despair if your control of the equipment needs a little work. This is going to be a fun and perhaps frustrating process!

1. green coffee beans preferably arabica coffee beans;

2. a previously chilled container or cold surface to cool the beans;

3. equipment for roasting such as a suitable coffee roaster, an air roasters, etc. (see below)

either

a. a large, heavy duty frying pan;

b. a clean and unscented wooden spatula;

c. a gas stove; and

d. a candy thermometer to eliminate guesswork.

or

a home coffee bean roaster.

2. Home roasting on the stove!

That's right! You can roast your own coffee beans in a simple frying pan. It is not a fussy method, and one that I have yet to try since I have trouble buying green coffee beans.

Warm the pan

Don't use oil... you're not frying them! Place them into a pre-warmed pan, like popcorn. Make sure that you don't overfill the pan. One layer should be sufficient.

Use the spatula

Take the wooden spatula or spoon and keep the coffee beans moving around the pan to prevent sticking and burning. This also ensures that you will have an even roast for all the beans.

Listen for popping

Once you hear the first pops of the beans, then the optimum temperature is reached, and roasting should take place quickly after that. You will need to be on your toes to prevent the beans being over-roasted or burned.

Grades of roasting

You will already know what types of roast you are looking for: light, medium, dark or espresso roast. But do you really know what it looks like in the heat of the moment? Why not get some of your preferred beans and place them by your stove top to have instant and easy comparison!

Keep stirring, after you hear the first pop, until the beans turn your desired shade of brown, then remove them from the heat. It's imperative that you cool off the beans as quickly as you can to prevent further roasting or you may find your coffee bean roaster turns into a coffee bean toaster!

3. Home coffee bean roaster

But the stove isn't the only way you can roast. In fact, you can buy different types of coffee bean roasters that will help you do the job without all the stirring!

Home roasting your own coffee beans in a coffee bean roaster is an excellent way to get the perfect cup of coffee. There are two types of coffee bean roaster, the air roaster and the drum roaster.

Air Roasters

Air roasters are much like hot air popcorn makers, using hot air to agitate and roast the coffee beans. Setting the temperature and timing is essential—too fast and the flavor of the beans won’t develop properly while roasting too long dulls the flavor.

Air roasting does a good job of developing the brightness (overall flavor) of the coffee beans and is the least expensive roaster available. However, you may find that the some of the subtler flavors may not be so apparent in coffee beans roasted by air roasters.

However, the devices are relatively inexpensive, and may offer some coffee bean drinkers a way to upgrade their coffee without buying the most expensive equipment!

Drum Roasters

The drum coffee bean roaster heats a rotating chamber and the beans are roasted by the air temperature as well as contact with the surface of the hot drum. They also have more capacity than air roasters, making it easier to roast large volumes.

Beans roasted in this manner have better body and are sweeter than with air roasters but you sacrifice some of the brightness. Espresso roasts are better suited to drum roasters, as are dark roasts.

The drum roasters are needless to say quite a lot more expensive than either of these methods with typical machines costing around US$400-500.

4. Three Tips For Home Roasting

Three important tips came to mind, as I was writing this: cool the beans, ventilate the room, and let the beans 'rest'.

Cool the beans

Once the beans are roasted, it's very important that you cool the beans as quickly as possible to prevent the beans becoming over-roasted. The heat generated inside the bean will continue cooking the beans for several minutes or more, and may impair or destroy the flavors otherwise.

Getting cool air through the beans with a colander or putting the beans in a chilled icebox will help to reduce the temperature. You can even lay them out on a cooled surface or tray!

Ventilate

Roasting beans can be a smoky job, esp. if you choose the stove top method. So ensure there is plenty of fresh air or an exhaust fan to remove the smoke. You may not want the beans to be cooled by the emergency sprinklers! Or roast the beans outside!

Rest the beans

You CANNOT use the beans right away for coffee. Why? Because the beans won't be at their optimal flavors until about 8-12 hours after roasting because you need to let the carbon dioxide dissipate a little more from the beans. Many home coffee roasters will wait about 24 hours!

5. How much should I roast?

2.5 oz of beans will make 15-20 cups of coffee, depending on how strong you like it. But I will always err towards stronger or more. It's a pity to waste good coffee because you don't have enough!

6. How should I store the coffee?

Roasted coffee is good for about four days and should be kept in an airtight container in a cool place.

Finally, most of the coffee you see on store shelves is dark roasted, which sounds as if it would taste good. However, many dark roasted beans have had their flavor and aroma all but burned away by over-roasting the coffee beans.

But roasting your own beans in your own coffee roaster machine allows you to choose the roast you want and bring out the full flavor of the beans. So have fun!

Roasting Real Beans: Video

And finally...

Wherever you are, remember "Only Great Beans Make Great Coffee"!

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