First try at roasting my own.

[DML]

There is a guy at work who roasts his own coffee, but he won't let me try his coffee. He says that I wouldn't like it. He does his in his oven. Maybe he's right.

Well, I bought a pre-owned Poppery (not a Poppery II) and some green beans. My first try was with Kenya AA this afternoon. I did it on my back patio. Good decision. There wasn't that much smoke, but there was a lot of chaff blowing around. After the first crack I looked inside and it looked like the beans were getting dark real fast so I dumped them out onto a large Corningware pan and rocked it back and forth. They cooled down real fast. The whole process took less then 5 minutes.

The first thing I noticed was that the beans were not evenly roasted. Some were a bit on the light side and some were dark and oily. I just finished my first cup and it was pretty good. Better then I expected. I don't have the decerning palate of a real cupper, but I did notice a slight taste of popcorn.

 

[bsimret]

I roast my own....

My family is from Ethiopia & Eritrea... and we traditionally roast our coffee at home. You don't really need a machine to roast your coffee unless you're trying to roast a whole pound at a time & even then you can just roast it in batches on a aluminum pan.

You can roast on the pan by putting enough beans to cover the base of the pan. Shake the pan left to right over the fire every 5 seconds & as it gets darker shake it every 3 seconds. The beans are ready when the coffee is making the popping sound rapidly & the beans have a shiny dark brown coat. This does go very quickly, about 3-5 minutes.

Hope it helps.
Simret.

 

[DML]

Simret:

Thanks for the reply. I have made 3 batches with the Poppery and I am getting better at it. I roast on my back patio. I don't think my wife would like the chaf all over the kitchen. :wink:

I have some Yirgacheffe that I bought roasted. I like it and I will buy some green beans next time.

Dennis

 

[cindy]

hello there

it was nasty of the guy who works with you to not let you taste his coffee.
i own a roastery now, but a friend of mine from australia gave me this advice when i started.
i didnt buy a proper coffee roaster at first, i bought the cheapest popcorn machine i could find. i then used the exact same amount of green beans as you would put popcorn into the machines. the popcorn machine uses hot air to pop the popcorn, and the louvres inside the machine are positioned that beans are whirled around while its roasting. i also know exactly what you mean with the chaff all over the place, i however, wasnt as intellegent to do it outside. i did it in my kitchen. it took me the best part of 5 - 6 minutes to roast, and about 30mins afterwards to clean my mess up.

now that you are into the roasting thing. experiment.
take some beans out just after first, others after second crack. grind, blend, invite friends over for tasting.

ITS FUN.....DONT STOP!

 

[mhuskey0466]

I would like to try roasting my own. I just started drinking coffee about 3 months ago. I drank it off and on over the years, but recently started drinking it on a daily basis. I am enjoying the store bought right now.