roasting green coffee beans

[fornax hominus]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

Rastys
I have been an espresso coffee maker for 16 years , 10 years roasting ,5 in wood ovens , and all I know for sure is you have to adjust the grind [ and I cannot advise you enough that you have to have a burr type grinder] with every roast . But as in cooking you get to consume your mistakes.

[Rastys]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

Fornax Hominus
I respect your credentials, and experience. I am a very newbie in comparison and need to get my act together for the event.
I have established after a lot of searching, reading and evaluating that I need to put the beans in at approx 200˚C, rotating them at around 50 to 60 rpm until the first cracking, then slow down the heating (if possible by either opening the door or sliding them out nearer the door) until they reach the start of the second cracking. I then plan on removing them (dumping them into a yet to be made tray that will fit into the top of a frame housing a good capacity fan), whilst still cracking and cool them to room temperature.
It is then advised to rest for between 3 to 5 days in a well ventilated cool area in plain calico bags, grind and brew. If the beans are a darker/espresso roast, then the post rest can be increased to 10 days before optimum taste and aroma.
How does this sound to you?

Cheers.

[Rastys]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

fornax hominus
Yesterday, I made a tray to catch and to cool the beans when released from the roaster. I used the left over expanded metal to make a tray with top rolled edge 300mmw x 450mm long x 50mm high, It will easily slip through the front rotiserie support and under the roaster. All I need to make now is the fan forced cooling frame to sit the tray over and cool with a blast of cool air from under and above the hot beans.
Heat treated glass is cooled in the same way to make it tough and to shatter into thousands of little pieces as in automotive and shower screen/patio door glass (but not the laminated type).
I also bought home from the wrecking yard, a couple of notched gears from a 1500cc Mitsubishi Lancer engine complete with notched timing belt.
Under test this afternoon, it revolves at 30 rpm and could be slowed to almost zero if needed. I don't want it to rotate too fast as this would not allow the beans to cascade within the roasting bin. I can easily sped it up by increasing the size of the drive pulley on the wiper motor as I used the smallest that I could find.
This is to be my drive from a variable speed 12 volt windscreen wiper motor.
All I need too do now is to set it up in the oven and work out a way of tensioning the belt so that it tracks true and straight and maybe (if I need it) compensate for variable height of the rotating shaft, (mainly for the rotiserie function).
An electronics mate is building me a 240 volt power supply and variable speed controller.

[fornax hominus]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

Lookin good!
When is your trial roast?
What beans do you have to roast? Although they sell beans just for espresso we have used beans from 4 continents with no problems .

[dmun]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

I also bought home from the wrecking yard, a couple of notched gears from a 1500cc Mitsubishi Lancer engine complete with notched timing belt.

Will your timing belt put up with in-front-of-the-oven heat?

[Rastys]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

fornax hominus
as yet I have no beans. Have done considerable google searches in Aus but not overly interested in those read. I will check out some coffee suppliers here in Adelaide for some suitable beans initially to try. Selecting the perfect bean will take time and experimentation with temperatures, times and blends.
We have a large group for a pizza feast on the 28th June so will do some beans a week prior so that they can go through the espresso machine on the day.


Dmun,
the drive and belt will be some 2' from the oven door and right out level with the front arch. I can also put up a temp heat deflector if necessary. Remember also that the oven door will be closed so little if any heat should get to the belt.

[Modthyrth]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

I saw this in the latest Williams Sonoma catalog that came to the house, and immediately thought of this thread:



It's a stainless steel mesh grilling basket. You'd need to rig something for a long handle, but it already clasps closed and is made of stainless steel. Most collanders are made of aluminum, and that made me nervous. $49.95. Here's the link to the product on their website:

Mesh Grill-Top Chef's Pan | Williams-Sonoma

Anyone have any ideas on how to attach a long metal handle? The only metal I work with is the stuff I use to make tiaras for work, and I sincerely doubt I'll be able to apply any of those skills, unless I want to encrust the thing with rhinestones and pearls. ;-)

[Rastys]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

Thanks for that Nikki,
but I already have a roaster now and cost me $32 plus some thought and time.
The ones you showed are great, easy to connect to a steel tube flattened a little to slip over the oval handle with a thumb screw to secure it. I think that the postage would make it totally uneconomical to get to Australia.
I like the thought of being able to use the setup as a rotiserie as well, I just need to prove it for our large family Christmas day dinner

Rastys

[blacknoir]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

or just make a long stick with a hook on the end?

[papavino]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

In terms of time after roasting to time of brewing, I usually wait at least 12 hours with my beans in jars with the lids loosely attached while they off-gas. After about 12 hours, I tighten the lids and they really start to taste great after about 48 hours rest. Granted, I do small batches with an electronic roaster that holds about 1 small mason jar's worth of roasted beans at a time. It's good enough to feed my addiction for a few days, then I get to try new beans. The thing I'd be concerned about with the larger volumes in the oven is the control over the roast level. Some beans I roast to city+, but others I take to full-city and slightly beyond, depending on the flavors present in the bean. I find it pretty easy to control with my little workhorse, but I don't know if I could cool the beans from the oven quickly enough to prevent them from going into second crack (or to Vienna), fully. No espresso machine for me yet, but I do love my Zassenhaus mill. That thing is great. My fiance always gives me grief about how I love to do everything by hand.

I had been ordering my beans from sweetmarias.com because I love Tom's descriptions of his coffees and they've always been great. But my last order was canceled for some reason and it left a bad taste in my mouth, so I'm trying to find a source locally.

[Rastys]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

papavino
thanks for the link to sweetmarias. I had a quick look at it, have book marked it and will read it thoroughly tonight. There is always a lot to learn. I am fresh at this and always willing to learn especially if it is better, tastier and fresher than over the counter or off the supermarket shelves.
Well, I'm off to our local coffee suppliers and flour retailers for some (any reasonable ones to trial initially) green beans and some spelt and some gluten free flour for next week ends cookup.

Rastys

[papavino]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

Rastys,

Sweet Maria's has some good educational materials regarding coffee roasting. I found their roast level charts to be extremely helpful when I was starting out. I also learned a lot about roasting from some friends of mine in grad school. We had a setup at our lab with an old air popcorn popper that we'd run outside with an extension cord because the ladies in the office complained of the smell. I thought it smelled great, but I'm biased. Then I started roasting at home using a small cast iron melting pot with the stove set to about medium. Constant stirring to prevent burning, and again, my roommates didn't like the smell. The smell of freshly roasted coffee is almost as good as walking out the door in springtime and getting that first real fresh scent on the air. Okay, maybe not that good, but it's really soothing to me. Then a friend of mine gave me his old FreshRoast, but it needed a new chamber. Small price to pay. That thing is still going strong after having been relegated to the outdoors for the past 4 years here in Seattle. What a tank! Now that the spectre of using my WFO for roasting has raised it's head, that gives me even more motivation. I'll have to devise a quick-cooling machine to stop the roast. Isn't this great?? I hope you found some decent beans. Try small batches at different roast levels to see which you prefer. That's the best way to maximise your pleasure.

-papavino

[Rastys]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

Nikki,
I was shopping yesterday for a part for our gas space heater and went to a lpg specialty shop in Adelaide and found one of these baskets, but not the hooded ones. It was the 'Mesh Grill-Top Fry Pan (US$29.95)' but Aus$49.85. They did not have the 'Chefs' Pan'.
Very well made and quite strong.
I would guess that they could order one in but I am happy with my barrel roaster.

Cheers.

Rastys

[heliman]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

Interesting use of the oven...

As a traditional accompaniment to good pizzas there's always a need for some fresh beans for the espresso machine. What I use is a hot air popcorn maker to roast my green beans. I roast what I can use in a day and therefore the beans are always fresh. I run the popper outside as it blows the husks out of the top and makes a bit of a mess. I usually blend a few different types of beans in a single roast for additional variation.

Method is quite simple...

Wait for the first "crack" which indicates that the beans are well on the way, then listen out for the second "crack" and then it is pretty well done. Watch the colour of the beans and don't overcook them. I stop them when they are dark brown in colour but this can be adapted for personal preference.

Cooling is important - I place a dinner plate in the freezer just before I start the roasting process. When the beans are done I get the plate out of the freezer and place the beans on to it and stir it gently with a spoon. Done - ready to use..

Rossco

[fornax hominus]

Re: roasting green coffee beans

Yes, over the years I burned out 2 cheap-o air poppers and one not-so-cheapo electric coffee roaster. My back door alcove in winter always had a fine coating of chaff.. But, and this is a big ''but'', you can only roast so much in one popper, 3-4oz tops and we need 1lb per week. In the sieves I can do up to 1 1/2lbs. Also the same amount of personal energy used in shaking the whole popper up and down can make a lot more coffee in the oven
I am still on the stainless wire dollar store sieves.. going for their 3rd year... 100lbs of beans and counting .. they started to leak beans so I went out and bought spares @ $1 each, but I flipped the ''baskets'' and wired up the little hole I had worn , and away we go again!
With snow called for next weekend I won't have to worry about cooling the beans.