Monday, June 9, 2014

Roast Your Own Coffee

I'm excited to present another guest author today!

Steve is an urban homesteader friend of mine and has tried something I thought was a great idea. Steve is roasting coffee in small batches for his own use.  Did you know you could do that? Roast coffee yourself? Honestly, the thought never occurred to me, but gosh, I'm excited to try it now!  

Here is the article he graciously wrote to describe his experience. Thank you, Steve!

                Not long ago at dinner the topic of coffee came up. It seems that due to the drought in South America we can expect coffee prices to rise as much as 25% some time in 2014. And we all know that once the prices rise on anything, rarely will we see them come back down to what we're used to. Add to that my favorite place to buy fresh roasted coffee decided to stop roasting in house and instead started having it shipped in. This got me to thinking about roasting my own coffee, I mean how hard can it be...right?

                The first commercial coffee roasting machine came out in the 1940's, that means every bean roasted up until then was done by hand. Out on a cattle drive over an open fire to the fanciest hotels they roasted by hand. So like everything I'm interested in, I started researching.  And truth told I found that there is no real mystery to roasting coffee, no double top secret recipes and no high priced equipment required. With a few necessities and some patience it's possible to roast fantastic coffee at home and for a fraction of the cost.

                First let's talk beans. Un-roasted coffee beans (actually they are seeds) 

 are pale-greenish in color. They are small, hard and there is a huge variety out there from every continent. Un-roasted or green coffee beans are cheap and can be stored for several months. You can find hundreds of places to buy green coffee beans online for prices that range anywhere from $5.00 per lb for Sumatra to as high as $15.00 per lb for Jamaican Blue. I found a local place here in Albuquerque that sells green coffee beans from all over the world for $6 per lb. You can find beans from all sorts of exotic places and you can buy directly from small farmers as opposed to buying from big business. The sky is the limit on what type of bean you roast, try beans from different continents and see how different they are.

 Next let's talk about roasting the beans. Understand there are all sorts of different ways people roast coffee, all you need is high even heat and a way to keep the beans moving. You can roast in a frying pan on the stove, in a hot air popcorn popper, a Wok,  in the oven and use a hot air gun. My first attempt was on the stove in a skillet. Seemed simple, you turn on the burner, pour in the beans and stirring like crazy. Let me stop here and give the guys a friendly warning. Before deciding you're going to roast coffee in your wife's skillet, on her stove and in her kitchen you may want to warn her ahead of time. Walking in on a smoke filled kitchen, smelling to high heaven with bits of chaff floating in the air....well let's just say I get myself in the darndest messes.

So...how did it come out? Actually not bad at all. What I did notice was how unevenly the beans roasted.

Some were very dark where others were a light tan. This was a result of two things, first my heat was too high and second I did not stir the beans often enough to get an even roast. This method would clearly take some time to get good at so I started looking at other options. After a good bit of consideration here's the method I settled on. 

The Whirley Pop popcorn popper! 

Remember those? It's the perfect set-up for roasting coffee. The pan is large, has a lid which helps with even heat and the wire rotating inside keeps the beans moving which results in a much more even roast

Some information on what's happening when you roast a coffee bean. The bean goes through several stages and color changes. One of the best explanations I have found is at the following link 

Sweet Maria's How to Get Started Roasting Coffee

Here's how I do it:

Turn on stove and get the Whirley Pop hot, you're looking for a temp of between 375 and 400 to start. You will notice in the pic I added a thermometer to the Whirley Pop. 

This is something you'll want to consider to help better manage the heat at first. After roasting several batches I roast now by sight and sound.

Once the Whirley Pop is good and hot, pour in the beans. I found 8 oz. to be a good amount to roast at one time and still get an even roast. Now Crank, Look and Listen!

The beans will begin to change color, turning yellow, then light tan and eventually depending on the roast very dark. Keep that handle cranking, as the beans get hotter the window of time between a good tasting roast and charcoal gets smaller and smaller.

Listen for what is known as the "First Crack", this is a distinct sound made by the bean as the internal temperature rises and causes the water and oils to escape. It will sound much like a kernel of corn popping, or maybe the sound of a toothpick snapping in two. And just like when you pop popcorn you're listening for when most of the popping stops.

At the moment of First Crack the bean is considered roasted and you could stop here. This would be a very light roast, almost like tea. Most of us however prefer a darker roast so continue to roast the beans, again cranking continuously. You are now listening for the "Second Crack". I have found this to be more subtle than the first crack, almost like the sound Rice Krispies makes when you first pour milk on it. At the point of second crack you are well on your way to a dark roast. I like a dark roast so this is where I usually think about stopping depending on the color of the beans. 

Once you reach the roast you're looking for remove the beans immediately from the Whirley Pop and cool them, this will keep the hot beans from continuing to roast. I use two colanders and pour the beans back and forth between them. You will also have the roasted exterior of the bean known as the chaff floating around as you do this. Blow on the beans as you cool them and the chaff will float away.
Now here's the main point. Somewhere between the first and second crack is the place where your favorite roast sits. Nobody else knows where it's at and the only way you're going to find it is through experience. It will only take you a few roasts to know by the color, smell and sound of the beans that you're at the place that brings you what you think is the best cup of coffee.

A couple final comments. Be aware that this can produce a lot of smoke depending on how dark you roast and it will smell up the kitchen. Open a few windows and you should be fine, better yet move outdoors and roast on a grill or camping stove like I did (ok I was kicked out).

Finally I have given you a cursory explanation of how I roast my coffee, what works for me. I'm sure I left out information that I'll remember later. Roasting coffee is like anything else, there is a wide range of opinions out there. There are also lots of very good resources online that will give you good information and  good ideas on how to roast your own coffee. I encourage you to spend time reading, learning and finding the way that you feel best helps you with what is the freshest cup of coffee you'll ever taste.


God Bless 

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