 | In 06 I read about people who roasted their own coffee. After some research I purchased a $75 coffee roaster and a $5 pound of green coffee beans. To this day I roast my own coffee once a week. It taste unbelievable, it is easy and even with shipping it cost less per pound than buying quality beans from the store. If you are interested in roasting your own then this page will hopefully give you a little guidance. - nick@bacararidge.com Return To Bacara Ridge Main Page Return To Kick The Oil Habit Main Page |
 This a seven minute video I put together showing the entire roasting process. | ||
Roasting Basics:
Roasting coffee is similar and based on the same principals as popping popcorn. Some people use a hot air popper to roast their coffee. I have always used a $75 Fresh Roast 8 coffee roaster. A 43 CC scoop comes with the roaster. I pour two scoops of green coffee beans in the Fresh Roast. I set the timer from 6-8 minutes depending on the type of roast I want. When the machine stops I have fresh roasted coffee beans.
The base of the Fresh Roast has a heating coil which heats up during the roasting process. A fan in the base unit pushes hot air upward into a glass chamber which houses the beans. The hot air is strong enough to keep the beans moving in the chamber while the heat circulates around the beans. This allows the beans to roast evenly an not burn. The top of the unit is two pieces with ventilation holes allowing the hot air to push through the unit. The two piece is actually a chamber that collects the excess shell of the bean (aka Chaff) as the heat blows through the unit. The very top piece of the lid has a screen over the ventilation holes so the chaff does not escape the unit.
When the beans reach the end of the timed roasting cycle the Fresh Roast keeps the beans circulating without heat for approximately two minutes. The process is very hot and this allows the beans a short cool down period. When the cooling process is complete I transfer the beans (using pot holders) to a metal strainer. I leave the beans in the strainer for 15 minutes as an additional cool down period. I then transfer the beans to a glass bowl with an air tight lid. I leave the beans in the air tight glass container for 24 hours before grinding. I roast multiple batches to have enough coffee for the week. I always wait a minimum of thirty minutes between roast to make sure the Fresh Roast has completely cooled before roasting the next batch.
This is my Fresh Roast filled with beans and ready to roast, a scoop of beans and beans before and after a roast.
Links:
Right now I purchased most of my supplies from www.sweetmarias.com. They have always treated me well. They have a great selection of coffee beans, machines and accessories. Last year for Christmas my girlfriend purchased a pound of Kona Peaberry beans from Koa Coffee Plantation in HI. The coffee was awesome but way outside of my everyday budget. The official Fresh Roast website is located at www.freshbeansinc.com.
Roasting Machines:
There are roasting machines for every budget. Some people even use a pan and the stove top and hot air popcorn poppers. One of the big advantages of more expensive machines is that they allow you to roast larger batches and obtain more control over the roast. I had considered upgrading my unit to a Nesco or Iroast the next step up and costing more than twice as much. I had even consider a Gene Cafe and a Hot Drum Roaster the top of the line home roasters and more than four times what a Fresh Roast cost. After careful and a very exhausting evaluation of my roasting needs versus wants I decided that the Fresh Roast is all I really need for now. Its a perfect machine for anyone starting out and maybe all you will ever need.
Since I know the Fresh Roast I want to pass on my overall experience with the unit. I replaced my original unit in less than a year. I dropped the bottom of the chaff collector breaking off a piece of the plastic that goes around the glass chamber. No biggie the unit still worked. Over time the glass chamber became harder to remove from the base and one time I pulled it to hard, dropped it and it broke. I was always afraid of breaking the glass chamber so now I keep a spare and I use two pot holders when removing it after a roast. After the glass chamber broke I decided to replace the unit. I was abusive with my first unit and now I treat my Fresh Roast with a lot more consideration. A key to making it last is to make sure you wait at least a full 30 minutes or more between roasts. Once the chaff chamber cools after the last roast I rinse it out and wipe the base down. I hope by taking these measures and much more care I can avoid the damages I encountered with the first unit.
The one thing I needed to replace right away on both Fresh Roast's are the clips that hold in the screen on the chaff collector. They fall off the unit right away. I just purchased some replacement clips at Home Depot. I use a clip that is very tight and once I get them on they are on for good. You can see in the picture below that the clip where the arrow is pointing is missing. The clip in the 5 o'clock and center positions are original the rest have been replaced (note the size difference).
Tips & Tricks:
I roast in doors for consistency - because of smoke I started roasting in the garage. In the winter the beans would come out and worse in the summer burn. Now I roast all my batches in the kitchen. There is little smoke from the roaster but the smoke alarm goes off anyways at the six minute mark. So I cover the smoke alarm with a rubber band and a Ziploc. FYI: I have always keep a fire extinguisher in my kitchen and I never leave a roast unattended!
For me to have enough coffee for the week I roast four batches with minimum of 1/2 hour between each batch.
I blow out the inside of the roasting chamber after the roast before putting the beans in the strainer. This helps me blow out any excess chaff that fell out of the chaff collector when removing the lid.
Pictures Of The Roast:
This is a set of pictures showing the beans as they go through the roasting process:
Happy Roasting and if you have any questions just drop me a line - nick@bacararidge.com