Any Home Coffee Roasters Here?

[LMTC]

Look at Sweetmarias.com Excellent site to educate oneself about many aspects of coffee, and good pricing on good equipment.

Reasonably priced is very relative. I spent $500 on a Rancilio Miss Silvia, but nothing I could find for less $ would do espresso well. The commercial machines start at several thousand. I spent about $80 to buy a demo model grinder at Starbucks (made by Solis I think) because I couldn't get an espresso grind out of anything less expensive...but I like the Rocky grinder for $300 lots better, just won't spend the money for the tiny bit I'd gain. OTOH I use a $19.95 Braun drip coffee maker...I have never had better quality drip brewed coffee and I have use machines costing ten times that.

My mother went blotto a few years ago when she learned I was spending $20 a pound (now it's $28) for Kona Fancy beans. A pound lasted me nearly a month. I never bought coffee out. My brother, who is a builder, stops at the local choke & puke nearly every morning and gets a $1 or $1.25 cup of brown "stuff". She thought that was fine. So how much a month did he spend on coffee? Really doesn't matter though. The real question is...do I get enough enjoyment from my coffee to justify the money I spend on it? The answer is a resounding "YES!"

And I still buy at least one 1/2# of something new every time I order from our roaster. Sometimes I give most of it away, sometimes it's ok, and every once in a while it's a new joy.

 

[YanmarFever]

Look at Sweetmarias.com Excellent site to educate oneself about many aspects of coffee, and good pricing on good equipment.

Reasonably priced is very relative. I spent $500 on a Rancilio Miss Silvia, but nothing I could find for less $ would do espresso well. The commercial machines start at several thousand. I spent about $80 to buy a demo grinder at Starbucks (made by Solis I think) because I couldn't get an espresso grind out of anything less expensive...but I like the Rocky grinder for $300 lots better, just won't spend the money for the tiny bit I'd gain. OTOH I use a $19.95 Braun drip coffee maker...I have never had better quality drip brewed coffee and I have use machines costing ten times that.

My mother went blotto a few years ago when she learned I was spending $20 a pound (now it's $28) for Kona Fancy beans. A pound lasted me nearly a month. I never bought coffee out. My brother, who is a builder, stops at the local choke & puke nearly every morning and gets a $1 or $1.25 cup of brown "stuff". She thought that was fine. So how much a month did he spend on coffee? Really doesn't matter though. The real question is...do I get enough enjoyment from my coffee to justify the money I spend on it? The answer is a resounding "YES!"

And I still buy at least one 1/2# of something new every time I order from our roaster. Sometimes I give most of it away, sometimes it's ok, and every once in a while it's a new joy.

AHHHHH.... nothing like lifes little pleasures

 

[davemhughes]

Wow, I'd like to try roasting. I was just looking at roasters at Bravi Home Coffee Roaster
Expensive little suckers. Can any one recommend a reasonably priced unit.

LMTC is right on with cost issues and sweetmaria's web site has lots of info. I can maybe suggest a couple of low cost ways to get you started and from there .....let your addiction be your guide.

The website I posted up is a small very personal business that you can call and they will spend the time helping you out in green bean selection to get you started. Cheap shipping too.

Absolute cheapest way: Green beans in a skillet over a med-high heat source.....stir constantly and open EVERY door and window because when roasting there is some smoke generated and Lots of smoke when you get into the 2nd crack (dark roasted). You wife will not like this method I promise speaking from experience on that one.

Air Popcorn popper method: (done in garage or out in the back deck) Go to walmart and get an air popcorn popper...$19 or so. Ad 3/4 cup of beans poured in slowly with machine running. As long as the beans are percolating due to air flow you are good. If not then you have too many beans in there. After a couple of minutes smoke will start rise out of the machine and the bean chaf will start blow off the beans. You will hear the beans start to crack and the beans will start to change color. Almost every bean will taste good with a light-medium roast. If you prefer a darker roast then keep going and you will start to hear a sharper series of cracks and lots of smoke and the beans will turn very dark and waxy looking. Lots of coffees are at their best dark roasted.

Unplug the machine and quickly dump the beans into a large plastic bowl (you need 2 ) and pitch the beans back and forth to cool them as cooling them quickly is very important. I pitch then until I can handle the beans in my hand then let them sit to de-gas. Do it in the evening and when you wake up you will be ready to grind. Only roast 3-5 days worth at a time.

Grinding: Walmart has grinders starting at around $12. Fill your grinder up with beans and grind until it looks like your auto drip grounds you have been buying.

Brewing: Just load your coffee maker as usual and sit back and enjoy some of the best coffee you have ever drank. plus you know you did yourself and thats something in itself.

There are lots of wiggles in this process as to personal preference but that will get you started. I use a rotisserie oven to roast and a french press to brew. As time goes on you will try lots of different beans and start blending beans and develop you own style to this and this is about what you like. I promise one thing that once you start you will not be able to stand the local swill you have been drinking ever again, you will be spoiled from then on. Many folks just have never tried truly fresh roasted coffee so just have no idea as to what real fresh roasted coffee was meant to taste like. Like I said this is the cheap way but it works very well.

 

[shaley]

Thanks for the info Guys. I've been grinding fresh in a coffee mill over the years, just haven't tried roasting. I like good coffee. My MIL just got back from Guatemala and brought back some roasted beens. Last year someone brought me some Costa Rican beans and I was amazed at the spectrum of flavors and could tell my local fair definately was lacking.

 

[Highbeam]

Does the smoke smell appealing, like smoke from a big T-bone steak sizzling above charcoal?

I like the popcorn popper approach for the sake of simple roasting to see if it is worth it. After the first audible crack do you keep roasting for a particular amount of time or do you stop right away? For a medium roast.

Is it really this simple? I thought there were temperatures involved. Can the hot beans be spread out on a cold slab of something to cool it quickly?

 

[LMTC]

It CAN be that simple, or one can take it to the next level and use specific times after first crack, etc.

My cousin, whose husband roasts 1-2 x weekly, says she makes him roast in the open garage in winter, and on the patio in summer. She also says that neighbors thought their house was on fire the first few times.....she likes the coffee but says the roasting is not pleasant in her view. Someone who roasts should jump in too, as my info is second-hand and anecdotal. I was once at the roaster's place when he was roasting a batch in the next room, and the aroma was not repugnant, but neither was it alluring to me; and he has things pretty well vented.

 

[davemhughes]

Does the smoke smell appealing, like smoke from a big T-bone steak sizzling above charcoal?

I like the popcorn popper approach for the sake of simple roasting to see if it is worth it. After the first audible crack do you keep roasting for a particular amount of time or do you stop right away? For a medium roast.

Is it really this simple? I thought there were temperatures involved. Can the hot beans be spread out on a cold slab of something to cool it quickly?

I like the aroma (earthy) but not the smoke. For a medium roast its best to just wait for the 1st crack and smoke to start rolling and just look at the beans. A medium roast will have a medium brown color to it. Just pitch the beans back and forth. They will cool down enough to stop the roasting process. Thats what the cooling does is just stops the roasting process.

A really good coffee for medium roasting is a Dominican bean. Fantastic flavor and fairly cheap. Most central American beans do well under a medium roast. Only buy Arabica beans as they are much better than robusto beans.

Yes it really is that easy to do unless you really go overboard with it. Kind of like home brewing in a sense that once you get the process down it really is very simple to do and the results are worth it. Green beans keep for a long time (4-6months). Just about 2 weeks ago my wife got a new rotisserie oven because I have smoked up her old one so bad. Well its really nice one and I thought I would just see if it was any better than her old one. I started roasting and just stepped away for a minute....next thing I heard was her yelling that her new rotisserie was on fire...... The point being is you really have to screw up to ruin the beans that bad. So relax and just roast'em up and it will be great.

If you send me a PM with you mailing info I will hook you up with a little sample pack of green beans to try.

ps....I had to get her another one and I am not allowed anywhere near it. The one I caught on fire believe it or not still works, just ugly look at.

 

[davemhughes]

I will roast a batch tomorrow and take some pics of process

 

[davemhughes]

Ok in the 1st pic this is what you need to roast.....very basic. I also use a wooden dowel rod to stir the beans in the popper if they do not percolate. This is a must with a hot air popper or it will shut down and you must wait 5 or so minutes for the popper to cool before it will restart. But if you just give them a little stir then it will run fine.

The popper comes with a measuring cup, just dump one heaping scoop in. Turn it on. As time goes on you will be able to dump more and stir but this is to just get you going.

You will see the beans percolating in the popper as it runs and very quickly you will see the bean chaf begin to blow off as the beans heat up and they start to change color. You will hear the beans start to crack and smoke starts.

Now the beans are really smoking and you hear lots of cracks. You can stop or continue, it all depends on your likes and what type beans you have. Some are better darker.

Unplug the popper and dump in bowl (I use the cheap alum baking pans) Now just pour hot beans from one pan to the other for about 30 seconds or longer till the cracking stops or you can handle them.

Now just let them set for 6-12hrs then grind and brew. You can grind them right now but for the best flavor just wait.

Total time was maybe 7 minutes from start to finish.

 

[shaley]

Bought the Central American sampler pack and some Kona from Green Bean. Will give this a try. Thanks Dave.