First Time Roaster looking for Advice

[slammer]

I bought a SR540 roaster, I'm still waiting on some beans to arrive so I haven't tried it. I watched some Youtube video's. In some video's they started hot and backed the heat down. In other video's they started cold and built the heat to high. Hopefully asking this question will not start an argument. but which approach would be best for a beginner.

 

[Musicphan]

Never used one... but in general, its best to have any roaster pre-heated.

 

[shadow745]

Thing is there's no best way to go about it, just experiment and stick with what works for you consistently. My setup ramps up heat quickly and not much metal mass, so I start off at ambient temp. Have tried preheating several times, but saw no real change compared to my usual routine.

I take a somewhat different approach by starting off at a lower temp, then boost to midrange at the 4 min point, then boost to my high range point at 8 mins that I use to hit 1C and maintain that to develop how I like a coffee to end up.

 

[slammer]

I've roasted 5 batches so far. To date I've started off hot with high fan and backing it off by the third minute. I've got four different types of beans so it effects them differently. Most of it is still aging but the first two batches were pretty tasty so I'm at least not destroying it.

 

[shadow745]

I've roasted 5 batches so far. To date I've started off hot with high fan and backing it off by the third minute. I've got four different types of beans so it effects them differently. Most of it is still aging but the first two batches were pretty tasty so I'm at least not destroying it.

Yeah in time you will find what works best for each coffee type. There will always be variation regarding bean size, density and moisture levels and changes will be made to really dial in each type. In case you're not already doing it, accurately measuring green/roasted weight to a .1 gram will really help figure out your development time/yield.