Hello everyone, new here with roaster question?

chef bradley

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Jan 20, 2008
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Hi everyone, glad to be here!

I''ve currently moved up from a hot air roaster to a rotisserie basket roaster that I put on my gas grill. What a HUGE difference I''ve found in convenience (can roast a lot more at one time) and flavor profiles! Its like night and day!

One concern, though, which has boggled my mind since I began roasting coffee is that I can never seem to replicate that back-end taste that I love so much about certain dark roasted coffees.

For instance, when I buy a coffee or some beans from a commercial roaster, I taste the coffee after I drank it (hope that makes sense). Like it leaves a lasting flavor on my tongue and that is very enjoyable.

When I roast my own beans, the nose and initial flavor is better than anything I could buy! But, after I swallow the sip, the flavor flattens out completely. That being said, it makes me want to drink more of it and next thing I know, Ive had an entire french press full in 15 minutes! :)

If anyone has had this issue before, how is this remedied? Surely I''m not the only person that prefers this long lasting flavor, eh?

I''ve been using a 50/50 blend of Sumatra and Guatemalan coffee beans. Great smooth flavor with a good bit of caffeine.

Thanks in advance everyone!
 

ElPugDiablo

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Profile is the recipe for roasting. In coffee roasting you manipulate flame, airflow and time to achieve a certain degree of roast that suits your taste. So what I am asking is how do you roast your beans. What is your temperature at the start? How long does it take to get to first crack? How long does it take to get to second crack? If you have a thermometer that measures the bean's surface temperature it would be good to know the increase in temperature in one minute interval.

By the way, if you are roasting Sumatran and Guatemalan together, you might want to roast them separately.
 

chef bradley

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Ah, I see :D

I was using the fresh roast 8 for a few months but wasnt happy with the tiny batches and I couldnt get the flavor I was looking for. So, I upgraded to a rotisserie basket for my gas grill. Ive only done two batches with the basket so far and learned a couple things...

My first batch, I used a 50/50 blend of guatamalan and sumatra and roasted them together at about 475F. It took about 18 minutes to hear the first crack then about 22 minutes before I pulled it off getting the desired full city roast I was looking for. Though it smelled and tasted awesome, I had no long lasting body or after taste, which was disappointing.

My second batch (which I did after I posted the above inquiry) was 50/50 nicaraguan FTO and tanzanian mt. meru at a lower heat because it was cold outside! (350F) for about 35 minutes (first crack at 25 minutes or so and pulled it at 32 minutes at full city) and it was alot better. Maybe it was the beans, maybe it was the slower roast, but it was a superior cup with a long after taste like I want. So, maybe thats the answer? Slower roast? Not sure, but any feedback would be great :)

Thanks!
 

ElPugDiablo

New member
I don't know anything about rotisserie basket and gas grill and home roasting for that matter. But in the commercial specialty coffee roasting world, roasting time is in the range of 13 - 16 minutes for drum roasters. And batch size can be anywhere from a few pounds in a small roaster to 150 pounds in a huge beast. I think some folks roast their espresso blend slower and longer, probably up to 20 minutes but not much more. So if you can do it safely with your gas grill, you should try decrease your roasting time.

There are three stages to roasting. The first is drying stage. Green beans have some moisture in them, you need to dry them. This should take about 6 to 7 minutes. At this mark, your beans will turn from green to a pale yellow, and have a nice bake bread aroma. You need to use low to moderate amount of heat when drying. The second stage is the actual roasting, you need to have a good amount of heat. You should get to first crack about 11 to 12 minutes. Just before or as you enter first crack, reduce your heat so that you can better develop the taste. But you can't reduce the heat too much. You want to shoot for 3 to 4 minutes between starting of first crack and starting of second crack. You can dump the beans once the first crack is completed or up to point where fire department is needed or anywhere in between. The third stage is the cooling stage. You need to cool the beans with a fan or with some kind of vacuum contraption as quickly as possible - about 4 to 5 minutes to room temperature. After that, store the beans for 36 - 48 hours, and reward yourself with some fresh roasted coffee.

This is a quick and dirty general guide line, you should experiment with flame and time - not sure if you have air flow, but within a reasonably close time parameter. I would also not roast pre-blended beans such as your 50/50. You want to roast single origin and learn the uniqueness of beans from different regions. Once you have that down, then you can try blending them.

Have fun and have a water source or a fire extinguisher near by. Never mulit task will roasting and always turn off the gas when things get ugly.
 

chef bradley

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ElPugDiablo said:
^^To whom should I invoice my service?

LOL, I appreciate the info. Ill experiment with the temperatures on my next couple batches. Do you know of a good thermometer for which I coule check the internal temp of my basket? I was thinking of getting one of those probe type thermometers to stick in the basket while it turns, but any suggestions would be good :)

You mentioned that you are a commercial roaster, do you sell your beans online?

Thanks!
 

jlyon10

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Feb 16, 2007
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Home roasting

This was an excellent post about roasting. I use a Fresh roast plus 8, and I have that down pretty good but if I ever can afford to get a bigger roaster this niformation will come in handy.

Thanks
 

chef bradley

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Re: Home roasting

jlyon10 said:
This was an excellent post about roasting. I use a Fresh roast plus 8, and I have that down pretty good but if I ever can afford to get a bigger roaster this niformation will come in handy.

Thanks

They sell those baskets on ebay from 1 pound up to 25, I think. Very affordable and hand made, great stuff :)
 

ElPugDiablo

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chef bradley said:
ElPugDiablo said:
^^To whom should I invoice my service?

LOL, I appreciate the info. Ill experiment with the temperatures on my next couple batches. Do you know of a good thermometer for which I coule check the internal temp of my basket? I was thinking of getting one of those probe type thermometers to stick in the basket while it turns, but any suggestions would be good :)

You mentioned that you are a commercial roaster, do you sell your beans online?

Thanks!
I am so not together, my web site is barely up. Anyway, my business focus is not to sell beans online or to wholesale them. My focus is to have a few coffeeshops, a few less than Starbucks will do.
 

chef bradley

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Jan 20, 2008
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ElPugDiablo said:
chef bradley said:
ElPugDiablo said:
^^To whom should I invoice my service?

LOL, I appreciate the info. Ill experiment with the temperatures on my next couple batches. Do you know of a good thermometer for which I coule check the internal temp of my basket? I was thinking of getting one of those probe type thermometers to stick in the basket while it turns, but any suggestions would be good :)

You mentioned that you are a commercial roaster, do you sell your beans online?

Thanks!
I am so not together, my web site is barely up. Anyway, my business focus is not to sell beans online or to wholesale them. My focus is to have a few coffeeshops, a few less than Starbucks will do.

Would love to sample some beans when you feel like shipping some ;)
 

topher

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Aug 14, 2003
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commercial specialty coffee roasting world, roasting time is in the range of 13 - 16 minutes for drum roasters
Just a side note..My batches run a wee bit longer..they run between 17 and 23 minutes depending on what we are roasting. Great post by the way :wink:
 
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