Hot Air Roaster

[llwill]

I am new and hope this is not an inappropriate question for this fourm as it looks to be more than the basic type forum.
I want to try roasting some green beans. I found several places that sell sample packs 1/2 lb of green beans. I have read much on the subject. I don't want to jump right in and spend $100+ on a roaster and have read that many people use an air popcorn cooker like West Bend Poppery II. I'm pretty sure I can find one at a thrift shop, however my question is:
Has anybody tried using an convection air cooker? They are table top cookers with a large glass bowl and a removable top with a thermostat, timer and fans to blow air down and around into the bowl for cooking. They are usually called hot air convection ovens or cookers. Here is a link to one. http://www.kitchen-universe.com/detail. ... ing&ID=702
Ours goes up to 500 degrees. If not what do you think?

Thank you

 

[BeanGrinder]

Give it a shot. First crack is at 400 degrees...you won't get high enough temperatures for espresso, but you'll get a nice medium roast. As you'll read here, the average time per batch is around 20 minutes. The only thing you might not gather from the reading is that roasting coffee makes smoke and lots of it. You'll want to set up your cooker on a range under a vented hood with a fan.

PM me and I'll arrange to send some sample beans for you to play with.

One other thing - the popcorn poppers typically roast about 1/2 cup of coffee per batch...about one pot's worth. You'll need to play around with batch size.

-BG