Newbie looking for advice on roasting good quality green beans HELP!

[Heather11]

Hello,

I would really appreciate some advice on roasting two green beans - the El Carmen from El Salvador and the Fazenda Rodomunho Natural from Brazil.

I am using a Probatino and so far I have been doing a light roast on both however the Brazillian bean is tasting pretty bitter which it really shouldn't.

I am totally new to this and I want to get the best out of these beans as possible so would really appreciate any help,

I have just done a medium roast on the Brazil - dropped it at 90 and roasted for 15 minutes - is this too long? It looks pretty good and it's even, perhaps I should drop it at a higher temp?

I am not roasting past the second crack on either - perhaps I should try this? I just don't want to go too dark as I really want to bring out the distinct flavour of the beans.

Thankyou.

 

[sae]

A drop in temperature of 90 (I'm assuming Celcius?) is too low I'm thinking - try for around 350F. I aim to get to first crack around 9:00-10:00 then drop the gas significantly once first crack is going strong and then coast to my desired roast level.

 

[eldub]

Try dropping at 180 to 190*C.

Do you have the ability to monitor the temp of the bean mass or you forced to go by sight and sound?

 

[eldub]

Btw... If I charged my barrel at 90*c the beans prolly wouldn't make to a medium roast in 15 minutes unless I rushed the heck out of the roast. A medium roast for me entails getting the bean mass up to around 226 to 233*C. In my roaster I like to reach that point in about 15 minutes, charging the barrel at around 190*C and then seeing the temp drop to around 100*C or so before turning around and heading back up. These numbers are approximate as I work in F rather than C.

I would be lost without a way to monitor the temps of the bean mass.

 

[eldub]

After getting home and pondering a bit......

I'm guessing your brazilian beans turned out bitter because of the high temps needed to finish the above mentioned roast in 15 minutes. I don't like the ambient temp to go above 216* C for most any roast. And brazilian beans tend to be a bit softer, imo, and thus more prone to scorching w/ high temps. My guess is that you prolly had ambient temp up past 232*C during the roast in question.

If you don't have a probe for the temp of the bean mass, a general guide for you would be to play around with charge temps until you find the range where your beans, once in the roaster, drop the ambient temp to around 100*C. At the point of turn around, (hopefully taking place between 1 minute and thirty seconds and 2:30) open up the gas most or all the way. The beans will be done drying and begin roasting at around 149*C. At that point you want your ambient temps to be at least 177C and possibly higher. When the ambient temp reaches 205*C, its time to back off the gas. For some beans, I like to reach 205*C when the ambient temps are around 150*C. The bean mass temp increase should naturally slow down when the bean mass reaches about 200*C in a roaster w/ ambient temp of 205*C, which is right into first crack for most offerings. Once the bean mass reaches 216*C or so, they will start putting off heat to the point that the ambient temp in the roaster wants to go up and the roast will naturally progress faster. So its important to keep decreasing the amount of gas used to maintain the ambient temps at no higher than 205-216* until the end of the process.

This method should allow you to maintain control of the roast even without a bean mass temp probe and prevent the outer portion of the beans from scorching and leaving you with a bitter end product.

 

[Heather11]

After getting home and pondering a bit......

I'm guessing your brazilian beans turned out bitter because of the high temps needed to finish the above mentioned roast in 15 minutes. I don't like the ambient temp to go above 216* C for most any roast. And brazilian beans tend to be a bit softer, imo, and thus more prone to scorching w/ high temps. My guess is that you prolly had ambient temp up past 232*C during the roast in question.

If you don't have a probe for the temp of the bean mass, a general guide for you would be to play around with charge temps until you find the range where your beans, once in the roaster, drop the ambient temp to around 100*C. At the point of turn around, (hopefully taking place between 1 minute and thirty seconds and 2:30) open up the gas most or all the way. The beans will be done drying and begin roasting at around 149*C. At that point you want your ambient temps to be at least 177C and possibly higher. When the ambient temp reaches 205*C, its time to back off the gas. For some beans, I like to reach 205*C when the ambient temps are around 150*C. The bean mass temp increase should naturally slow down when the bean mass reaches about 200*C in a roaster w/ ambient temp of 205*C, which is right into first crack for most offerings. Once the bean mass reaches 216*C or so, they will start putting off heat to the point that the ambient temp in the roaster wants to go up and the roast will naturally progress faster. So its important to keep decreasing the amount of gas used to maintain the ambient temps at no higher than 205-216* until the end of the process.

This method should allow you to maintain control of the roast even without a bean mass temp probe and prevent the outer portion of the beans from scorching and leaving you with a bitter end product.

Thank you for this, it is much appreciated.

I think you are correct, the beans did seem scorched, they didn't taste nice at all

I will have a go at this method.

 

[eldub]

The info above should state that I like to get the ambient temp up to around 205*C when the bean mass is at about 150*.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Heather11]

The info above should state that I like to get the ambient temp up to around 205*C when the bean mass is at about 150*.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Thank you for this, I followed your advice and ended up with a very even roast which tasted fantastic - not bitter at all. It just shows you how wrong you can get it!

I will play around with different roasts as I really want to get to know the beans and the roaster so I have confidence in what I am doing, thanks again!

 

[sae]

excellent news!

 

[namballe]

trial and error. just happened to me today. ended up roasting too long (beyond french roast territory) and ended up just throwing it all in the trash.:sad:

 

[CoffeeJunky]

trial and error. just happened to me today. ended up roasting too long (beyond french roast territory) and ended up just throwing it all in the trash.:sad:

Awww. that sucks. I hate losing any beans. Well I guess we learn from our mistakes.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I just love hearing Eldub speaks here. Just so damn experienced and he does think everything carefully. I just might carry his coffee at my shop one day.

 

[eldub]

Thanks for the kind words, CJ.

I've only been roasting for about a year. But I've taken that year very seriously. To be honest, I'm still learning something most every time I fire up the roaster.For instance, I'd never been really happy with our Guatemala from Huehuetenango until just recently. It tasted OK, but nothing special, imo. So its never been a bean I pushed on my customers. A lot of folks buy it, but not at my urging. Anyway, last week I decided to take a batch 5* further (meaning 15-20 seconds longer in the roaster.) Now I've found the sweet spot for that particular bean and I sell it with confidence.

Also, in a past life I was a teacher. (ESL) I loved that job. And now I really enjoy trying to help others learn the art and science of roasting.

 

[namballe]

I just love hearing Eldub speaks here. Just so damn experienced and he does think everything carefully. I just might carry his coffee at my shop one day.

i'm with you CJ

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I would love to also buy some Topher's but he works for the big company. I think he also should start his own coffee roaster....