Swiss Water Colombian Decaf - Roasting Issues

[IndCoffeeOfPA]

Hello all, long time no post. Been a little busy getting the business going, will try to be more prudent in checking the forum. The Ambex Ym10 seems to be roasting quite well for me now, except for when I roast the above. The beans come out with a haze to them and there seems to be quite a bit of black dust on them. Also, I believe they are the reason for my recent chaff fire, boy that was fun. So I did a full outage on the machine, cleaned up the mess and tried again today. Pulled them a little earlier than normal as they were getting quite dark at 435. Seem to get the same outcome on the beans. I also tried some caffeinated beans today and they were very good. So I am assuming it is not my roast settings. Anyone else have this problem? Could the beans be very dry from the decaf processing? Did not have this problem with normal decaf beans, just this last bag of swiss water. Thanks in advance for the advice!

Sincerely,

Eric
"Happy Roasting!!!!!" 8)

 

[IndCoffeeOfPA]

Need to add to the post, just checked the chaff collector, there is no chaff to speak of and what little I found is burnt. Hummmmmm?

 

[topher]

I roasted some SWP coffee about a year ago with now trouble at all. I do not like the taste of the coffee personally. I feel it gets ruined during the process...lacks body...not sure what is going on with your SWP...I will ask around :wink: Hit me up sometime...long time now hear!

 

[ElPugDiablo]

Each decaf process damages the bean differently, SWP was particularly harsh on the beans, but I thought they made a lot of improvement. In this case, Is 435 well into second crack on your roaster? Maybe you can try a gentler profile and a lighter dropping temperature? I would also suggest roast decaf first, then your soft beans, then your SHB.

 

[sdcoffeeroaster]

I bought two small amounts of swiss decaf beans from sweet marias and had some major issues with two different roasters. The beans were a Kenya and a Sidamo and they both seemed to roast fast and dark, even for a decaf. You can hardly hear 1st C and 2nd seems to be almost silent and fast and early. And yes the beans seem to have this flat dark appearance even at bean temperatures below 425. I recently bought a YM-2 and have not tried with that yet. I formerly roasted with a large BBQ and bean probe and the Behmor. I even tried a gentle profile with the Behmor which only helped some. I agree about the comment about decaf. I can always tell the difference even when high quality beans are used like with the ones from SM.

 

[IndCoffeeOfPA]

Thank you all for the advice. I just roasted up another batch, was very gentle with this one and pulled it at even a lower temp. Still burnt the chaff, but the product looks good. Will cup it tonight. Most likely my last SWP coffee I will roast here, too volatile for me. Also, never heard the 1st or 2nd crack, strange!!

Eric

 

[ElPugDiablo]

IndCoffeeOFPA, you should not have any chaff from roasting decaf because chaff is removed during the decaffeination process. Do you have a chaff accumulation from prior batches in some remote area of the roaster?

 

[IndCoffeeOfPA]

Thank you for the heads up on the chaff being removed during decaf processing. I don't roast much decaf at all, so never knew that fact, now I do!! I cleaned out the entire roaster the other day, did not find any chaff in hidden places. Just did a nice ethiopian and had no chaff fire issues at all.
Have a great weekend!!