i started roasting my own beans about 6 months ago. reason: freshness. makes a BIG difference in flavor. i love ristrettos 1:1 ratio of input:output. when done right they have a great mouth feel like melted chocolate in your mouth.
i'm still in the process of developing my routine for roasting coffee where the results are consistent. i use the gene cafe roaster. when i roast, i set it up like the photo below, using an aluminum collapsible tube attached to the chaff collector to vent outside my window to avoid triggering my smoke detector and stinking up my condo.
this unit can roast 250 grams of green beans at a time.
my routine is to set the unit at 450F and wait until it gets there, usually within 10-11 minutes.
here are the beans in what i call the yellow peanut color stage. at this stage they have a fragrance of hay. the yellow color is due to the beans drying and to the sugars beginning to cook. as the roasting continues the beans get more brown.
next stage is what i call the cinnamon stick color stage. at this stage there is a sweet fragrance of caramelization. once i get the temp to 450F i hold it there and the count-down begins. i hold it there from 4-5.5 minutes. as this stage proceeds you get the 1st and then the 2nd crack and you can see chaff. my unit makes it little difficult to hear the cracks as the chamber rotates and makes noises so i tend to go more by color. this stage is the challenging part of roasting. if you roast too much you get over-caramelization and more bitter flavors in the final cup. if you under-roast you get too much acid flavor in the final cup. i aim for just past 2nd crack. i like a medium to medium dark roast.
once i get to almost the color i like, i start the cooling process on the machine. once the temp cools to about 300F, i then bypass the auto-cool and stop the machine, remove the chamber, and pour the beans in a pan which was put in the freezer so as to accelerate the cooling process. the idea is to get the beans to ambient room temp in four minutes or less. here is the final output.
any other roasters in the forum? i would love to learn what works for you.
