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Coffee Roasting Methods Discussion

1 lb commercial batch/sample roaster.

More than enough for home use

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Here's a half pound of La Tacita Floral Gesha Blend roasted a bit into second crack. 9 minutes or so in the wok.

I'll post the cupping results in a day or two. It's actually an espresso blend from SM. Maybe more like 3 days.

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TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I find Behmor to be the most difficult to produce consistent results. Not impossible, just more difficult. I equate it to roasting coffee with a paper bag over your head wearing boxing gloves.

I love it.

Since there really is no good way to know the bean temperature, it sometimes does feel like I'm feeling around in the dark. It's also somewhat limited in what one can do with it. I haven't noticed problems with consistency, but I probably haven't been doing this long enough to be much of a judge.

I'm enjoying the Behmor quite a bit, but its operating limitations and the necessity of using The Force is starting to get to me a little bit. I've done this enough to realize I've been bitten by the roasting bug, though. I keep eyeing the Hottop.
 
The 1st 3 roasts I did up here on the Behmor (Bali, Colombian, & Etheopian) were god like (small g). They rivaled what I brought up roasted on the SF-1.

I "tried" the same beans again, using the same settings and I have to add sweetness and flavoring to choke it down.

Came back from the State Liquor store today with some Carolans Irish cream. The burned Colombian is fantastic now :a14::302::a12::1eye:
 
This should be true for all roasters but when I am roasting on my regular Behmor 1600 I take careful note of when 1st crack starts and then set a mental 3 minute alarm on when to hit the cool down button. If 1st crack finishes early (meaning it is not drawn out for a long time) then I start paying very careful attention the smoke level and bean color. This is hard to do precisely but an LED flashlight shining through the window or a cracked door can help. If the beans start to look too dark based on the center cut vein (or hilum, I am not sure what part is called but it does not darken as quickly as the bean itself) then hit cool-down before the 3 minutes are up. If first crack seems to carry on for a long while then I worry that it is going to roll into 2nd crack immediately.....or if the beans have not darkened as much as I expected, then I start to worry that it is going to get into 2nd crack too far once that phase starts. This is where the 3 minute alarm can help to prevent the roast from going too dark. Meaning the 3 minutes is an upper limit and not the target time.

All that means my roasts are not really that consistent. If I stuck with the same bean and took better notes I could dial it in better. But I am always trying a new coffee and rotating it in with the current stock. Much like many of us do with soaps/creams and aftershaves. I usually targeting "full city" but I am sure I often go a little further. It also depends on if I am planning on brewing more espresso or more pour-over.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
@StillShaving, it sounds like you and I are using similar techniques to achieve a similar goal and are dealing with the same issues to get there. I've roasted only fairly hard beans, and I usually get to 1C around 9-10 minutes on manual at P5. 1C then lasts around 90 seconds once it gets started, and I'm usually keeping the Cool button on a hair trigger for the next 30-90 seconds or so. During that last period, I'm totally focused on those beans, staring and sniffing like a madman.
 
I have a 1600 Plus and have yet to use any of the manual features because I have been happy with the roasts so far. Every roast for the past two years has produced coffee that has tasted better than what I can buy from any coffee shop in my area. I use the flashlight method also to judge when to hit the cool down button. I also buy 5 to 10 lbs of beans at a time and after a few pounds, I can usually judge about where I like the roast level to be. Keeping good records also helps a great deal. I bought a used Hottop last year and disassembled and cleaned it. Excellent videos on the Hottop site on how to do this. I hope to have it running this winter.
 
Okay, I pulled a shot from 21 grams in about 25 seconds.
It was a very nice balance between the dry/floral and sweeter notes. I liked it a lot.

I held a sheet of foil over the wok with one hand while I stirred with the other. This cut the roasting time down and I think made for a more lively flavor profile.

I'm enjoying the Behmor and Hot Top posts. Right now I'm in my Williams/Arko phase of coffee roasting.

For the record this espresso is better than I can get in 90% of the places I order espresso at (which is mostly restaurants so....not hard to beat).
 
I just roasted 8 Oz of Burundi Nemba on P1 and my wife loves it (initial tasting of the beans). She wasn't as happy with it when I added a minute to the time.

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I started a long time ago with an alpenrost (when they first came out). I then got a 2-3 other home roasting machines and was not satisfied with any of them. When my brother obtained a 2kg Ambex life changed. Suddenly I was able to get consistency and play with the profile a bit. It did involve going over to my brothers house every couple weeks but the coffee was pretty good. Recently I acquired my own machine and am about 30 batches into my learning curve on a 2kg roaster from mill city. My household goes through a couple pounds of coffee a week so it works for us.

I am beginning to think that being able to instrument the roaster so you can see what you are doing. Having a slight excess of power (the ability to add plenty of heat) allows you to "catch up" if you want. The final thing is the ability to cool the beans quickly (I was told you want this to be in about a minute to room temps).

I would go with Mick's recommendations but would also add learning the process and what is going on during the different phases and making sure that it is progressing at the rate you want.

Ruckin
 
I just started roasting my own coffee last week. Currently I'm roasting the beans in a 10 inch deep walled cast iron skillet on a propane burner.
Below is a picture of my first roast. I love dark roast coffee and was very please with the outcome.
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I just started roasting my own coffee last week. Currently I'm roasting the beans in a 10 inch deep walled cast iron skillet on a propane burner.
Below is a picture of my first roast. I love dark roast coffee and was very please with the outcome.
View attachment 913722 View attachment 913723
Enjoy the experience. Once you start, it is a wonderful rabbit hole of great flavors from a variety of origins.

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Congrats, enjoy the journey. I started 25 years ago on a Zach & Dani roaster (now Nesco), and thing sort of escalated. I now have professional equipment and a head full of ideas about how to start learning a varietal when I get a new one, and how to improve when different defects appear.

Enjoy your coffee and experiment, coffee is a VERY complex commodity and the learning curve while steep is quite rewarding.
 
The 1st 3 roasts I did up here on the Behmor (Bali, Colombian, & Etheopian) were god like (small g). They rivaled what I brought up roasted on the SF-1.

I "tried" the same beans again, using the same settings and I have to add sweetness and flavoring to choke it down.

Came back from the State Liquor store today with some Carolans Irish cream. The burned Colombian is fantastic now :a14::302::a12::1eye:
That’s deer camp breakfast for us! Carolyn’s is great in super strong coffee.
 
Thanks!
Since the beans don't quite have the coffee smell we all know and love until the roasted beans cool, I thought that I had burnt them.

No, you didn't burn them. I know about burned beans after last week :a36:
 
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