How do you log your roasts and what do you log?

[Mick]

I know a lot of B&B members roast their own coffee so I thought I would start a thread to see what you record when you roast and how you keep your roast records/logs?

I have a couple different methods that are available to me with my Hottop roaster.

Fully automated roast recording:

TC4C+LCD+HTC and record directly on my laptop using the Artisan roasting software. This allows me to control the roaster and record the roast as it progresses. This is the more cumbersome of the methods I use as I need to hook up the interface, thermocouples, USB and have my laptop running. It is also the most comprehensive as it records real time / temp and fan/burner changes. I have gone away from using the computer because of the set up time involved

Manual Roasting Recording:

I can use the TC4C+LCD as a stand alone meter without the USB and computer and manually record times/temps.

Using an Amprobe TMD-56 datalogging meter along with a kitchen count up timer and manual record the time/temp at critical points. I use this the most often as set up is simple (plug in the meter and start). I can also plug the meter into the computer and record the roast with Artisan. Roaster has to be controlled manually but the roast is logged automatically as it progresses.

I manually record the roast times and temperatures either on a sheet of paper or on a record sheet. I've started using the blank paper more often as the record sheet has too many record points that I find unnecessary.

This is the part I was wondering about with other roasters on B&B

What to you record?

I have a sheet of paper divided into "cells"

I record (example 3/13 roast of some Mexican Chiapas beans):

Roast date outside temp	Origin & roast weight	Drop temp	Lowest BT temp/time	Start of Dry temp/time	Return to drop temp/time	End of dry temp/time	First crack temp/time	Second crack temp/time	Roast end dump temp/time
3/13/2015 55 F	Chiapas 225 gr 1/2 lb	300 F start timer	194 F :50 sec	290 F 4:55 fan 50%	300 F 5:27 fan 100%	330 F 8:10 fan off	352 F 9:40 fan 100% heat 50%	383 F 12:36	390 F 12:48

Temp I record is BT probe temperature.

Does anyone record more than this? Less than this?

How do you keep your records?

 

[Mick]

This is the roasting log that I sometimes use.

I print it double sided so have one on each side of a sheet of paper and set it up so that it takes the entire width of the sheet

Here is a link to the PDF download which will expand to fit top to bottom when you rotate the log.

http://www.turtle-web.com/Roasting_Log.pdf

Gif image blow is shown for reference ONLY.

Don't try to print and use this as it will not expand/contract like the PDF will

 

[gearchow]

So Mick, how long are you on furlough from the Starship Enterprise?



I must admit, once I am away from my day job, keeping track of data isn't in my scope of practice. I truly admire what you did there though. Maybe once I'm retired and not taking data for a living I'll once again enjoy the process of doing so. It is definitely more useful to have empirical and experiential data now that I am drum roasting as opposed to pot roasting.

-jim

 

[StillShaving]

When I bought my Behmor 1600, I installed www.roasterthing.com and planned to track roasts with this software but never did. I was learning and never roasted the same coffee twice in a row so I never got into using it. Also I was thinking it would be much more useful to have a cloud/server based solution where I could compare my results of profile selection, preheating time, roast time, taste outcomes, etc. with fellow Behmor users who had previously roasted the same coffee, to accelerate my learning curve. Instead of relying on my individual experiments that ran out after 5 pounds of a particular bean.

That said I have been lazy and have not even logged the beginning of 1st Crack and 2nd Crack (assuming it got that far) to help me dial in the roast level. I am always doing it on the fly based sight, sound, smell and beginning of 1st Crack. So some of my roasts are poor compared to other attempts, but having freshly roasted coffee is always good nonetheless.

 

[jzuzphreek]

When I bought my Behmor 1600, I installed www.roasterthing.com and planned to track roasts with this software but never did. I was learning and never roasted the same coffee twice in a row so I never got into using it. Also I was thinking it would be much more useful to have a cloud/server based solution where I could compare my results of profile selection, preheating time, roast time, taste outcomes, etc. with fellow Behmor users who had previously roasted the same coffee, to accelerate my learning curve. Instead of relying on my individual experiments that ran out after 5 pounds of a particular bean.

That said I have been lazy and have not even logged the beginning of 1st Crack and 2nd Crack (assuming it got that far) to help me dial in the roast level. I am always doing it on the fly based sight, sound, smell and beginning of 1st Crack. So some of my roasts are poor compared to other attempts, but having freshly roasted coffee is always good nonetheless.

The challenge with the Behmor is being able to accurately measure the Bean temp. I snake a thermocouple through the door, and fanagle it directly under the drum as close as I can get without it catching. The temps aren't super accurate, but at least the curve is consistent.

I don't know how to connect the thermocouple to my laptop for automated logging though. I just use a spreadsheet. But I like Mick's sheet.

 

[Mick]

The challenge with the Behmor is being able to accurately measure the Bean temp. I snake a thermocouple through the door, and fanagle it directly under the drum as close as I can get without it catching. The temps aren't super accurate, but at least the curve is consistent.

How actuate would a direct read infrared thermometer be?

 

[Mick]

I don't know how to connect the thermocouple to my laptop for automated logging though. I just use a spreadsheet. But I like Mick's sheet.

To interface with Artisan or RoastLogger software you need a datalogger meter that is compatible with either of those software products. They have a list of compatible devices that work with both softwares

The probe plugs into the meter and the computer interfaces with the meter via a USB cable.

Another way would be to buy or build a TC4 shield and use an Arduino Uno.

http://www.mlgp-llc.com/arduino/public/arduino-pcb.html

Using a datalogger meter you can have the option of both just the meter or interfacing with software

http://artisan-roasterscope.blogspot.com/2013/06/device-selection.html

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/green_bean/coffee/roastlogger/dmmdetails.html

I've never used the roastlogger software so can't comment but Artisan (which I have used extensively) is a nice automated roasting logger.