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  #1  
Old 11-19-2006, 04:29 PM
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B.Finnigan B.Finnigan is offline
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Roast your own coffee (lots of pics)

I have been roasting my own coffee for over three years now and I am surprised that so many people don't realize how easy it is. You can do it with equipment that you allready have in your kitchen. All you need is the beans, a cast iron frying pan, wooden spoon and an oven mit or heavy leather glove.

By roasting your own coffee you will save at least 50% on cost, have fresher better tasting coffee, have access to more varieties of coffee and get the exact roast you want.

I use two roasting systems, one I built that can roast up to two lbs. It is a stainless steel drum that slides onto my gas BBQ rotisserie (sp?). It has a hinged lid on one side and a mesh window on the other to allow the chaff to fall out. The rotisserie skewer can still be used for regular BBQing.

I also use an electric roaster from Zach and Dani's for smaller batches.

http://store.coffeeroasting.com/

they are currently out of stock. Here is the same roaster from a different distributor.
http://www.coffee-makers-espresso-ma...-roasters.html

My beans come from The Coffee Project in California. They have a good selection and very good prices. They also carry the mylar gas valve bags which will hold a Lbs. of coffee. I use them when I give home roast coffee as gifts.

http://www.coffeeproject.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=1


Before you go out and buy a roaster you should try it the old fashioned manual way. You should only do it this way outside since the smoke is very obnoxious.


I did this demo on my gas BBQ since it has a regular burner also. A small single burner hotplate will also work.

You heat up your pan to as hot as you can get it and dump in 1 to 1 1/2 cups of green beans. These are Tanzania peaberry beans from Africa. Start stirring them rapidly just like you would with stir fry. You want some heat protection for your hand. I also use a small clip on fan that I hold with my left hand to suck the smoke away.



The beans will start to smoke and pop/crack, this is reffered to as "first crack" it is just below a light roast in color.



In about 10-12 minutes after first crack they will be a nice med-dark roast and have a carmelizing glaze on them. This is when you will have the most smoke to contend with. You want to pull them off of the heat just before they get to the color you want since they will still be roasting from the residual heat. I keep a spray bottle of ice water on hand to cool them down with a few spritzes of ice water.



I pour them into a stainless steel mixing bowl to cool down. When they are cooled you can then de-chaff them by pouring them from one bowl to another with a small fan blowing the light chaff away. If it is breezy outside that will also work. Then you store them in an air tight container.

I hope you get a chance to give it a try. You may get very addicted to the flavor because you cannot get the beans this fresh in any store. You end up with twice the flavor for half the cost.


This is my propane two pound roaster. It has roasted hundreds of pounds of coffee and still working great. I built it from stainless steel scraps I had laying around the shop. The only expense was $4 for some stainless steel rivets. A commercial two pound propane roaster will cost about $7000 and the only difference is the commercial one will have a timer to auto shut off.





Christmas is just around the corner and home roast coffee is a great gift.

Last edited by B.Finnigan; 11-20-2006 at 06:51 PM.
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Old 11-20-2006, 12:22 PM
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Thanks for sharing. I passed this onto one of my co-workers who roasts his own.

It's ironic I was planning to share my roasting at the same time you did this

Jim


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Old 11-20-2006, 02:54 PM
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B.Finnigan B.Finnigan is offline
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Hey Jim it's great to see another roaster around. I know Daren Ellis does but there are not many others. I am sure I left some details out and there are other techniques that also work.

Post some of your techniques and favorite coffee beans onto the post to! We can't be the only ones that are tired of over priced and over roasted coffee that may have been on the shelf for weeks rapidly oxidizing.
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Old 11-20-2006, 02:59 PM
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Chris Daigle Chris Daigle is offline
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Wow, another reason for me to drink more coffee????

Actually cool thread. Thanks, I may give that a try!

Chris
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Old 11-20-2006, 03:10 PM
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Opps, I meant rib roasting

I use coffee in cooking but am not much of a drinker. I always look for info on how to make my coffee better on the idea better ingredients make for better finished products.

I will get the info from my co-worker on what he does and post it.

Jim


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Old 11-20-2006, 06:55 PM
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B.Finnigan B.Finnigan is offline
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I have a design that should work in any of our propane forges also. That's if you don't mind turning the drum by hand. Roasted coffee beans are air quenching so you won't need a tank.
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Old 01-10-2007, 05:01 PM
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B.Finnigan B.Finnigan is offline
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Video about home coffee raosting from a news report.

http://cbs13.com/seenon/local_story_004185504.html
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