The Ultimate Guide to Roasting Green Coffee at Home

Posted on 21. Jun, 2010 by Brown in Home Roasting

Make this at home today?

Here is a compilation of home roasting techniques such as Air Popcorn Popper, Stovetop Popper, Skillet and Oven Roasting.

General Roasting Instructions

• Home Roasting must be one of the most plesent parts of the coffee loving experience. Dont be afraid to experiment and make your own variations of roasts. Here is the general guide. Have fun!Darker roasts are fairly smoky and it is recommended that the area that you are roasting in, is well ventilated. With stove top roasting, it is  benificial to have an oven fan or stove hood.The Roasting process produces chaff. Chaff is a skin that falls off from the bean as the coffee is roasted. Chaff is very messy but at the same time is flavourless so if you dont remove it, it’s not the end of the world.
• Just like with cooking, have all your utensils organised and at hand.
• It is recommended that with the stovetop popper method, you install a 550 degree themometer. This will help you have a more consistent roast and understan the process better.
• Stove Poppers and Air Poppers require constant cleaning between usage as coffee oils build up. These products generally arent meant to be used for roasting coffee and it would also be nice to have some popcorn between roasts.
• For a more indepth understanding you may want to read Ken Davids book Home Coffee Roasting: Romance and Revival or The Art and Craft of Coffee: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Selecting, Roasting, and Brewing Exquisite Coffee
  If you arent much of a book reader, try the dvd WAKE UP EVERYBODY on home roasting.

  This is what you will Experience:

  • In the first few minutes, the beans will stay green and let off a “grassy” smell.
  • The beans will start to let off steam as the water inside them evaporates.
  • You will now experience the sweet smell of roasted coffee you will hear the “first Crack.” The cracking sound occurs when the real roasting process starts. Sugars caremalize, water and oils escape from small pockets.
  • Once the “first Crack” occurs, you can stop the roast at any time, according to your preference and taste. The sound, sight and smell are now factors portraying what stage the roast is at.
  • The Roast now becomes darker as caremelization continues and this is when you will hear the “second crack”. The second crack is more audiable than the first and small peices of the bean may explode outwards so be careful.
  • The roast now becomes very dark, the smoke becomes thicker as the caremalization finishes and the bean breaks down
  • If you leave it for a long period of time, the sugars burn out completelt and you are left with a result of “charcol water”

Air Popcorn Popper Method

It must be noted that not all Air Popcorn Poppers are suitable for roasting coffee.

This is the best method to start home roasting with, it is easy, affordable and evenly roasts from the city to the french roasting stages. They roast quickly and can produce 4 ounces at a time.

Equiptment:

• A hot air popcorn popper
• Thermometer (optional)
• A bowl to catch the chaff
• A large spoon,
• An aluminum collender for cooling
• An oven glove

Instructions

1. The popper must be set up in an area that is well ventilated and an overhead light is essential so that you can look straight into the popper chamber in order to see the progress of the roast. Have all of your equiptment at hand.
2. Read the instructions for your popcorn popper and place the same amount of coffee as the manufacturer recomends popcorn into your popper.
3. Place the plastic hood and butter dish on and your large bowl underneath the chute. Its recommended that you put the popper right by a basin so that the chaff is disposed of. Turn the machine on.
4. The “first crack” should now occur within the first 3 minutes and you will notice the fragrent smoke will now be omitted. Monitor the color of the roast by lifting the butter dish, smelling the smoke and listening to the cracking sound.
5. The total time for lighter roasts should be around 4 minutes, full city roast 5 minutes and fuller darker roasts around 6.5 minutes. It is important to pour the beans out when they are a tiny bit lighter than the desired color as they continue to darken once they are removed.
6. Now the beans must be stirred in your collander untill they are warm enough to touch. Try to do this in a cool area to speed up the cooling.
7. Store the coffee in a glass jar out of direct light and after 12 hours seal the airtight lid (it needs to let off the CO2 gasses) Remember that is should not be stored in a fridge or freezer.
8. The coffee is its best 4 to 24 hours after it is roasted. If it is stored properly, you will have fresh coffee for 5 days.
9. You now have fresh amazing coffee. Enjoy it, you will love it!

The Skillet / Wok Method

This method is for the hardcore old coffee enthusiasts. A friend of mine saw the merchants using this method on the streets of Mozambique. This is a great experiment or method if these are the only tools that you have available. This method is easy to produce uneven roasts so be mindful of that. This roast is fun and you will learn alot from the beans as they change color infront of your eyes. Even experienced roasters should try this once in their lifetime.

Equiptment

• lightweight skillet with a good tight seal.(You can also try a Wok and stir with a wooden spoon.)
• Gas or Electric stove.
• An oven thermometer
• A big spoon
• a big bowl or metal collander
• oven mitts.

Instructions:

1. Have all your equiptment at reach, open a kitchen window or turn on the sovetop exhaust fan.
2. For a large skillet you must have 9 ounces of coffee by weight or 12 ounces by volume.
3. The skillet must now be preheated over a low flame or medium electric stove top, with the lid on. Place your oven thermometer in and stabalise the temperature at 500 degrees.
4. Remove the thermometer, pour the beans in and put the put lid on tight. Using your oven gloves, start shaking the skillet therefore mixing up the beans.
5. Keep the beans in mixing, you’ll now notice the “first crack” and smoke smell after 5 minutes.
6. Wait about a minute and check the color of the beans.
7. Its very important not to use too much heat as the coffee can be easily scorched. A good technique is after the first cracking sound slowly taper off the heat and check the bean color every minute or so.
8. Pour the beans out of the stillet and into your collander when they are a bit lighter than you desire as they continue roasting after you pour them out.
9. Mix the beans with a large spoon untill they are cool enough to touch. Walking outside during this process will aid cooling.
10. If chaff is still attached to the beans, you can remove it by agitating the beans and blowing lightly on them. Do this in a place where you wont make a huge mess.
11. Store the coffee in a glass jar out of direct light and after 12 hours seal the airtight lid (it needs to let off the CO2 gasses) Remember that is should not be stored in a fridge or freezer.
12. The coffee is its best 4 to 24 hours after it is roasted. If it is stored properly, you will have fresh coffee for 5 days.
13. You now have fresh amazing coffee. Enjoy it, you will love it!

The Stove Top Method (Whirley-Pop, SS Stovetop Popper)

Advantages:
You can do almost all roasts with this method from City to Dark french. The lighter roasts are rather tricky though.
Air roasting is easier and produces even roasts and cracks are very audiable.
Its very similar to a drum roast and controlling the length of roast is simple.

Equiptment:

• Whirly-Pop aka Felknor Theatre II, or a Stainless steel popper or somthing similar.
• Gas or electric stove
• Thermometer
• Metal colander
• Oven Gloves

Advantages:

More coffee can be roasted using this method than the air roasters. 1/2 to 1 pound batches are possible. Wouldnt it be great to roast enough for a week in one or two batches!
You are able to roast a full spectrum of coffee, from the City roasts to the Dark Spanish roasts.
This method is quiet so all the telling signs are extrememly audiable and you have full control over the length of your roast.

Disadvantages:

The Process makes alot of smoke due to the fact that you are roasting more coffee. More coffee hence more smoke.
This method does take some trial and error and it is not uncommon that the roaster burns their first batch.
It will take some practive to perfect this method but the rewards definately outweigh the costs.

Instructions:

1. This must all be done in a well ventilated area. so turn on the oven fan and open a window in the kitchen. Have all your supplies at hands reach.
2. Measure about 8 or 9 ounces if coffee by weight or 12 ounces by volume.
3. Use a low/medium flame, never use a high flame, you will burn the coffee. Heat untill the thermometer is at 400 degrees. It is important that that a lower heat is used untill the popper is no longer “reflective” on the inside, as this will influence the thermometer.
4. Place the beans into the popper and start at a medium rate, keep the cranking constant. The heat should now drop to 350 degrees, make sure that it doesnt drop below 300 or above 400 exept at the final part of your roast. You are measurfing the air temperature, the actual temperature at the bottom of the popper will be higher.
5. Watch the beans and make sure that the beans are moving at the right pace.
6. After 6 minutes, the first crack will become audiable and it will smoke. Wait for a minute and lower the heat. just enough for the roast to slow down but not stop.
7. Check the roast by lifting the lid every 30 seconds or less. Learning to roast by smell and sound would decrease the release of heat through lifting the lid.
8. The second crack will occur between 9 and 12 minutes depending on the heat.
9. Now the beans must be stirred in your collander untill they are warm enough to touch. Try to do this in a cool area to speed up the cooling.
10. Store the coffee in a glass jar out of direct light and after 12 hours seal the airtight lid (it needs to let off the CO2 gasses) Remember that is should not be stored in a fridge or freezer.
11. The coffee is its best 4 to 24 hours after it is roasted. If it is stored properly, you will have fresh coffee for 5 days.
12. You now have fresh and amazing coffee. Enjoy it. You can’t help but love it!

The Gas Oven Roasting Method

This method can roast anythign from Full City to French Roasts. The beans cannot be as easily looked at with this technique. The roast will be uneven and with electric ovens, the roast will be too uneven. This method can produce the highest yeild of coffee but a bad roast quality.

Equiptment:

Stainless steel wire mesh collander / perforated pan
Gas Oven
Large Spoon
Collender for cooling
Oven Gloves

Instructions

1. Have all your supplies within reach.
2. Spread all of your beans over the perforated pan or wire mest collander, one layer deep, close togeather and no cookie pan underneath.
3. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
4. Place the  beans on the middle shelf for about 5-7 minutes untill you hear the “first crack.”
5. When using the mesh collander, it is better to take it out of the oven every 1 minute or so and give it a quick shake. Try not to let too much heat escape.
6. Wait 2 minutes and start checking the color. Oven roasting takes longer than other techniques and if it takes more than 12 minutes to reach medium brown, then turn up the heat to 515-530 degrees.
7. Do not leave the batch in for more than 20 mintutes or it will taste bland.
8. using your oven gloves, take the beans out pour them into your cooling collander.
9. Mix the beans with a large spoon untill they are cool enough to touch. Walking outside during this process will aid cooling.
10. If chaff is still attached to the beans, you can remove it by agitating the beans and blowing lightly on them. Do this in a place where you wont make a huge mess.
11. Store the coffee in a glass jar out of direct light and after 12 hours seal the airtight lid (it needs to let off the CO2 gasses) Remember that is should not be stored in a fridge or freezer.
12. The coffee is its best 4 to 24 hours after it is roasted. If it is stored properly, you will have fresh coffee for 5 days.
13. You now have fresh amazing coffee. Enjoy!

Tags: air popcprn popper, Green Coffee, home roasting, Ken David, overn roasting, skillet roasting, stovetop popper, Wake Up Everybody