[jeffy]

Just yesterday on the NPR show Splendid Table they did an interview with Tom Owen of Sweet Maria's about home-roasting coffee.  'Made me want to look for the hot air popcorn popper that I haven't used in years to see if it is the cool kind.  
I'm very tempted to try this, as if I didn't have enough to do already.

If you do it I'd be willing to bet there's a 99% chance you won't/can't stop.... 

Then I had better not.

[hamiltont]

Just yesterday on the NPR show Splendid Table they did an interview with Tom Owen of Sweet Maria's about home-roasting coffee.  'Made me want to look for the hot air popcorn popper that I haven't used in years to see if it is the cool kind.  
I'm very tempted to try this, as if I didn't have enough to do already.

If you do it I'd be willing to bet there's a 99% chance you won't/can't stop.... 

Then I had better not.

Ahhh, but now you know you'll be missing out..... That's the part the hooked me. Cheers!!!

[boulderbrewer]

How did the coffee taste after brewing? I've often considered trying to roast my own coffee but never tried as of yet.  It's the time factor at work.

It needs to rest for a couple of days and vent gasses but it tastes really good after that. I like my coffee black & strong, but low acid, so I choose low acid beans and by roasting well into the 2nd crack I can eliminate some acid that way too. The hardest part is locating a hot air popcorn popper that will do the job. Cheers!!!

Cold brew the coffee into a concentrate, cuts the acid big time, you lose some caffine but you can drink more! a good side effect if you need to control your caffine and love coffee.

[boulderbrewer]

This is my rig but we need 2# weekly. Its been going strong for 3 years now!

http://www.genecafe.com/

[gigatropolis]

I bought this RS500 a year ago and have been roasting my coffee ever since.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/FRESH-ROAST-SR500-ROASTER-STARTER-SET-P2572C91.aspx

[boulderbrewer]

Sweet what is your fav?

[Slowbrew]

I've been roasting my own beans for about a year and half.  I use a 14" wok and my turkey fryer base.  It works well and was pretty cheap.

You don't have a lot of control over what roast you get bet I like my coffee dark and I've never found a way to get a City roast out of my setup.  Full City and darker works fine.

Sweet Maria's is great to deal with.  Very good beans, lot of variety and good service.

Paul

[euge]

I think you just need to pull the beans sooner to get City. They'll continue to cook so dump them out before they get to the color you want.

[boulderbrewer]

Yep euge is right dump them sooner, I use a colinder on a box fan to cool them fairly fast.

[MDixon]

At one time I used a spritzer bottle with water to cool. Now due to the volume I roast I drizzle water into my bread machine till the temp reaches about 220F or so.

[Slowbrew]

Yep euge is right dump them sooner, I use a colinder on a box fan to cool them fairly fast.

I didn't have any trouble getting the beans cooled off this last time.  It was 3deg. F while I was roasting them.  8^)

I'm still working out the right quantity to do at one time.  8oz. works okay to get a consistent color.  16oz. is too many at one time.  Less than 8oz. makes too many batches when its this cold.  A dedicated roaster is on my Santa (someday) list.

I might give the water spray a try.

Thanks!

Paul

[corkybstewart]

I started roasting many years ago with a Zach and Dani's roaster(now Nestle makes it), have burned up a couple of IRoast II units and am back to popcorn poppers.   I have 2 poppers, I do a batch in each one Sunday morning, after lunch, late afternoon and just after dark .That gives us enough coffee for a week.
I let my roasted beans sit on a cookie sheet from Sunday evening until Monday(sometimes Tuesday) night, then they go into a glass jar.  I can't even think of drinking store bought coffee, I,m even worse about coffee than I am beer.

[theoman]

Awesome! I've been using the popper method for quite a few years now. The old poppery II that I had in the States was perfect. The one I got here in Belgium is a bit too hot, so I've worked out a more manual process. I turn the machine on and off while trying to roast the beans more slowly and sometimes dump the beans to let them cool slightly. I try to hold of first crack to around 4 minutes and finish up around 7, depending on how dark I want to go. I should note that I do like a pretty dark roast.

I remember tasting the first espresso I made after my first home roast. It was an "Oh my god!" moment.

[corkybstewart]

I like a strong caffeine buzz and roasting too dark will kill that, but with the small batches I roast I have great control.  I may do 6 medium roast batches and 2 very dark, oily batches and blend them.  I get the nice dark taste but still have all the jolt my body needs.

[gmac]

Can you "freshen up" already roasted coffee?  For example, I've got some light roast in the freezer.  Would a couple minutes in the popcorn popper make it better without changing it too much?  Sort of thinking along the lines of frying spices to bring out their flavour.  Could the same thing work for coffee?