I survived last week’s roasting catastrophe (see last week’s blog ‘The Arrival’), thanks for asking, and have been roasting some nice batches. Outside.
I’ve conducted a fairly thorough forensic investigation into the incident, and I’m still none the wiser.
I did however decide the Doc was better off without the charred remains of my troubled second roasting attempt. With renewed confidence (at least in my ability to get the beans out of the machine) I have plied him and a few others, with some samples for that all important taste test.
The response has been positive, so I’m soldiering on. I’m definitely more relaxed about the whole thing. When I think back to the first half dozen roasts, I was a wreck. Blood pressure rising like a full moon in the night sky.
This week I thought I’d get down to some roasting nitty gritty. I’ve got consistency, and overall, I’m really happy with my roasting process - which is actually quite simple.
Here it is:
First up, all good chemical reactions need heat, so I fire up the power at 100% to a nice cosy 380F. Then I drop (correct name ‘charge’) the beans into the machine via the loading shute.
I kill the heat for a full minute and the temperature drops to around 210F as the heat in the drum is absorbed by the beans, which are getting their little backs (and fronts) all toasty warm as the turning drum lulls them (and occasionally me) to sleep.
Once the temp climbs back up to 320F (which takes about 6 minutes) I really start paying attention, as things happen quickly.
With a full roast time between 9 and 10 minutes, we are a ways through already. The beans change from green to yellow, then to light tan and there’s a distinct baked bread smell as the magic/chemistry starts to happen.
At 320F heat down to 90%, fan up to 25%.
At 340F heat 80%, fan 50%;
At 360F heat 70% fan 50%.
It’s about now that the infamous ‘first crack’ starts. It’s exactly like popcorn popping - just with a completely different outcome !
At 370F, I reduce the heat to 50% and increase the fan to 75%.
The rationale behind all this is that things are getting very hot in there, including the beans, so less heat is needed from the element. The alternative is not worth thinking about.
Once first crack is underway, I start the stopwatch on my phone. I’m counting 90 seconds until I eject the beans.
380F heat 30%, fan100%, for the last few seconds. I am about to send the beans out into the cooling tray - an important step in the process as the beans need to cool quickly so they don’t continue to cook.
This final phase all happens very rapidly - in the last 2-3 minutes, so I have to have my wits about me, especially as I’m changing the temp and fan, activating the stopwatch, and trying to record all the changes on paper as I go, so I have a record. Male multi-tasking at its finest.
But it’s well worth it. What I’m consistently getting is a very beautiful cinnamon brown roasted bean that smells divine. All nutty and chocolatey, and importantly, coffee-ey.
If I want a slightly darker roast, I’ll give the beans another 15 or 30 seconds, which is very little really, but surprising the difference it makes.
An extra 30-40 seconds makes quite a difference
Kudos to Adam Spindler who developed this process or ‘profile’, which I’ve adopted with a few tweaks, and so far everything seems to be going swimmingly.
The other variable is the different bean varieties. I’ve roasted about 12 different types so far - from Brazil, Colombia, Malawi, Java, Ethiopia, and El Salvador. I keep a record of the ones I particularly like (smell, look, taste) and these are the ones I re-order from my supplier - who conveniently is only an hour away.
My absolute favourite is a Brazilian bean from the farms of Danielle Fonseca and Laiz Figueirdo, who go by the name Women in Coffee. I’ve started a little research on them and I’ll share that with you in an upcoming episode.
Brazilian green beans (left) and after a good roasting (right).
I know you are relieved that things have improved and I didn’t give up, after what I affectionately call DR2 - disaster roast 2.
Thanks for joining me on the journey thus far.
Brew time!
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