I'm out of coffee

[rennie]

I'm drinking coffee right now. Wooohoo.

 

[izz]

yarmyarm.

can't have any more tonight tho

 

[littlebabyjesus]

What is wrong with just roasting them in the oven? S'what my landlady did when I lived in Cuba, then I'd grind it with a hand grinder, and the coffee was phenomenally good.

Any tips?

 

[mrs quoad]

many thanks for the advice - i was thinking of an iRoast, as a way of deciding if i have the stamina for DIY roasting.

the review mentions smoke - just how much smoke do these beasties generate - burnt toast type smoke or evecuate the kitchen type ?

Fantastic - spot-on entry-point to home roasting. And as soon as you get frustrated with the inability to hear second crack, you can start looking mournfully at Hottops

I've never set off a smoke alarm with either. I used to have an iRoast stationed by the window in my grade 2 listed student accommodation [with heat and smoke alarms]. No worries. Likewise, running an iRoast by a kitchen window shouldn't set off most fire alarms. There'll always be ways around it, like. The blerks in the office opposite used to piss thesselves when I was roasting in the morning with the wind in the wrong direction, as the smoke'd be blowing in the wrong direction (i.e. into the bedroom) so I'd be standing there wearing nowt but a dressing gown, frantically trying to blast the smoke back out again by wielding a folder as a fan.

That was in the early days. Later on I learnt that I didn't need to bother. I'm now in a room half the size, mind. You can see the roaster is by the window, and I've only dared roast the once so far. No troubles - but I'll need to break the anxiety barrier Oh - also, always best to create an airflow. Have two windows open, or a window and the front door.



LBJ - the main issue with oven roasting is the evenness of the roast. The key factors in an iRoast and Hottop are the systems they contain for keeping the beans moving. The iRoast is essentially a fancy hair dryer, with a funnelling system. So the beans get blasted up the middle, and fall around the outside. The Hottop is a drum roaster, so a drum holding the beans constantly rotates next to a heating element.

Most ovens'll tend to heat tiny wee things like coffee beans pretty unevenly. If you've got a system that's good at agitating them, mind, no harm in trying. The worst that'll happen is you'll waste some green beans, and possibly get excited about the potential to explore things a bit further.

FWIW, if memory serves (VP might be better at this, given her iRoast has a temperature readout), most roasts'd be between approx. 212 and 235 degrees C. With a profile / curve designed to extract the best from a given bean.

Key thing is to LISTEN. Roasting is surprisingly auditory. Less visual, as different beans look different at different stages of their roast. 'First crack' sounds like pencils snapping. The beans won't be usable before then. After first crack, they'll be light / ok-ish for filter / drip / cafetiere. Though they'll oftentimes benefit by being taken another minute or two into the roast, regardless of the bean / process.

'Second crack' sounds like toothpicks snapping. Usually there'll be a gap / silence of 1 -> 3 minutes between the end of 1st crack [pencils, CRACK CRACK] and the beginnings of 2nd crack [*snapsnap*].

At the start of second crack, you need to be careful. It'll start out with one or two, and soon build up to a volley of simultaneous toothpicks [*snapsnapsnapsnapSNAPSNAPsnapsnapsnap*]. In contrast to first crack, in which you'll hear 1/5 the quantity of CRACKs. And first crack is far more sporadic - never hits thundering volley stage.

Many beans'll suffer if taken beyond the first whifflings of 2nd. Certainly taking anything intended for filter / cafetiere / drip beyond the VERY first second cracks would spell shit coffee. A few varieties of beans'll be ok for espresso up to the fast volley stage of second.

Beyond that.... you're kinda looking at something that's getting blitzed by fire. It's charcoal.

Also - roasting is a trade-off between bean / origin characteristics, and roast characteristics. Something like a light, cinnamon-brown roast will be REALLY origin-y. But won't be to many people's tastes, as it'll still taste pretty green / unroasted. Chances are it'll be pretty sour, and that can put a lot of people off. Bleeehhhh @ green roast coffee.

Darker roasts start losing the characteristics of their origin, and roast characteristics come to the fore instead. Two beans both roasted to rapid-fire second crack'll taste far more like one another than two beans roasted to JUST after second crack.

And some beans are shit roasted light, some beans are shit roasted dark.




Oh... and if they're taking more than... ooo... 17 or 18 minutes... Maybe 20... then you'll probably start finding the roasts lose a lot of their complexity too.

So if you are going to try them in an oven, bung them onto a HOT tray in a HOT oven, at a heat somewhere around 220 ( -> 235) for starters... And if that doesn't work, try tinkering with some of the variables. Heat, time, agitation - etc.

 

[mrs quoad]

Oh, http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.html

FWIW.

Though - again - that'll vary by bean. So isn't TOO much use

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Cheers. I was given a grinder as a pressie recently. I'm going to give it a go.

 

[mrs quoad]

Cheers. I was given a grinder as a pressie recently. I'm going to give it a go.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

Got any green beans? If not, I'd recommend Steve @ Hasbean.

Or I think James' Gourmet also do decent greens. As do Compass Coffee. I think

Can't go wrong with Steve for advice, support and quality, though

 

[mrs quoad]

t'is a most impressive setup you have there Mrs Quoad. I'm minded to move in

Ah, but two of the newest and swishest machines in that pic are fucked.

Hope to have 'em fixed soon, but the grinder (second from left) is fucked, and pump machine (big square silver lump) is thoroughly fucked (I'm about to send it back for repairs). And I suspect the grinder on the very far left is giving up the ghost too.