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I know roast my own coffee beans....cool ah?

djnagle

djnagle

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I was at Cable Guys house last week working on a pair of speakers we had eWaved, and Bill, Cable Guys, showed me how to roast green coffee beans in a hot air pop corn maker. WOW, it is so cool to roast beans, grind them right out of the roaster, and make a pot. He gave me the beans and I think they are pure Sumatra (SP) beans. I've never had such a good cup-0-joe.
 
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I have an old West Bend "The Poppery" hot air popper. I've recently noticed it seems to have quite a following with people roasting coffee beans. Where do you get the green beans? I suppose they cost more than roasted beans. How do you know when the beans are properly roasted?
 
djnagle said:
WOW, it is so cool to roast beans, grind them right out of the roaster, and make a pot. He gave me the beans and I think they are pure Sumatra (SP) beans. I've never had such a good cup-0-joe.
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They actually taste better if they are allowed to off gas for a couple of days.
 
Yamahalic said:
Very cool...I wish I kept my old hot air popper so I could give it a try.
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I threw away the two air pop makers we had a couple years ago. But I ran out to the local SA and bought one for 3 bucks.

Ed in Tx said:
I have an old West Bend "The Poppery" hot air popper. I've recently noticed it seems to have quite a following with people roasting coffee beans. Where do you get the green beans? I suppose they cost more than roasted beans. How do you know when the beans are properly roasted?
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There are a bunch of sellers on eBay and it is not as expensive as roasted beans. I was lucky enough to visit my daughter this weekend in the U.P. of Michigan where she goes to college. It is a very small town, Marquette, and very hippy-fied. I walked into the Dead River coffee shop and in the foyer, there were burlap sacks of green beans. I talked to the owner, a friend of my daughter, and he said he would sell what ever I wanted by the pound for $1.50 a pound. So she will be bring home beans when she visits.

He is what the master (cable guy) taught me and I confirmed with my own batch.

1. after a bit of roasting in the pop corn maker, there is a "first crack" that sounds like a higher pitch version of pop corn popping. then that calms down

2. a while later, there is a plume of smoke.

3. then the "second crack" which has a higher pitch sound than the First Crack, but are so close together it sounds like a sizzle/cracking sound.

4. At this point is where you determine the darkness of the roast.

light roast = turn it off just as soon as you hear the Second Crack.
Medium roast = turn it off in the middle of the Second Crack.
dark roast = turn it off at the end of the Second Crack.

Here is one thing that I never thought about: The darker the roast, the less the cafene (SP). When it roasts, same of the caffene burns off....I did not know that before.

This is important to me because caffene gives me heart palatations so I can't take in that much during the day.


dbCooper said:
They actually taste better if they are allowed to off gas for a couple of days.
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I did not know that. I have noticed that the beans get oily looking after a couple days.
 
If you have a Dunn Brothers coffee around they may sell you some green beans. Never tried to buy any, but they have gunny sacks of different varieties.
 
Redboy said:
Get thee a French press! :yes:
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Yep, just talked to my daughter in NM.....she has the FP. Will have to pick up another one at SA.

whoaru99 said:
If you have a Dunn Brothers coffee around they may sell you some green beans. Never tried to buy any, but they have gunny sacks of different varieties.
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Just checked, no DB in our state, but thanks for the tip.

jimfet said:
http://www.delish.com/food-fun/quizzes/coffee-iq-quiz-102308?GT1=47056

I thought I knew something about coffee. This test proved I'm a dumbass. Got around half right.

Also a great place to get your beans. Green or roasted. I have been getting my roasted beans here for many years now.

http://www.ccmcoffee.com/index.php?cPath=21
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Great link and seems to be a fair price.
 
I've been roasting for about 6-7 years now.
Several random thoughts on the subject.
Beans need to rest and degass after roasting-usually overnight does it, some coffees like 48-72 hrs, but that's rare.
Green beans do not last forever. A year is usually max, I've had some lose flavor in 6-9 months. It depends on how they are stored.
I strongly recommend Sweet Marias (already mentioned) as a source of green beans, though I sometimes buy elsewhere too. Tom is one of the best in the biz.
I'm fond of my French Press, but don't use it for every day use.
If you can swing it, you may wish to buy yourself a coffee roaster. It will give you better control of the roasting.
Just for clarification:
Roast Levels:
City Roast- Just at the end of the first crack (light)
City+ a few seconds after the first crack, and you know its stopped (light)
Full City-Just at or right after the first pops of the second crack (medium)
Full City+ -Well into the second crack (dark)
Vienna etc-after the second crack, and this just becomes various degrees of carbonizing.
The lighter the roast, the more you taste the origin of the bean. Personally, I never go past Full City, and usually do City+. Each bean has its own "spot" that tastes best. The trick is finding it.
Sweet Marias explains it better.
Jack
 
I am so glad I don't like coffee. If I did, it would end up being a hobby like my beer collecting. So many different coffees and ways to enjoy it.

On second thought though... I do like coffee in my cooking. I think I need to get me some green beans.
 
Jack G said:
I've been roasting for about 6-7 years now.
Several random thoughts on the subject.
Beans need to rest and degass after roasting-usually overnight does it, some coffees like 48-72 hrs, but that's rare.
Green beans do not last forever. A year is usually max, I've had some lose flavor in 6-9 months. It depends on how they are stored.
I strongly recommend Sweet Marias (already mentioned) as a source of green beans, though I sometimes buy elsewhere too. Tom is one of the best in the biz.
I'm fond of my French Press, but don't use it for every day use.
If you can swing it, you may wish to buy yourself a coffee roaster. It will give you better control of the roasting.
Just for clarification:
Roast Levels:
City Roast- Just at the end of the first crack (light)
City+ a few seconds after the first crack, and you know its stopped (light)
Full City-Just at or right after the first pops of the second crack (medium)
Full City+ -Well into the second crack (dark)
Vienna etc-after the second crack, and this just becomes various degrees of carbonizing.
The lighter the roast, the more you taste the origin of the bean. Personally, I never go past Full City, and usually do City+. Each bean has its own "spot" that tastes best. The trick is finding it.
Sweet Marias explains it better.
Jack
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Thanks Jack. I thought I had to go to the second crack. I will have to experiment. I like lighter coffees most of the time. When I camp, I boil grounds in water and filter when totally black.


VinylHanger said:
I am so glad I don't like coffee. If I did, it would end up being a hobby like my beer collecting. So many different coffees and ways to enjoy it.

On second thought though... I do like coffee in my cooking. I think I need to get me some green beans.
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I am going to make my annual batch of Kahlua in the next couple weeks. This time I will mess with GOOD coffee and not the instant freeze dryed stuff. It should come out better.

I have had beer made with coffee....it tasted good.
 
I roast my own. Been doing it for a few years. I use a West Bend Poppery that I have modified by separating the blower and heating element circuits. Also added a dial thermometer to monitor the temps. I've used a router speed controller to adjust the heat, but don't find it necessary all the time.

Sweet Maria's is a good source of greens and info. I also buy alot of my beans from the Green Coffee Buying Club, which isn't really a club, but a forum where distributors make coffee available.

Fresh roasted coffee is a joy. If you are a coffee nut, you owe it to yourself to look into roasting you own. Even if you're not a gadget geek. There are commercially made home roasters that make the process a snap.
 
I am really digging this but too much cafine gives me an arithmia (sp) so I tend to drink a lot of decaf.

Does green bean decaf taste as good as caf?
 
I just registered on the Green Coffee Buying Club site and what a bitch. I've never had such a hard time registering on a site. once in, I found the prices very high, but I am a nubi so it might be REALLY good and exotic beans for a really good price.....I don't know.
 
Did pretty good on the quiz. Use an FP. Never tried the roasted green beans route (not to be confused with Mr. Green Jeans), but will try it. Thanks for the tips! :banana:
 
Good morning Jet. I almost can't stand Folgers now and it's only been a coupld weeks. Some of the green beans can cost A LOT of money, but I've found 100% samotran (sp) for just over $3 a lbs. Can't bet that with a stick.
 
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