Popcorn Popper Coffee Roasting

[floydpink]

great review, thx for taking the time to post.

[kenstogie]

During the "de-gassing" period right after roasting how do you store your beans? Also are my grade determinations (city, city+ etc) at least in the ball park?
Any other tips?
THANKS!!!

[floydpink]

I bought a 5 dollar storage tin from Sweet Marias that has a valve on the bottom.

I am not an expert, nor being critical, but it seems from the picture, some of your beans are Vienna and I even see some charring.

[kenstogie]

Originally Posted by floydpink

I bought a 5 dollar storage tin from Sweet Marias that has a valve on the bottom.

I am not an expert, nor being critical, but it seems from the picture, some of your beans are Vienna and I even see some charring.

Gotcha. I notice that they look differently under different light and 10 mins after you take them out of the "roaster"
I remember reading that they continue to roast some after you take them out.

Is it normal or not an abnormal occurance to have the different tones of roasting from the same roast?

I did notice some of the charring on some of the beans, if you mean that black circlular on the photo below the "and another actual after done photo" pic above.

Thanks for your input Floyd Council.

[germantown rob]

Originally Posted by kenstogie

Gotcha. I notice that they look differently under different light and 10 mins after you take them out of the "roaster"
I remember reading that they continue to roast some after you take them out.

cooling the beans as quick as possible is a good thing to stop the roasting.

Originally Posted by kenstogie

Is it normal or not an abnormal occurance to have the different tones of roasting from the same roast?

Simple answer- Yes
City and City+ will always have variations on the same bean. Different roasters do different things, some will give more uniform coloring. Learning and practicing can lend itself to getting more uniform coloring.

[germantown rob]

Originally Posted by kenstogie

During the "de-gassing" period right after roasting how do you store your beans? Also are my grade determinations (city, city+ etc) at least in the ball park?
Any other tips?
THANKS!!!

This has become a major obsession of mine.

Oxygen, moisture, and light are some major enemies to roasted coffee. Since home roasters are consuming their roasts before long how much of a problem is there really going to be in less then 14 days? Most of what has been scientifically researched is for extending the freshness for shelf life on a commercial level and I am trying to piece together how to use this info best as a home roaster. For oxygen not to be a problem it must be reduced to at least 4%.

To be really anal one might...
Allow roast to cool.
Transfer roast to vacuum bag.
Flush with nitrogen (co2 might be fine and can be acquired in small spay bottles at wine stores)
Vaccum the bag (the bag will expand with co2 as the degassing from the beans is strong the first 12hrs or so)
If resting more then 2 days cut bag and repeat.

Is this necessary? I am trying to find out if I notice a difference in the time it takes me to consume my roasts. I have already done some home experiments with part of a roast resting in an open cup, a sweet maria's tin, and vacuumed sealed. The open cup lost it's aromas the quickest compared to the tin and on day 10 the open cup tasted on it's way to stale, the tin's aroma was ok until shaken then it was good and the vacuum bag when opened was delightful but tasted the same as the tin which tasted like a 10 day old roast. My tastes have changed and grown since I did this last test and espresso seems to have a much tighter window of flavors from the cup then my moka pot or Brikka so I am going to see if my above storing does make a better shot.

Edit: Just get yourself some mason jars or valve bags or valve tins and put your roast in them once cooled. I like the tins because they keep the light out and look good on the counter but a mason jars seals better, bags just end up costing to much money for self storage but make nice gifts.

[kenstogie]

So I did another batch and since I am new to this I am learning a few things that help...

--A strong light or even a flashlight so you can see the beans as they are roasting is pretty dang helpful
--take the beans out a little bit before they are done as they continue to roast after they are removed, even if you put them on a cookie sheet.
--your nose tells you alot about what's going on with them.
--first crack second crack. It doesn't really happen all the time. Sometimes it cracks sometimes it doesn't.
--you can mask the actual flavor of your coffee with cream and sugar, try leaving it out, especially the sugar.

These are just my observations/opinions. YMMV.

[floydpink]

I'm able to shut down the roast fairly quickly with a metal collander over an upturned desk fan shaken rapidly after the beans are dumped in.

[germantown rob]

Originally Posted by kenstogie

So I did another batch and since I am new to this I am learning a few things that help...

--A strong light or even a flashlight so you can see the beans as they are roasting is pretty dang helpful

, the brighter the better.

Originally Posted by kenstogie

--take the beans out a little bit before they are done as they continue to roast after they are removed, even if you put them on a cookie sheet.

Do what Pete said to speed up cooling and think ahead 10-20 seconds.

Originally Posted by kenstogie

--your nose tells you alot about what's going on with them.
, eyes can be deceiving with color but pay attention to the smoke changes and smell a lot.
--first crack second crack. It doesn't really happen all the time. Sometimes it cracks sometimes it doesn't.

The cracks are always there, just one of the drawbacks of a popper, the noise.

Originally Posted by kenstogie

--you can mask the actual flavor of your coffee with cream and sugar, try leaving it out, especially the sugar.

Trying your beans black before adding anything is the best judge of your roast but drink it any way you like.

[kenstogie]

Totally unrelated but very cool.....
How big is a Coffee bean??
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/

[OHRD]

Fellas, what an AWESOME thread! I'm looking at getting into roasting w/ some of my Christmas money this year. Thanks for the insight!

[kenstogie]

Thought I’d report back with some of my experiences with the Popcorn Popper Coffee Roasting method after roasting 15 batches or there abouts

1-For me one fill of the "measuring top dumper thing" is just not enough so I did two. This is a limitation that I find make this method slightly irritating and will eventually make me trade up.

2- Letting your popper run for 30 seconds does help heat up the unit but be prepared to get those beans moving RIGHT AWAY when you dump them in or they will scorch.

3-Sounds counter intuitive but yes more beans in the popper makes (or probably RETAINS) more heat and thus the beans roast quicker but as noted below keep those beans moving.

4-You really have to get those beans moving because if you don’t they’ll scorch and not "tasta so good". What I did was
A-Remove the "dumper measuring thing" out,
B-cover it with a cloth to prevent the scaffe from getting everywhere,
C-take a wood spoon stick it down the throat of the whole thing and stir A LOT.
This gets those beans moving and prevents scorching and creates a more even roast.

5- After the beans have lost some of their weight and expanded they will move more freely. That doesn’t mean to get complacent as you still need to stir.

These have been my experiences with my particular popcorn popper. I have read that they all heat different depending on the…. Element, cord length, power supplied by outlet, variety of beans roasting etc etc. I have found that you can get a great roast from them but does require a bit of skill/practice.