Basics of Roasting the Coffee Yourself

Why is it good idea to roast your coffee yourself? There are three reasons actually:
1) You can roast it right before grinding and brewing, which means you get the freshest roast possible
2) You can roast exactly as much as you need, so there are no leftovers that become old
3) You can get the exact degree of roast that you want

Of course roasting takes some practice before you get all the necessary things right, so don’t get depressed and quit, if your first roast didn’t turn out the way you meant it.

A variety of roaster types are available, but in worst case scenario even a frying pan or popcorn popper can be used. Be sure to start with ultra-clean equipment, though. It’s essential, nothing spoils the taste of coffee like left over fish oils or butter.

Dark roasts contain a little less caffeine than lighter roasts, but they lack the acid taste of the latter. Of course you should start off with quality beans!

The beans will need to heat to between 460F (223C) and 530F (262C), so be prepared for some smoke. That’s easily taken care of with a small room fan or stove top exhaust. In addition to smoke there will be an odor that’s not necessarily the pleasant part of the process, so your first experiments should probably be done with the windows open and no one home.

Put the beans in the roaster and turn up the heat! (Take care to be ready to temporarily disable those over-sensitive home fire alarms. Don’t forget to switch them back when you’re done!)

Some of the roasters have the thermometer built into them, but you might want to have an extra for when it’s open, or for those frying pan experiments. Candy making thermometers will be fine for this purpose.

During the process those green beans will at first turn yellow, then brown. How brown depends on how dark you like your roast, which is always an individual choice.

As they begin to heat up, moisture – both oil and water – will put pressure on the bean surface and you may hear a loud crack when it bursts. Not to worry, this is normal. Stirring every 30 seconds or more, you’ll hear this somewhere around four to seven minutes of heating.

The sugars inside will begin to caramelize (turn brown and ‘burn’ slightly) as the roasting continues. Again the degree is a matter of taste. Check the color every 30 seconds or so.

Roast long enough and sometimes a second little less loud crack will occur. At this stage the beans will be quite dark and for some palates a little overdone. Beyond the second crack you’re really just burning the beans and boiling away the sugars. The results will be too harsh for most people.

Pour into a metal colander to cool, then agitate. Since the roasting process produces chaff (a fine skin that detaches from the bean as they’re agitated), you’re going to need some method for removing it. Mesh cooking screens are one option.

Try a few batches with different degrees of time or darkening. Experiment to get the flavor you like. Keep in mind that the heat trapped in the bean will continue to cook it for short period of time, so try stopping a little bit before your desired end goal.

For the popcorn popper style roasting, you should get one that allows you to stir up the beans to keep them moving around and not sticking to the surfaces. For the stove top style, a cast iron skillet will work just fine. And remember that roasting happens quickly, so be ready for lots of stirring and viewing.

When you’ve done your share of practicing and start to get hang of the whole roasting nuances you can create your own kind of roasts for different occasions or even for different times of the day. Good luck in your roasting adventures!

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