I learned to roasting with the Plus FreshRoast. There are a lot of advantages small roasting appliances purpose-built. I still recommend them to beginners. The desire to improve the roasting process has taken me through various stages of experimentation. With the addition of a variac I was able to achieve an extraordinary level of control of the profile. After a while ', however, I found that I spent too much time because of roasting small batches.
There are other methods of roasting coffee at home suitable for large lots. I tried a popper stove that has worked well, but the popper I got was not very strong. I decided to try the heat gun to see if it did not work, a heat gun would still be useful to have. It turns out the heat gun is a good way to grill up to about a pound of green beans. The following is a how-to based on my experience.
The equipment
To start you need a heat gun, a vase to hold the beans and a stirring utensil. I use the heat gun Wagner HT775. It 's commonly available in hardware stores and home. My current ship of roasting is a steel mesh sieve into a metal mixing bowl. A large metal spoon as my tool is used to stir.
Area home coffee roasting
There is a fuller discussion of heat gun and the choices at the bottom of the roasting pots excellent Michael Lloyd. The primer is on the main site roasting Ed Needham. You can also see discussion threads and many CoffeeGeek alt.coffee.
The first pioneers used stainless steel dog bowls for roasting in. You can, in fact, feel roasting heat gun, as a method of which the dog's bowl. Are still the most common roasting pots.
The method
Roasts with a heat gun is another variant of the method fluidized bed used in the majority of home devices roasting. I was told a sample roaster Sivetz actually use a heat gun to blow air through the beans kept in a metal tube. The method I am going to talk about is throwing a little 'beans in a bowl and jump with a heat gun. It sounds like something you should see the Tool Time, but it really works.
Choose a suitable place roasting. Due to the volume of smoke and chaff, I recommend you do this outdoors. The wind is the enemy. So is the rain, for that matter. Earthquakes can help stir the beans.
Put a pound of green beans (about three cups of volume) in a bowl or colander that contains at least two quarters. If the cup is too small, under vigorous stirring may send the beans in orbit. The sieve-in-bowl method traps hot air under the beans. The jury is still out on what this means.
Preheat the gun for a minute or so. This also helps to remove any dust or hot ashes from the chaff. (Important safety tip: chaff is sucked into the heat gun can ignite Being aware of all liquids in the vicinity ..)
Start with the lowest temperature and the nozzle about an inch above the beans.
Move the heat gun in circles stirring the beans. It is also possible to vary the height above the beans. Agitation is key to a uniform distribution of heat.
Watch the beans for color uniformity. Adjust the position of agitation or a gun, if necessary.
When the green is gone, you can increase the heat to drive the first crack. If you keep doing what you're doing, you will get first crack after about 10 to 11 minutes.
Depending on the type of roast you are going for, you should run the heat once the first crack is rolling. This lot size limits the profiling options. Second crack may start before 1 is finished.
When you reach the desired level roasted, cooled beans using whatever technique you like. Using two mesh colander and pour the beans from one to another. That works best when it is cool and windy. For the roasting summer I'll probably add a water quench to accelerate cooling.
That's really all there is to it. It 'a surprisingly convenient and economical to roast a pound of coffee.
Additional Notes
Home roasters like me are always looking for ways to improve the quality or quantity of roast. The technique is a moving target as we learn something new from each lot. The environmental conditions play a role. My experience involves five months out through roasting autumn and winter in the midwest. Your mileage may vary.
The choice of mesh filters is to minimize the heat is dissipated from the beans. Other approaches could be to use a container isolated roasting or a source of additional heat to mitigate the effect. The mixing bowl under traps heat. I measured this with a thermocouple. I suspect that this adds stability to temperature, but we have no data.
Flaming husk is a real problem. Burns usually fairly quickly, but do not want someone feeds a lawn mower three feet away. Is generally not a problem for the quality roast.
I have yet to find a satisfactory way to measure the temperature of beans directly. The readings were inconsistent because it is difficult to keep the thermocouple in the mass of beans stirring. Place the thermocouple in the strainer helps a little. '
Without the benefit of temperature readings, you must use your senses more. Much can be learned odor. If roast many different varieties, you will notice that some beans roasted darker than the other without being over done. (That is darker at lower temperatures than soy) When you are trying to stop the first crack in the second place, the smell is the best guide. Your eyes are very deceiving, especially at the end of the light.
Questions and Answers
I looked online at different heat guns. Everyone seems to have a different temperature range variable. When purchasing a heat gun, what temperature should I look?
The model we use varies from 500-750F. Some go higher. Another part of the equation is the assessment of CFM fan. Some heat guns put out a lot of heat, but can never reach the beans. I heard of one that had a flow of air that blew too high the beans right out of the bowl. The best we were able to process a minimum of 500F and 14CFM. For a heat gun, keep it away from the beans.
What temperature do you set the heat gun when roasting? You mention in the article using the "lowest temperature", but that seems to vary from gun to gun. How do you change your temperature once the toasting begins?
I'm beginning to kick up to 500F and 750F to push the first crack along. Otherwise, it remains basically to 500F. The heat is controlled by controlling the flow of air. The higher speed is the lowest temperature. There is a wide range of movement from one to another. It 's just a dial on the side.
When roasting less than a pound, I'm assuming the roast goes faster. Does not reduce the temperature to adjust for small batch sizes? If so, you have guidelines?
A game from a cup usually first reaches crack about 7-8 minutes. I did not use the heat setting higher with small lots. Basically you can control how close the roast from the heat to the beans. If I wanted to slow down a lot smaller, I'd put the heat gun a bit 'off.
There are security problems when using a heat gun? They need glasses or gloves?
Gloves may be desirable because of the heat coming out the beans, especially later in the roast. I do not use gloves unless it's out in the cold. Mainly just keep in mind that the very hot air came out of the heat gun and not to grab the nozzle or something similar. An oven mitt or the like can be useful after the roast, because the bowl is pretty hot. It really depends where you grab the bowl.
Conclusion
Someone once said all you have roasted coffee beans and a heat source. The method of heat gun makes it an excellent source of heat. Allows a good range of batches and is at least an order of magnitude cheaper than most of the drum roasters. Probably not for everyone, but anyone could do it.
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