Roasting coffee beans at home has never been more accessible. The availability of affordable machines dedicated to roasting coffee simplifies the process a great deal. In this article, I detail my experience of learning how to roast coffee and what I have learned along the way. If you are brand new to the concept of home coffee roasting, you will likely find this article helpful.
A few years ago, I discovered the amazingness that is freshly roasted coffee from a local coffee shop. Freshly roasted coffee (within days of roasting) will redefine how you think of coffee. Since I enjoy experimenting with different brewing methods, I naturally prefer the freshest possible coffee. However, the price point of high end coffee was unsustainable for me at the time. Rather than settling for stale coffee from the supermarket, I began looking into home coffee roasting.
The following Christmas, my wonderful and very observant wife surprised me with a stovetop coffee roaster, a book on home coffee roasting, and several packages of green unroasted coffee beans. How cool is that? This was all I needed to get started and I was roasting within days.
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Why bother roasting coffee beans at home?
There are many advantages and benefits to roasting coffee at home. I’ll quickly list them off:
- Roasting coffee is a fun and rewarding hobby.
- Coffee roasting will sustain itself financially once you get the hang of it.
- Your home-roasted coffee beans will be better than most of the coffee out there, and your friends will be jealous.
- Home roasted coffee makes a great gift for friends and family.
- You can purchase raw coffee beans inexpensively in bulk and save yourself trips to a local roasting shop.
- You won’t have to put up with intensely bitter and overpriced supermarket coffee.
Are you eager to try your hand at roasting? Before you do, you should consider the following points to make sure you are compatible with coffee roasting.
Will home roasting be a good fit for you?
If you are considering learning how to roast coffee beans, you need to know what you’re in for. Coffee roasting on a basic level is relatively simple, but I wanted to share some of the less-obvious parts of the experience so that you can manage your expectations.
When I first began roasting my own coffee beans, I realized very quickly that I should have researched a bit more before starting. I burnt my beans and stunk up the house. The smoke alarms went off and chaff went everywhere. It took me several batches before my coffee was evenly roasted. These things are easily controlled but some knowledge about roasting is required.
Home coffee roasting isn’t for everyone and requires a certain level of involvement. If you are a details person with a bit of patience, you will likely appreciate this hobby. That being said, the machine you end up going with will make a significant difference as to the level of involvement and cleanup, so put some thought into selecting your roaster. Coffee roasting on a basic level is easy once you get the hang of it, and the right machine can really make a difference (more on this later).
The economics of roasting coffee beans at home
Roasting coffee is one of those rare hobbies that can sustain itself financially. This is because raw, unroasted coffee beans cost significantly less than roasted beans and store for much longer. By roasting your own coffee, you can purchase much large batches of green coffee beans very infrequently. The result is you saving time and money.
I usually make an online coffee purchase 2-3 times per year and work my way through them at my own pace. I can roast a pound of coffee in less time than it takes to drive to a roaster, and it costs me about 1/3rd of the price. If you are a big coffee drinker and prefer high quality coffee, the economics of roasting might be enough incentive to get started.
Choosing a roaster
The type of roaster you choose makes a big difference on your roasting experience. There are a few roasters that I have used or are familiar with. Each one is particularly suited for certain styles and quantities of roasting.
The Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper (view on Amazon) is widely known in coffee circles as an awesome stove-top coffee roaster. This roaster is inexpensive and is a great way to “test the waters” of coffee roasting. Since it is a manual device, it requires much involvement requires your full attention. This roaster can roast up to a pound of coffee at a time.
The Fresh Roast SR540 is a machine that I am now recommending over the Nesco Roaster (listed below) as an entry-level automated roaster. This roaster can roast 4 ounces at a time and comes equipped with a range of fan and heat adjustment settings. My favorite feature of this machine is the temperature display, which most all other roasters lack. Temperature readout is a huge convenience and will greatly assist your roasting efforts.
The Nesco Professional Coffee Roaster (view on Amazon) is an electronic machine that automates much of the roasting process including cooling and cleanup. This roaster can roast coffee in 4-5oz batches, which is not a lot, but the price and performance is solid for light and medium roasts. This roaster struggles with very dark roasts and is a bit on the loud side. PLEASE NOTE: This roaster seems to have discontinued. If the above link does not work, you will have to consider an alternative.
The Behmor 1600 Plus (view on Amazon) is a miniature drum roaster that has the footprint of a toaster oven. This machine roasts up to a pound of coffee and does a great job, but requires for your full attention. This is easily the best roaster on this list, but as of lately, it has become quite difficult to find. You may need to go directly to the Sweet Marias website or another coffee vendor to find one. The price is usually in the $400 range.
I have another article dedicated to explaining the ins and outs of some of these machines, which you can read below.
Read More: Best Home Coffee Bean Roaster
Where to buy raw coffee beans
The most convenient way to purchase raw coffee beans cheaply is through the internet. I have two recommendations, depending on the size of your order.
For small purchases (a few pounds or less), I recommend using Amazon for your order. The cost of the shipping may or may not be included, but this is a cost effective way to get started and you will receive your coffee quickly. Here is an example of the sort of thing you should look for: 3 Lbs, Single Origin Unroasted Green Coffee Beans, Specialty Grade From Single Nicaraguan Estate (view on Amazon)
For larger orders, I recommend using the website Sweet Marias. This website works with coffee farmers globally and secures excellent quality coffee for home roasting at competitive prices. Sweet Marias also offers a wealth of information on brewing and roasting, so I encourage you to check them out. Please note that they charge a flat rate shipping fee for orders up to a certain size, so it makes the most sense to use them when bulk ordering.
Either way, your unroasted coffee beans should be much cheaper than the roasted alternative. This is how I buy all of my coffee.
Supervised roasting
You’ll need to pay close attention to your roast. All roasters need to be monitored 100% of the time during the roast cycle. The beans will hit 400-500 degrees and can easily become a fire hazard. There is no such thing as a roaster that you can leave alone in your home unattended. Some roasters are friendlier to multitasking than others (such as the Nesco) but you must remain watchful during a roasting cycle.
It’s not a bad idea to keep a fire extinguisher near your roasting station. If you are attentive, you likely won’t run into any issues here. If you are roasting indoors, you may set off the smoke alarms if your ventilation is inadequate.
Ventilation is required
You’ll need some airflow around your roaster. Roasting coffee can produce a great deal of roasting smoke depending on the machine. Many roasters will still probably set off your smoke alarms towards the end of the roast. In other words, proper ventilation is required.
If you have a vent hood that vents air outside, that will do the trick. Otherwise you will probably want to open some windows or roast outside. Certain machines, such as the Nesco Pro suppresses the smoke and can be easily used indoors. Your house will still smell a bit like burnt grass on the day that you roast, however.
Now you might think the smell of roasted coffee minutes after roasting would be delightful, but the pleasant coffee smell doesn’t become prominent until a day after the roast. Freshly roasted coffee actually smells sort of like a combination of grass and campfires. Your whole house will smell like this if your ventilation isn’t adequate.
Use your senses to time the roast
Timing the roast correctly is essential. For most of the roast, nothing obvious will happen and the experience can be a bit on the dull side. However, once the beans are hot enough, things will progress very quickly. The scent will change, and the color will darken. The beans will heat to the point where the starches break down, resulting in soft crackling noises. These signals help to identify which stage of the roast you are in.
The first time you hear crackling during a roast is referred to as “first crack” and indicates that the starch breakdown has begun. Pulling the beans right at first crack will result in a lighter roast compared to a minute or so after.
As the beans continue to roast, they will make different, higher pitched crackling noises. This is known as “second crack” and signals a later stage and a much darker roast. This is the point where your smoke alarm might go off, so be forewarned if you like your coffee dark.
Using your senses of sight, smell, and hearing will help identify the stage of the roast and greatly assist you in achieving a desired result.
Post roast
Some cleanup is required. During roasting, coffee separates from a thin outer skin called chaff that need to be collected and disposed of. Chaff tends to float around and can really make a mess, so you’ll need a plan to deal with it before storing your coffee.
Fortunately, many roasters have some mechanism that collects the chaff during the cooling cycle for easy cleanup. If you use a manual roaster, you will have to separate the chaff yourself by dumping the coffee in a strainer and vacuuming or blowing away the chaff outside.
Storing your coffee beans
Freshly roasted coffee should be stored in an airtight, opaque container with a degassing valve. These containers will allow your coffee to release gases in the days following the roast while protecting the coffee from light and outside air.
There are many variants of this type of container, but I recommend the Coffee Gator Stainless Steel Container (view on Amazon). Feel free to choose whatever container you like, but be sure to get one with a degassing valve.
Once a few days have passed after roasting, your coffee will become aromatic and flavorful and well worth the effort. You’ll have to pay good money to experience this elsewhere.
Final thoughts
When it comes time to grind and brew my own coffee beans, I am always blown away by the smell and the taste. It seriously never gets old. I buy roasted coffee a few times a year, and only when I am in a pinch and don’t have time to roast. If you are the DIY type of person and love coffee, you would probably get a lot out of home roasting.
This is a good summary of the things I have learned since I started roasting. I absolutely love it, and I am proud of the fact that I roast my own coffee. This hobby has saved me hundreds of dollars each year, even considering the price of the roasters. I highly recommend all the coffee geeks out there consider roasting.
If you are seriously interested in roasting, I recommend you check out Kenneth David’s book: Home Coffee Roasting, Romance and Revival (view on Amazon). This book details everything from regions of coffee beans, to roasting technique, and even summaries and diagrams of different types of roasters. You really shouldn’t purchase a roaster without this book (you will probably even see it recommended on Amazon alongside many roasting machines).
If you think this article might be helpful to someone, please share it with them. I am always happy to answer questions as well.
Happy Roasting!
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