As a home coffee roaster, you can be just a little smug about your coffee!
So what's the big deal about being a home coffee roaster? If, like us, you LOVE a great cup of coffee, spoil yourself! How? By roasting your own coffee beans.
There is nothing... and I mean nothing... quite as good as a cup of freshly roasted, freshly brewed coffee. It will spoil you for any other coffee. In fact, many a guest has said they can't drink store-bought coffee any more!
But a lot of people seem to think it's really difficult to roast coffee.
I hope this page and our page on roasting on a gas barbecue will show you that it is quite easy... and really worth it!
Where to begin
Your need a couple of basic things to get started.
- A source of green coffee beans
- A gas oven (although I have used an electric oven with reasonable success).
- A perforated pan
- Two colanders
That's pretty much all you need.
Source of green coffee beans
I'm fortunate to have a source of organic, relationship and/or fair trade green coffee beans right here in my community.
Other sources of green beans include SweetMarias.com and GreenBeanery.ca.
A pan to roast on
Many home roasters invest in counter top roasting machines. Personally I've never tried one of these machines. I know there are a wide variety on the market. However, I cannot make any recommendations at this point. I've read the reviews and thought about getting one... but found a simple and inexpensive process that works really well. I use our gas oven to roast 95 percent of our coffee.
As can be seen in the photo below, I use a round perforated pizza pan! I paid less then $10 for a set of two pans! Over time the coffee oils have turned the pan dark brown (I scrub it clean every once in a while, but this seems to make no discernible difference to the taste of the coffee).
Why a gas oven?
I've read that a gas oven is best because there is adequate air flow. I've recently tried roasting in an electric oven and had good results. So by all means give this a try! Suffice to say that I get excellent results with the method outlined below.
The process
Preheat your oven. I have settled on a temperature of 505°F (263°C). You'll find what works best for your oven after a bit of experimentation.
Next, spread the beans in a single layer on the pan.
Once your oven has reached temperature, place the pan in the oven somewhere between the middle and bottom third (any lower and you're likely to burn the beans).
Important: Set your timer for 7 to 9 minutes Most ovens are hotter at the back, so after about 7 to 9 minutes, or roughly half way through the roast, I rotate the pan 180° to help ensure an even roast. I then set the timer for another 7 minutes.
It's also around this time that you'll hear the "first crack"... an audible crackling and popping sound as the beans begin to expand and release some of the moisture. The first crack settles down.
Listen for the "second crack". It is at this point that your beans are just about ready. This is also the point at which you need to decide how dark a roast you're after. As you gain some experience you may want to keep a few sample beans on hand to compare the darkness of your roast with a predetermined roast color that you know you like for a certain bean.
The slight difference in color likely doesn't show too well in this picture, but these represent three distinct roasts I like: medium, medium-dark, and dark.
Peek carefully at your roasting beans so as to not let too much heat escape from your oven.
When your beans are almost at the desired darkness, take them out of the oven and dump them into a colander.
Warning: there will be lots of smoke! Turn on vent fan and open some windows!
Take your colander containing the beans, plus your second colander, outside. Then transfer the beans back and forth between colanders to both cool the beans and stop the roasting process and to blow off the chaff (the skin of the coffee beans that is left after the roast). If it is calm outside, as you transfer the beans between colanders, move them back and forth to create some breeze to blow off the chaff.
After about a minute of this, pour the beans into a pan that will fit in your freezer and place them there for about 15 minutes (set your timer!).
Then place the beans in a container. Leave the lid off or loose for 12 hours for the CO2 to escape.
Finally... enjoy the freshest, best tasting coffee of your life!
Note of caution: if your first few batches aren't "perfect", keep at it. I had a few rounds that were less than ideal... one tasted like wet grass (it was under-roasted... yuck!). But I had tasted home roasted coffee at a friend's house so knew what I was after.
See our page on coffee brewing for how to brew the perfect cup of coffee!
And if you have any thoughts on the matter (and what dedicated coffee drinker doesn't?), please share them with us and other site visitors!
