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Roast Your Own Coffee
By Jim Cameron, Fri Dec 9th
For years, the idea of roasting your own coffee beans has beenkept a mystery by the coffee roasting industry. It had beendeemed “too hard” or “too complicated”. Well these are new timesand the truth is out; it’s easy, fun and economical and can bedone in a number of ways using items you probably already own!There is nothing like a cup of coffee, which has been freshlyroasted, ground and brewed to perfection. There are a growingnumber of enthusiasts who are roasting their own coffee beansand enjoying the benefits of truly fresh coffee at aboutone-third to one half the price of beans from your local coffeeshop. All that is needed to roast your own coffee beans at homeis green coffee beans, available from a number of sources, anoven, cookie sheet, oven mitt, metal colander and a woodenspoon. Preheat your oven to 500F, spread raw beans evenly onelayer deep on a cookie sheet, place on middle rack of preheatedoven and watch them roast. In about 8-10 minutes there will be acrackling noise and smoke with a coffee essence. At this pointthe roast moves quickly and you need to pay close attention.About 2-3 minutes after the crackling, your coffee beans shouldbe at the shade you like them. Carefully (using the oven mitt)remove the cookie sheet from the oven and pour the beans intothe metal colander. Stir the beans with the wooden spoon to helpcool quickly. Do this over a sink or outside, as there is chaffthat comes off the beans during roasting. And remember; NEVERleave your roasting coffee beans unattended. Almost anyappliance used to pop popcorn can be used to roast coffee beans.The hot air poppers are great, however, you may want to roastoutside or in your garage as they blow the chaff out and can bemessy. There are a number of manufacturers of home coffeeroasters, including several that use a gas grill and rotisserie.The internet is full of sources to purchase raw beans, but youwant to make certain the supplier you use knows their beans and“cups” their coffee before selling it to you (see supplier listbelow). Many other sources can be found using your favoritesearch engine. If you’re interested in using a gas grill toroast your beans there are several manufacturers of drums fittedfor gas grills that work great (See suppliers below
Green,
rawcoffee beans last for years when properly stored. This allowsyou
to build a collection of fine coffees to choose from as wellas buy
larger amounts of the great coffees and save more money.Keep your bean
collection in a cool, dry place out of any directsun light and they
will last until you roast them. As coffeeages it loses acidity and
becomes more mellow. Many like therich mild cup of a coffee that has
had a couple years to restand mellow. More important than the year
of the crop is thequality of the bean, the preparation at origin, transportationand
warehousing in country of consumption. If all of thesethings are done
correctly, your green coffee will last foryears. Suppliers who know
how to cup samples of coffee beans areable to determine if all of these
criteria are done correctlybefore they purchase the beans. Home roasting
is one the fastestgrowing hobbies in the country and for good reason.
It’s
fun,easy, saves you money and delivers a cup of coffee like younever
thought was possible. Join in the fun and start roastingyour own coffee
beans. ------------------- List of reputablesuppliers: Green Coffee
Beans www.u-roast-em.com Gas GrillRoaster/conversions www.rkdrums.com
Electric countertop Roasterswww.freshbeansinc.com How to build your
own roasterinfo@u-roast-em.com Best book on home coffee roasting HomeCoffee
Roasting by: Kenneth Davids ------------------ JimCameron is a 30-year
veteran in the specialty coffee roastingindustry. Jim has authored
many articles on various aspects ofthe industry and traveled abroad
to speak at internationalgatherings of coffee professionals.
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