Ask poor Alice...

[Ruint]

I have found myself in the rabbit hole! I have the makings for a BM/HG roaster. The BM is a cuisanart hbk100 and the heat gun is a Wagner digital variety that goes to 1350 watts. The bread pan used to be Teflon coated, along with the dough paddle, up until I sand blasted them. I recently purchased a dual temperature probe monitor to possibly install for a bean temp probe and one for the environment. As other more experienced individuals say that the max environmental temp may not be neccesary, I may forgoe that probe installation. Trying to come up with a way that I could evacuate the chaff and possibly even have a small version of a cyclone somehow in there without complicating the maneuvering of bean ejecting any further than it already is with this particular roaster set up. Anyone with experience in/with this please give me a heads up.

 

[Ruint]

So...I reached out to someone with vast amounts of knowledge in the coffee realm and got enough information to really be ramped up to roast with my setup. Got home from work, ripped into the sampler I got from Sweet Maria's and found a bean in the "family" that was recommended. Costa Rica Helsar - Asdrubal Chavez. Plugged my bread machine in to see what program would give me the longest stir application....and found that none of them would suffice... I can tell you that there are a lot of screws that hold that particular unit together! Stripped it down and removed all the smart parts that allowed for the programming and rewired it to just be an agitator. I'll see about putting a picture of it up if anyone would like to see it...
Now, after getting it all back together and setting everything up...I was excited to start my roast. Weighed out 12 ounces on the dot. Did a 2 min run with the heat gun at hottest setting into the empty bread pan to warm things up a little, and I'm not really sure if i need to do a "charging" with a bm/hg setup, but did anyways. Kept the heat gun about 3 inches away from the beans. I watched as the colors began to change and watching what amount of time had passed on the stop watch. Could see it starting to turn brown, and at 8 minutes 15 seconds The first crack sounds started to be heard. I turned the heat gun down from 1350 to 950 watts on high speed for 25 and all the cracking disappeared, so I'm thinking that I might have stalled it. I then raised it back to 1350 and went until there was a little bit of smoke coming up from the beans....probably over reacted not wanting to torch them and dropped them into a colander so I could quickly cool them... Here's a picture of my first roast...I'm thinking that it is probably still in a light roast category...tell me what you think...

 

[passedpawn]

haha. those are two wonderful posts. how DID i miss them?

yessir, looks like a fine roast. much similar to the first i did. since then, i've discovered i really do like them done a little more, but that's for you do discover.

welcome to the coffee forum, very glad to have you on board, and looking forward to the next post from you!

 

[Ruint]

Nobody warned me on the chaff experience...LoL!!!that stuff was everywhere,,,I was still grinning though! There will be some mods done to the bread machine that will hopefully reign them in some...that and some temperature probe placements, as long as it won't mess me up when it's time to get the beans ejected.

@passedpawn, thank you for the welcoming...and a very big thanks @jammin.

I'm gonna read up on what grind to do four a pour over with a chemex out of an Encore burr grinder. Haven't used those yet, but tomorrow morning, you can bet your sweet _ _ _ that's what I'll be sipping on...even with an inadequate rest period.

 

[Ruint]

The coffee this morning was awesome! 2 pots were brewed...ping....p i n g......P I N G !!!!!! Not much left of the roast I did last night... 1 pot was done thru my normal coffee maker, which is a Bunn, 12 cupper. Used quite a bit to get to a 18:1 ratio. Next was a Chemex 10 cup and ended up doing about a 14.4:1 ratio (1034 grams water/72 grams coffee). Definitely stronger!! Hooked the Mrs. I do believe...she was already looking forward to tomorrow mornings coffee and I told her that there might not be enough...her reply was you better get to roasting then!!! LoL!! End result is shown in the picture. I do believe that this one was taken a little further in the roast...

 

[Ruint]

Now the 2 roasts I did were fairly quick. The remaining Costa Rican (from the 1 pound sample that I roasted 12 ounces out of) was completed at 7 minutes and 6 seconds. I didn't weigh it and just went by sight, smell, and sound. The Mrs. picked out the next batch, and because the first one pound sample has been sampled and doesn't look like it will last that long, I chose to do the full sample bag. It weighed 1 lb 1.15 oz pre-roast and after roast it was weighing 14.65 oz. First crack on this batch happened at 10:15 which I am thinking it took that long because of the increase in mass. I pulled the heat gun back a little distance from the beans and was still hearing the cracking until 13:38. I kept the same distance with the heat gun until 14:10 and then pulled heat all together and continued to let the beans be agitated by the bread machine until 15:33 where I then dropped them into a colander. Here is a picture of them.

 

[Ruint]

Definitely get cherry out of the Burundi. It is confirmed!!! I will be continuing to roast my coffee!! Worlds apart is probably the description I would give to the difference between coffee bought at the store and what you can do at home. I might have hooked my neighbor into roasting too! He asked about the smell he had got when I was roasting it...which was on Thursday, so I offered him a cup for this morning being that I would be long gone on Friday morning by the time he would be able to come by. 2 cups later of the above Burundi and he was saying that he would have to start looking for equipment...LoL!!! I then introduced him to the Costa Rican (last of the pound I first did) and he was just blown away with how rich and fresh it was. Not to mention the caffeine!!! He was muttering about having to get a grinder when he was leaving...lmao!! So...to the avid coffee connoisseurs that started posting in a "beer" orientated forum site...a big Thank you for all the posts and threads with pictures and descriptions (I read them all) that led to me wandering down this path...
I am curious though...I can't fathom how you can all get away with doing small batch roasts??? I am 4 pounds in already, in as many days!!! Granted...not all of that is consumed yet, as I just did finish roasting 1 lb of Timor and 1 lb of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe...in anticipation of ripping through what I have done and ready...

 

[passedpawn]

Definitely get cherry out of the Burundi. It is confirmed!!! I will be continuing to roast my coffee!! Worlds apart is probably the description I would give to the difference between coffee bought at the store and what you can do at home. I might have hooked my neighbor into roasting too! He asked about the smell he had got when I was roasting it...which was on Thursday, so I offered him a cup for this morning being that I would be long gone on Friday morning by the time he would be able to come by. 2 cups later of the above Burundi and he was saying that he would have to start looking for equipment...LoL!!! I then introduced him to the Costa Rican (last of the pound I first did) and he was just blown away with how rich and fresh it was. Not to mention the caffeine!!! He was muttering about having to get a grinder when he was leaving...lmao!! So...to the avid coffee connoisseurs that started posting in a "beer" orientated forum site...a big Thank you for all the posts and threads with pictures and descriptions (I read them all) that led to me wandering down this path...
I am curious though...I can't fathom how you can all get away with doing small batch roasts??? I am 4 pounds in already, in as many days!!! Granted...not all of that is consumed yet, as I just did finish roasting 1 lb of Timor and 1 lb of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe...in anticipation of ripping through what I have done and ready...

Haha, you're hooked.

Try doing several batches with the same beans, and vary the color/time. You might find you like then a little darker or lighter.

I roast 1# batches, but I usually do several batches at the same time. I roasted 5# a few days ago.

Gear is kinda fun too. I use a drip most days due to the quantity I drink, but if I have an evening cup I'll use a gooseneck kettle and a pourover. I really love using the pourover and seeing the grounds saturate and bloom and form foam.

 

[Ruint]

Yes sir! I thought that the home roasting would be good...I did not think that it would be as good as it is!!! Unbelievable!!
I am tripping the light fantastic currently...so many different flavors available! And naturally occurring...not having to add them! I don't have the space or money to meet all the different varieties that sound appealing to me.

I actually have done the same bean at different roast levels. It didn't help me...as I liked them both!! It might not have been enough of a difference to be able to change the flavors drastically, though the darker one had less prominence with the fruit flavor as the lighter one had. My biggest problem right now is that I am getting 1 lb bags of different coffees, and I am doing the whole lb at a time...I could split it up and do it, but 1 lb seems to disappear pretty fast as is! I am not always confident that the descriptions are going to match up properly to the coffee I am getting, so not wanting to buy 5 lbs of 1 coffee and finding that I don't like it, kind of keeps me at 1 lb "sample" bags also....so far though...the descriptions have been pretty dang close. I have placed an order for a larger quantity of beans on one that I found to be enjoyable and do plan on doing 2 distinct roasting levels on it. I am also wanting to do a blend of those 2 different roast levels/same bean combo to see if I can achieve the "perfect" cup where it has the flavors and the body/mouthfeel to it

Gear...yup!! I have an aeropress coming to me, a cold brewing set-up on the way, and a hand held grinder inbound!! A week ago I got the chemex and filter for it...3 days before that...an Encore grinder, which replaced the mini blade grinder I've been using for everything...I have somewhat neglected to run my drip coffee maker after the first morning, finding that it is entertaining to watch the bloom/foam on top of the coffee in the filter, and it seems to have more vibrancy as a finished product coming from the chemex. That is all just for the brewing...I won't get into what and how I would like to proceed with the add-ons and improvements for the roaster just yet!!!

 

[Ruint]

I have done five more roasts since last posting. Have really enjoyed all of them!! The last 3 of those I worked on being a little lighter on the roast.Have noticed that they are more prominent in flavors described in the fruit, or nut area. Really enjoy those. Still past first crack mind you, just pulling heat further away from the second crack zone. Can anyone tell me if doing a stretch is considered to be how long you have the beans going thru the first crack phase, because I have been able to keep them cracking for about 3 1/2 minutes if I have the heat gun set on high, just pulled away a little further distance. If I don't pull it back, then the roast proceeds to rip right thru first crack and gets silent and very smokey. I have gone thru that until I heard what I believed to be the first cracks of 2nd crack then go and eject and cool as quickly as possible. I have been also finding that I'll have a cup in the evening after dinner, just because I want to enjoy more coffee...

 

[Ruint]

Just a couple more pictures...

 

[Ruint]

I just took the time to add up the amount of coffee I have roasted since beginning this little venture...46 lbs.!
Looking at my stash of beans, it doesn't seem possible that I only have around 3 lbs. ready for brewing... I can say that I have successfully ruined 6 peoples taste for coffee...the normally gotten cups from their favorite source just do not cut it anymore!!! That also explains why so much coffee roasted and hardly any in stock!
Now, yesterday I finally took some time to add onto my HG/BM roaster. It truly looks the part of a frankenroaster now! I'll put some pictures in just to show off my fabulous welding skills!!! LoL!!! (seriously need to upgrade my welder, the torch on it completely sucks!!!) Other than looking worse for the wear, it does its' intended job. I can place the heat gun in the smaller pipe allowing me to move around and do other things other than hold it in place while roasting. Note taking is a little easier at least...I don't have to wonder if I am holding the heat gun at the same distance from the beans now either. I also drilled holes into the roast chamber/pot, in order to place some thermocouples in to monitor temps. It seems my first placement for the BT probe was slightly high, as the beans did not completely cover the probe. So this morning I drilled another hole, a little lower and over some, and will be roasting up some of the Banko I got from Jammin to compare temps from the 2 roasts I did last night for testing purposes. I am comfortable enough with the operation that I know I'll be able to pull it off, even if the probe is not correctly placed... I would NOT risk loosing those beans!!!

 

[passedpawn]

That is a wonderful work of jury-rigged art. Wowsers. You're in a different roasting world that I am. I'm gonna ask somebody else to step in here and comment.

Though I can't comment on your process, I'll commend you on your DIY skillz and your intrepid advance on the bean. Love it, and I'm looking forward to the next episode.

 

[applescrap]

I just caught up on this thread and am impressed by how far you have come and how quickly. Some of those recent roasts look really great. I roast the exact same as you so I thought I would offer a few ideas. I have tried a lot of different ways but have settled on full heat until end of first crack. That is where I like coffee. A little before that ok, a little past it not so much. Too light and I generally dont like to drink it especially black, because it's too acidic. A little past the end of 1c is a nice spot for espresso I have found. I roast 1 lb batches at a time and my bread machine really whips them around. My friends bm has more powerful motor but is slower so he does less. The less coffee being roasted the quicker to 1c and the more need to possibly turn heat down. Like you I feel I have stalled a roast by messing with the heat at 1c. I use a vice clamp to hold my heat gun in the hole and just let the chaff blow out and then just blow it away later with blower. The thing I like about this method most is the air circulation. It's not quite a fluidair roaster but I believe this air roasting creates a very nice roast. How is that welded holder working? Look forward to seeing where roasting takes you and more of your roasts. With that nice Ethiopian you are right in that you definitely don't want it in second crack.

 

[Ruint]

Thank you...slave to the grind has got a new meaning! I acknowledge that I am not anywhere near being an exceptional roaster yet...I am actively working on narrowing that down some. Tweakin the equipment helps...if you come up with something you would like to try, I'll be happy to try and help you in anyway I can...it might not be perfect, but I can promise that it'll work it's intended purpose...
@applescrap...my preferences are pretty much right in line with how you like yours. Into 1st crack but before 2nd crack. I ventured into 2nd crack (on purpose) when I had a couple beans that I didn't find to my liking. Instead of throwing them out (they really were not "all that") I decided that they were dark experiment candidates. It tamed the flavors I found to be offensive down a good deal and also let me have a coffee that had a pleasant level of roast flavor in it. I am not a dark roast fan still though, and even though it's funny that I say this, they are the darkest roast I have done and I consider them to be a full city+ with a little bit of oil sheen on the surface of the been.
The heat gun holder works very nicely. I will try to get a video of it in action, and share with everyone here...along with pics of the roasts done. No promises on the vid though, have to see about that...strong maybe...
The lid does a couple things differently in roasting as compared to no lid. With no lid, when trying to do a preheat, I could only get the metal to warm up in spots to around 375 or 400, but temps drop way fast, With the lid, there are parts I should not be touching now! and my BT probe will see 500* temps and ET probe sees400*+ temps fairly constant. The yellowing phase takes a little longer to get to, but the browning phase is shortened in the span it used to take from yellow to brown. 1st crack is more prominent, as more of the beans are popping at the same time as opposed to a few here and there for a longer time. 2nd crack...it's just around the corner from the time you hear no pops from 1st crack. I can still maintain good control over the roast....

 

[Ruint]

Well, apparently I am missing a security token so I can't post videos to the site without contacting admins...so You will just have to settle for picture of the 4 roasts I did this evening...

 

[Ruint]

I think you can see the videos thru youtube...
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtcAMYSLTVY[/ame]
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDPfw0yVjHw[/ame]
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2s0qY0_GFc[/ame]

 

[applescrap]

Sweet. Post these on the coffee thread too. The roasts look nice and even.

 

[Inkleg]

Great looking beans!

 

[Ruint]

@applesscrap...when referring to posting this on the coffee thread, are you talking about the main one on this site? Coffee: Ingredients,roasting, grinding, brewing, and tasting?

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

Very cool ..... I need to go research this some since I have a BM and a HG myself

 

[applescrap]

@applesscrap...when referring to posting this on the coffee thread, are you talking about the main one on this site? Coffee: Ingredients,roasting, grinding, brewing, and tasting?

Yes

 

[Ruint]

So...I got a little inspiration for roasting today, by a disappointing attempt at a pseudo espresso using my Aeropress and a new gadget attachment for it called Prismo. Most (if not all) of my roasts don't include a dark roast meant to do espresso with. I aimed at changing that....just a small batch at 8 ounces. I'll put some links to videos I took while roasting this Costa Rican bean. So the videos are not that great, don't be expecting them to be. The first one is just an overview of my set up, and I took a little time to show my temperature gauges. The top temp is bean mass and the lower one is environment temp. I was not that long into roasting... The second video is just a little further into the roast, and I tried to show the yellowing of the bean and some temps...the 3rd was into first crack and definitely can be heard, and then the last one is into second crack, and that one can also be heard. This is a picture of the finished roasted beans....and they look a bit lighter in this photo than they actually are.