Roasting Questions from a Newbie

[pshankstar]

I am new to coffee roasting and the lone active thread about coffee has been very helpful, I thought I should post these questions into a new thread so it doesn't get lost in the other one.

Thank you to all who have been helpful with my roasting questions to date and I look to you all for your input here too.

I hear about stopping the roasting after the first crack, 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 90 seconds etc... Does that time start after the start of the first crack? Or does that mean after the first crack has completed? This would be for a lighter roast.

I've read on Sweet Maria's website that doing a quick roast or high heat is beneficial for most beans. Yet it seems that some on here like to bring the heat up slowly. So I would assume this would be dependent on the bean you are roasting, right? With that being said, is there a general rule that some of you use? i.e. South American beans, heat fast. African beans heat slow and take your time. I'm using the Freshroast SR500, so I have a high, medium and low heat setting along with a fan that is controlled by a dial to adjust the fan speed.

I've only roasted some beans from Brazil and Guatemala and I do not believe I have roasted them over 7 minutes or so. This is in 100g increments (green bean weight) using the Freshroast SR500 starting at the high setting and the fan speed all the way up. Once I hear the first crack start usually around the 4-5 minute mark I turn the temp down to medium. I adjust the fan speed throughout the roast so the beans are not flying all over within the unit, but instead try to keep them moving and not staying at the bottom to get scorched. For the last minute or two I will drop it down the low temperature setting. Again the total time is no more than 7 minutes each batch. I assume this is normal for a lighter roast right? This doesn't seem too fast or quick does it? Oh and after the roast is complete I weigh the beans again and they are usually around 88g, so they dry out about 12%.

Thank you all in advance! I know roasting is like cooking, you can do it in all different ways and to taste, but I figured I would ask these questions b/c they are on my mind. I'll enjoy a beer and try to do some more research on this tonight, but I look forward to any insight you all may have! Cheers!

 

[Ruint]

We need to set up a little get together....a roasting party so to say....I'll give you a crash coarse of things I have found to be.....highly recommend that you take a batch, put it on high, and ride it all the way into 2nd crack, just to gain the experience of what the beans do. I promise I'll give you informations you are looking for...and if you prefer not using your beans for the 2nd crack run, I have the perfect candidate that I will donate a batch out of, to you. You will learn from it...let me know...

 

[pshankstar]

We need to set up a little get together....a roasting party so to say....I'll give you a crash coarse of things I have found to be.....highly recommend that you take a batch, put it on high, and ride it all the way into 2nd crack, just to gain the experience of what the beans do. I promise I'll give you informations you are looking for...and if you prefer not using your beans for the 2nd crack run, I have the perfect candidate that I will donate a batch out of, to you. You will learn from it...let me know...

Sounds like a plan! I can bring my stuff out since it's all pretty small and portable. I do have some beans left from my original order which I could use up. I also have some other beans that should be arriving tomorrow, some being from a sampler to get an idea of what I may like before I buy beans in quantities larger than 2lbs.

Too bad it isn't warm outside anymore. I would say I would bring my gear to next week's meeting and do it out back afterwards, but I don't feel like trying to roast coffee beans in a blizzard. haha

 

[Atalanta]

The way I did the roasts for the coffee shop was nothing into second crack (except a custom roast I did for a customer).
Using a small (1kg) gas fired roaster - I'd pre-heat the roaster to 320F

Kenya AA - bring the beans back to 320F. Incrementally increase the gas until I'd hear the start of the first crack (375-308F). Once the crack started to get energetic, I'd drop the beans to cool. This was the lightest roast we did, it brought out the lighter more floral notes of the bean.

Ethiopian - as the beans were heating, I'd start incrementally increasing the gas until the beans hit 360F. At that point, I'd lower the gas (the bean temp would still be rising) until first crack was well established (around 380F). Then I'd hang out there until the crack was pretty much done (around 415F)

Costa Rican - I'd wait until the beans had heated to almost 320 and then start incrementally increasing the gas until they hit 380F. Then I'd just hang out there until first crack was done.