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Tip for Genecafe users

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  • Tip for Genecafe users

    Ciao All,

    I have been roasting with my Genecafe for about 12 months now.  I find the "cooling" cycle to be a bit of a pain in the backside, given that the cooling takes a while, so the roast tends to continue after I try to stop it.

    I know that more talented people than myself can probably judge when to pull the stop lever, allowing for the ongoing roast, but i really want to eliminate the hit and miss effect that this brings into play.

    I have started to remove the roasting drum as soon as I want to stop the roast, and then I stand it up in its stand, which I place inside a colander (the one that I use to drain pasta - nothing special).  I then hold the hose from a vacuum cleaner on the "exhaust hole", which is now pointing to the ceiling, and turn on.  This set-up pulls air through the colander, through the stand and then through the bean mass, agitating and cooling the beans quickly.  I can feel the hose rapidly heat up, indicating how quickly the beans are transferring their heat to the airstream.  

    They cool much quicker, which means I can stop the roast when I want to, rather than have to guess when it is just the right amount short of complete.  I think my roasts have become more consistent, and would recommend giving this a bash.

    Cheers,

    shaun

    PS I think the set-up is pretty easy to imagine, but if anyone is struggling, I could try to post a photo or two. Probably not necessary, though (and I am a crap photographer).

  • #2
    Re: Tip for Genecafe users

    Originally posted by 5A41485C471A1A1C1E290 link=1270888588/0#0 date=1270888588
    Ciao All.....
    I have started to remove the roasting drum as soon as I want to stop the roast, and then I stand it up in its stand, which I place inside a colander (the one that I use to drain pasta - nothing special).  I then hold the hose from a vacuum cleaner on the "exhaust hole", which is now pointing to the ceiling, and turn on....

    They cool much quicker, which means I can stop the roast when I want to, rather than have to guess when it is just the right amount short of complete.  I think my roasts have become more consistent, and would recommend giving this a bash.

    Cheers,

    shaun
    All good Shaun and if you get the control you need, thats great.

    Just make sure that you return the Gene to the cooling cycle immediately when you remove the beans or it will have an early demise

    Cheers

    Chris

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    • #3
      Re: Tip for Genecafe users

      Chris,

      its Saturday night.  I know you live in the bright lights, exciting big city!!!!!  Get off the net, and go out and see a band, or something.  I thought it was only we country folk who were posting coffee related stuff at this time.

      By the way,  my roaster (which i bought from you) and my GS3 (which i bought from you) are going strong.  And thanks for the tip.  I have actually been doing this, but hadnt thought to post it.

      I actually arrived at this technique after trialling sticking the vacuum hose into the chaff catcher (and blocking the mesh, so any air sucked through had to go through the beans).  It does work, to an extent, but didnt seem to cool the beans as quickly, but would probably be kinder to the machine.

      Cheers,

      shaun

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Tip for Genecafe users

        Imo its better to remove the beans from the roast chamber entirely. I built a cooler out of some 12inch plant pots, a 12inch bathroom exhaust fan and some wire flyscreen. Gets the beans down to room temp in about a minute. This way you can also return the Roasting chamber to the cooling cycle sooner. The coffee has been much more consistent since.

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        • #5
          Re: Tip for Genecafe users

          Geday MM67,

          I am certain that your way would be superior, just may require a bit more "stuff". The only thing I can see to recommend my way is that most of us have a vacuum cleaner (except in the house I lived in as a student, but that is another story), so it is an easy - though probably best viewed as an interim - solution.

          I see that we agree that getting the beans out of the machine, and cooling, ASAP is one of the tickets to roasting consistency.

          Cheers,

          shaun

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Tip for Genecafe users

            Keeping a roast log would help you guess when to stop the roast. I normally open the cover and pull the chaff collector to speed up the cooling process. Ive only had to do an emergency stop a few times when I got distracted and forgot.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Tip for Genecafe users

              Id also be interested in building a separate bean cooler for dumping from the Gene Cafe Im a relative newbie roaster who has taken suggestions of dumping the beans and not letting them go through the Gene cooldown process.

              Ive been manually moving them from one colander to another to cool them down but sometimes when the beans have gone into second crack and they seem to continue popping while Im cooling them down which signals to me that the cooldown process is taking too long. By feel too, I think that they are taking longer than others report. Id be happy to construct a bean cooler but would be interested, before inventing the wheel, what construction efforts have been made by other snobbers and what the results achieved.

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              • #8
                Re: Tip for Genecafe users

                I usually cool my beans after the temp on the GC gets under 100* and then empty them into a colander that is in a bucket with a fan under it to cool them, as it extracts.

                This also allows me to be able to handle the roasting drum easier due to the heat, and return it back to the cooling cycle.

                This has to be one of the easiest methods for cooling off the beans that I have found.

                -Linda

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                • #9
                  Re: Tip for Genecafe users

                  Ive just started using one of the plastic buckets that my protein powder comes in.

                  I cut a large hole in the lid to take a steel sieve, and a small hole in the side of the bucket to take the vacuum cleaner hose.

                  Turn on the vacuum, dump the beans in the sieve, replace the cylinder in the Gene and restart cooling.

                  I then stir the beans a bit and the vacuum sucks enough air through the beans in the sieve to cool them inside 90 seconds.

                  Greg

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                  • #10
                    Re: Tip for Genecafe users

                    Originally posted by 7F4A5D5F6F574A5559545C380 link=1270888588/8#8 date=1273575520
                    Ive just started using one of the plastic buckets that my protein powder comes in.

                    I cut a large hole in the lid to take a steel sieve, and a small hole in the side of the bucket to take the vacuum cleaner hose.

                    Turn on the vacuum, dump the beans in the sieve, replace the cylinder in the Gene and restart cooling.

                    I then stir the beans a bit and the vacuum sucks enough air through the beans in the sieve to cool them inside 90 seconds.

                    Greg
                    Gday Greg,
                    Great minds, heres a link http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1259920571/0#0 to an old post of mine using a similar method to what you describe.
                    Since then I have modified the cooler, got rid of the vacuum and fitted a 10 inch household exhaust fan (approx $25 Bunnings) to the bottom of the 20 L bucket, the improvement is remarkable, quiet, efficient and cools very rapidly.
                    Will try to post some pics of the finished unit in the near future.
                    Btw the bread maker is working a treat.

                    Comment

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