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  • My first popper roast

    Hey all

    I received my starter pack today and went to myers and bought a Breville "Crazy Popper". It looked perfect for coffee roasting as the plastic top lifts right off to a nice open chamber.

    I did 2 roasts tonight of the brazil santos.

    The first roast was about 85g of green beans straight in the popper, unmodded with the lid on as usual positioned to shoot chaff into the kitchen sink. I was all too excited so didnt really time it properly but it seemed like they took FOREVER to get anywhere even remotely nice and brown. There was definitely no obious "smoke" to be seen. I would estimate I kept it going for 10-20mins and eventually dumped them into a colander and tossed them to cool.

    This seems like a very long time compared to what others have reported with poppers.

    The second roast I did was 110g green with a well fitted soup can chimney and a hand strainer over the chimney to stop it raining chaff all over my kitchen. This roast seemed to develop faster and end up darker and a more acceptable colour. It took around the 18-19minute mark to complete and weighed around 93g afterwards.

    Again, this seemed like quite a long time and I didnt see any evidence of smoke or smell particularly coffee-like smells during the roasting. The whole thing I guess smelt a little grassy/wheaty?

    So while both roasts look ok, the second being better, I was surprised that they dont really smell like the coffee I buy pre-roasted. Do the aromas take a while to develop or did i screw something up in my roasting process?

    Also, what exactly should i be listening or watching for during the process for first and second crack?

    Suggestions, Comments, Critiques welcomed

    Lachlan


  • #2
    Re: My first popper roast

    The grassy/wheaty smell will devolop approaching 1st crack and will remain until somewhere between 1st and 2nd crack varying with the bean. As you approach and enter 2nd crack that smell will dissapear and be replaced by the roasting coffee smell.

    Very little smoke will be produced until 2nd crack is approached and then entered. The further you go into 2nd crack the heavier the smoke will be.

    1st crack is marked by sharp sounding snaps (the volume will vary from very loud to next to impossible to hear depending on the bean). The beans will go from green to a light tan color and then start expanding in size as you approach 1st crack with most beans roughly doubling in size as you approach and then proceed through 1st crack. Most beans will have a dark tan color when 1st crack is finished.

    This color will get darker and darker and turn to a true brown as you approach 2nd crack. As the advent of 2nd crack nears the beans will start getting darker very rapidly.

    2nd crack is generally a much softer sound than 1st crack and sounds like crinkling cellophane.

    Once you reach the rolling 2nd crack the smoke will increase dramatically and the beans will quickly turn darker and darker with oil spots starting to appear usually somewhere around 30-60 seconds into the roll.

    As the roast is finished the beans will have relatively little smell. As they sit and outgas their smell will develop reaching their full aroma usually in 1-2 days. Some beans can take 5 or even 7 days to fully develop.

    Your times are quite long for a popper. It sounds like you need to play with the quantities youre roasting as well as check to see if the poppers thermal cutout is kicking in. Try adding more beans. Most people find they have to stir the beans for the first minute or so before they lighten enough for the fan to take over.

    Make sure that the strainer youre using to catch the chaff isnt blocking the air movement too much. Many of the tea strainers out there have a very small mesh size and offer too much resistance to the air flow, especially as the chaff builds up in it.

    Hnag in there and youll soon have it down pat!

    Java "Welcome to the wonderful world of roasting!" phile
    Toys! I must have new toys!!!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: My first popper roast

      Heya Java "The encyclopida" phile,

      Thanks for all the info!

      My machine didnt have any troubles rolling the beans around unassisted, even at 110g and with my chaff catcher/strainer on. Maybe I need to try increase quantity even more so that I reach the point where it just requires a bit of assistance at the start?

      I think Im definitely having some troubles with temperature, though most people seem to be trying to get their roast times to take longer in the popper as they are reknowned for being almost too fast.

      The other idea is to crack open the machine and get jiggy with its private parts ;D

      Anyone else have the same machine and have any comments/advice?

      cheers
      Lachlan

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: My first popper roast

        Lachlan- we are getting first crack at around 10 min at the academy...

        C

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: My first popper roast

          Heya Chris,

          Cool

          I had another thought - The popper was plugged into a powerboard in the kitchen which might regulate the flow of power or something maybe? I heard these things are very dependant on that sort of thing -- someone mentioned about being able to increase their roast times by plugging their popper in and running something else at the same time?

          The oven in the kitchen is electric and was on at the time -- maybe its on the same circuit as the powerpoints in the kitchen or some such crap?

          Maybe a question for Mal

          Do you guys at the acadamy have anything else other than the soup tin chimney going on? What are you using for chaff catchment?

          Lachlan (who swore he wouldnt get into roasting before mastering the other things, but couldnt help himself)

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: My first popper roast

            Plugging the popper into a powerpoint with other devices running off it can slow the roast down. This however is much more common in the US with its 120v system than it is over there in Oz.

            Its unlikely that the oven is on the same circuit as the popper was or youd have most likely blown the breaker as their combined draw would be quite high.

            Java "Delving into the data pile" phile
            Toys! I must have new toys!!!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: My first popper roast

              Originally posted by Javaphile link=1150974574/0#5 date=1151019674
              Plugging the popper into a powerpoint with other devices running off it can slow the roast down. This however is much more common in the US with its 120v system than it is over there in Oz.

              Its unlikely that the oven is on the same circuit as the popper was or youd have most likely blown the breaker as their combined draw would be quite high.

              Java "Delving into the data pile" phile

              Right on the money there Java [smiley=thumbsup.gif],

              Electric Stoves here in Oz must be directly connected to the switchboard with their own breaker or fuse and have no other devices connected to this circuit. Id say Lachlan that you are one of the lucky ones, in that youve managed to jag a popper that can support a decent batch size. Of the several poppers that Ive tried over time, three of them by the same maker and another from someone else, only one of them was able to roast upwards of 180g per roast straight out of the box (using a tall soup tin chimney)..... of the others, one called it quits at about 100g and the other two max out at about 140-150g (in the cooler months).

              You may well discover that your popper can handle batches of 150g+, just keep increasing the batch size until your roast times finish up at around the 12 minute mark as rolling 2nd crack starts or until the fluid bed action in the roasting chamber starts to collapse under the weight of the bean mass. Either way, youll discover how far you can go with it and then just keep records of the various milestones for each of the bean types you roast such as.....

              Bean variety being roasted,
              Weight of beans,
              Ambient temperature,
              Using a Stop-Watch.... Time taken to reach the edge of Rolling 1st Crack,
              Time when 1st Crack ceases,
              Time when first snaps of 2nd Crack are heard,
              Time when Rolling 2nd Crack starts, and
              Time when roast is completed.

              After the mandatory resting period of each roast, 24-48 hours say..... pull a brew and take particular notice of the various nuances of the flavour profile and try to describe them as best you can, relating to various flavours you recognise. An easier way to do this that I have found, is to brew a single cup in a small French Press/Plunger and then try to describe the flavour profile. This ensures that any variation usually generated by the espresso process doesnt colour the profile one way or another due to any one or several of the factors that go into the process of pulling consistently good espresso shots.
              All this info should then be recorded with the roast profile information collected during the roast for each bean. That way, you will have a ready reference for roasts and bean varieties that you particularly liked, or disliked for that matter. All part of the journey towards enjoying the best possible coffee that we can 8-). All the best,

              Mal.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: My first popper roast

                I just did my first roast too, but I could only get the much maligned Sunbeam Cornelius with the safety cut-out switch.
                I was quite relieved to find it does a great job as is, with 100g of beans. my first batch came off at 6.30min and it was black and oily. Nice flavour, but with a burnt toffee aftertaste. Second batch(NG Seherenini) came off at 5.30 and looked nice and medium brown 10 seconds into second crack. I used the overdone batch to liven up some stale commercial beans that were boring
                Gaz

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: My first popper roast

                  Eureka!

                  Hey guys..

                  I found the solution to my roasting problem ( I think ).

                  My kitchen where I was roasting has granite benchtops which are insanely cold at the best of times, let alone winter. The air intake for the popper is at the bottom, so as such, super chilled air (from the benchtop) is being sucked in which isnt getting as hot.

                  I decided to test my theory by moving to the wooden dining table and warming the surface a little first, as well as ensuring the rooms ambient temperature was not so cold.. Voila! I could feel the difference in the air the popper was shooting out the top and the beans could too!

                  My roasts are still more around the 20 minute mark, but I am actually getting crack sounds now.

                  I still have a bit more experimenting to do with batch sizes and what not, but Im definitely making inroads.

                  My saturday arvo roasts should be ready for tasting later today .. will let you know how they fare.

                  Lachlan

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: My first popper roast

                    OK I just tasted my first roast...

                    ..... WOW WOW WOW

                    Thats what popped into my head.

                    The first shot I pulled was a 10 second gusher but had more crema than is right for any one shot, seems the beans I roasted need a much finer grind. I tasted it anyways, you know, to make sure it actually tasted like coffee ;-) ... While it was far from an acceptable shot of espresso it was unmistakably fuller flavoured than any I had had before in my life.

                    I pulled another shot with a finer grind and while this one came up just shy of 20 seconds (still too coarse), i tasted it and decided it was still "too good to waste".

                    Once I get my grind and stuff sorted, oh boy oh boy!!

                    ... now to master the milk side of things *sigh*

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: My first popper roast

                      Gday Lachlan,
                      if youre having trouble with cold air entering the popper and slowing the roast, try putting the popper into a cardboard box.
                      This has the effect of feeding warm air, courtesy of the popper body, back into itself. This should give you a quicker roast, and reduce the chance of having baked beans.
                      Hope this helps.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: My first popper roast

                        I think Ive got it happening OK -- and if these are in fact "baked" then im not taking my beans any other way ;-)

                        Im onto I think my third or so for the afternoon from the batch.

                        Heaven

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