Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Richard: I know this is difficult - but I cant overstate the value of trying to keep some beans to try over a week or so. The taste profiles do shift quite a lot!
Glad youre nailing it now!
/Kevin
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Just back from the shed. Thats the answer. Thanks bigmunchez.
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Hi, instead of more beans, id suggest using less beans - say 80-90 grams - in my experience (about 4-5 years with poppers) this has the effect of prolonging the roast, I suspect by allowing more heat to escape. Also as others have suggested roast when ambient temps are lower. You could also look out for poppers with a lower power rating. I have 2 poppers one is 1100w and one is 1250w - the difference in roast times is quite marked. Keep going, its worth it!
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Getting there. The last lot of Peru was very drinkable as was the Ghimbi, without either being special. Think I failed jiggling as it didnt make much difference in the timing. See if it tastes better in a few days.
Looks like its fine tuning from now on.
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Try increasing the quantity of beans and use the following technique:-
Hold the popper at an angle of about 30-45 degrees from vertical and while holding the top hand still, jiggle it at the bottom. (kind of a pivoting action) This should get the beans tumbling and slow the roast down noticably. I jiggle until first crack begins and then sit the popper down on a slight angle until finished.
I do about 120g of beans per roast, which is more than I found possible without the jiggling.
Along with drilling a few holes, this method should just about double your roast times. [smiley=wink.gif]
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
I now wish I had started my blog when I first started roasting, unfortunately its only started with my UCR. Mmm thinking I might go out and buy a normal popper to be able to include it all as well for everyone
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Roasting for the first time, all this info was helpful, thx all.
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Thats good Richard.
The lighter roast will need a bit longer resting time than the oily ones.
What u can do is do a taste comparison with the oily beans and the recent batch.
Make an espresso from each batch on your La Pavoni and let your palate decide which one you like.
It is your palate that decides for you. Not what others tell you.
Try doing different color profile roasts next time and change one variable at a time so theres no confusion.
Its fun doing it, and with a popper, if you dont like the result from one batch, its no great loss.
Gary at G
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Did another run of the Peru tonight. Took the cover off the popper and stopped earlier. Stayed with 100 gms for now. For some reason I have an almost continuous cracking from about 3 1/2 minutes. Look OK this time. No oil anyway. Did some Ghimbi Saturday and Ill try it in a day or so. It also looks good.
Reading people say they get 2nd crack around 7 minutes in a popper may have mislead me. Think its near 4 1/2 on mine. Need to train my ear a bit better.
I have a La Pavoni Europiccola (so I know about patience and learning curves) and a smart grinder.
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Richard, when you hear the first few snaps of second crack, which sounds like higher frequency rice bubbles crackle rather than the lower frequency popcorn popping. take it out straight away and cool quickly between two colanders.
Dont worry too much about mottling and tipping of the beans at this stage.
Also dont worry too much about the timing.
Just use a long handled spoon and look at a couple of beans from time to time to see how they change colour.
Smell the beans during the first few minutes, first and second crack.
This will give you a olfactory reference together with the aural references.
What brewing technique you using Richard?
Gary at G
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Simple suggestion (although it might be a bit tedious!).
How about you take your batch #1 and just do EXACTLY the same thing again, but you stop it a bit sooner? I dont remember exactly how long my original roast#1 took on the unmodified popper, but I suspect 30 seconds would be about the right time to shorten things by.
You could do worse than doing 2 or 3 roasts back to back with a stop watch - shortening the roast times each batch. Then youd have a kind-of repeatable process once youd figured out which one was on the money.
Un-modified poppers tend to be a bit brutal in terms of heat input! Slowing things down is the next challenge once you have the "roast level" about right.
The important thing is to keep going. It does eventually work!
Cheers
/Kevin
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
it was my first try. Luckily I have a bag of roasted Tanzania Uru Estate to keep me going until I get it right.
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
Just dont give up Richard, youll get there, not everyone has a natural talent for odd things ;D
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
I thought Id got it wrong. Ill keep playing. And Ill get the card next time I order. The photoshop pic is about right.
The photo is a week or so post roast and they were less oily when first roasted.
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Re: New to roasting, where do I start?
richard my first response was ewwww, that is my personal opinion though to how I like my beans
oil oil and more oil, youve roasted all the good stuff out of them.
If you were up here Id say Ill come and help you
Roast at night is the first suggestion.
How many grams of beans are you putting in the popper? You need 80-100 grams.
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