Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Slowing down the roast

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Slowing down the roast

    Im roasting in Perth using a popper.

    In these cold months I find if I roast outside, using a 25m extension cord, I can get a roast out to 6.5 - 8 minutes (stopping at second crack). Results are ok. The 25m extension cords adds roughly 1-2 minutes to roast time.

    Has anyone come up with any simple ways to extend popper roast time (ie not taking machine apart to modify)?

    I interested in what people in Perth do in summer - I initially tried home roasting in summer and my roasts were awful, gave up and only started again this week. Given the conditions Im roasting in now I just cant see that I can home roast in summer and get acceptable results.

  • #2
    Re: Slowing down the roast

    Do you use a chimmney? How much coffee do you put in? I can roast a cup of coffee each time.

    Surely in summer you could use a fan? or AC?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Slowing down the roast

      Pop next to a bucket of ice?

      Apart from the VERY obvious water and electricity issues....

      the popper sucks all the air that it heats from the base...
      the cooler that air is the longer your roast will take.

      It might be as easy as sitting a couple of trays of ice-cubes beside your popper when you roast?

      ....unless you are good friends with your local butcher and can use his walk-in cool-room for popping coffee. ;D

      Your next step would be the heatgun I expect. Then you can control the amount of heat applied.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Slowing down the roast

        Chimney would get my vote to try first.

        Java "I need more beans Scotty! I must have more beans!" phile
        Toys! I must have new toys!!!

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Slowing down the roast

          AlMac,

          Try the chimney as suggested. I have and it definitely works. I have found that the roast time can go up to 10-12 minutes to 2nd crack with some beans on the really cold days. This is roasting about 100 to 120 G of beans.

          Cheers,

          Louis

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Slowing down the roast

            Thanks everyone.

            What do people use for a chimney?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Slowing down the roast

              Ive seen tin cans, wire mesh and those glass bits from kerosene lamps.

              -Stephen-

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Slowing down the roast

                The easiest chimmney is a tin can, that has been washed and both ends cut out. Then you just need to tie it on to the popper. it also makes a great funnel to pour the beans out

                Mal uses a hurricane lantern glass, which is a great idea and cost about $12

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Slowing down the roast

                  Perfect.

                  Has anyone done a chimney study?

                  Does height of the chimney affect roast time? Does a longer chimney = slower roast or vice versa?

                  Simliarly does a fat chimney (like the can) slow the roast while a thin one may speed it up (or vice versa)?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Slowing down the roast

                    Hmm,
                    I dont know, you might have to check a.c. or you could give it a try

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Slowing down the roast

                      Almac,
                      Some roasters use an adjustable transformer called a "Variac" but they are not exactly cheap! You can get them from Jaycar but from memory they are about $399.
                      You might also want to try a couple of different brands of poppers to see if some are slower. Most of the budget stores (like the Warehouse) sell a version for about $20.
                      Alternatively, you could try another roasting method such as a heatgun where you have control over the distance from the beans.
                      There are quite a number of CS members who have very refined heatgun methods/systems.
                      Have a browse through the threads in the "roaster" section.
                      Also well worth perusing the links found here:

                      http://www.homeroaster.com/homemade.html

                      Ahhhhhh roasting brings out the Gyro Gearloose in all of us.


                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Slowing down the roast

                        Originally posted by AlMac link=1118894468/0#8 date=1118916484
                        Perfect.

                        Has anyone done a chimney study?

                        Does height of the chimney affect roast time? Does a longer chimney = slower roast or vice versa?

                        Simliarly does a fat chimney (like the can) slow the roast while a thin one may speed it up (or vice versa)?
                        Chimney height does not affect roast times except as it allows you to add more beans.

                        The diameter of your chimney should be narrow enough that there are no dead air spaces around the bottom where the chimney meets the popper, and wide enough that there is no air leakage around its base. Beyond that I dont know that the diameter of the chimney will affect the roast much.

                        Chimneys in and of themselves do not change the roasting profile of your popper. Chimneys are used to extend the height of the roasting chamber which then allows you to roast more beans per batch. It is the larger bean mass that slows down your roast, not the chimney itself.

                        Java "Go, go gadget roaster!" phile
                        Toys! I must have new toys!!!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Slowing down the roast

                          Snippet from Javaphile:
                          The diameter of your chimney should be narrow enough that there are no dead air spaces around the bottom where the chimney meets the popper, and wide enough that there is no air leakage around its base. Beyond that I dont know that the diameter of the chimney will affect the roast much.
                          The only thing Ive discovered with using chimneys, is that you need to make sure that the exhaust hole diameter of the chimney is the same size or larger than the diameter of the top of the popper roasting chamber. Smaller than this diameter is a bad thing because it tends to "choke" the popper and roasting temperatures can rise quite sharply to the detriment of both the coffee and the popper. Found this out the hard way :-[.

                          Cheers,
                          Mal.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Slowing down the roast

                            Originally posted by Mal link=1118894468/0#12 date=1119013746
                            The only thing Ive discovered with using chimneys, is that you need to make sure that the exhaust hole diameter of the chimney is the same size or larger than the diameter of the top of the popper roasting chamber. Smaller than this diameter is a bad thing because it tends to "choke" the popper and roasting temperatures can rise quite sharply to the detriment of both the coffee and the popper. Found this out the hard way :-[.

                            Cheers,Mal.
                            Makes sense to me.

                            Java "Gotta love experimenting!" phile
                            Toys! I must have new toys!!!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Slowing down the roast

                              Roasted with the Chimney last night in the popper (old cocoa tin - perfect width and reasonable bit higher than a normal tin can). Dropped the bean weight down to 100g. Worked a treat and lengthened roast out by around 3-4 minutes total (wasnt watching the clock so close).

                              Thanks Everyone.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X