Newbies 1st roast experience.

[zaheerkha]

Hey all thought I'd share my first roasting experience. Might help some people and hopefully you guys can provide some tips or point out some rookie mistakes I'm making. OK so to start with, the equipment. Nothing special, purchased from Myers on sale so it was about $30 from memory. Used it for popcorn a few times.



So then come the beans. I ordered this batch from ministry off grounds, they offer a sampler pack of 4 different beans. These are Brazilian cerrado "toffee".



OK so the first roast. I just plugged in the popper. Put enough beans in so it was below the premarked " max" line for popcorn. I started the popper and the beans were spinning very fast so I added some more but was careful no to go over the max line. I didn't time it just let it go, I want even sure it would work.

So all this chaff stated flying out of the popper. Luckily I was doing this in the garage so my wife decided not to kill me ( today any way). highly recommend doing this outside or in the garage.

The first pop was very loud just like popcorn popping. I left it going and the beans stated turning a darker color. I decided to stop at this point. Did not notice any second crack. Straight into a large metal sieve and tossed the beans around until they
Cooled. Then into a tray.



Second attempt. I rested the popper for around 5 minutes while cooling the first batch of beans. I filled beans up to the max line and stated the popper. It took a second for the beans to start rotating but they did. This time I timed it:

2:32 - heard the first bean crack
3:06 - now many beans cracking
5:33 - 2nd crack, not very loud almost didn't believe it was cracking
5:51 - more tiny cracking sounds. Stopped the popper.

Put the beans straight into the large metal sieve and tossed them around to cool them.




Kinda hard to see in the pics but the 2nd batch was slightly darker.

All in all, it was easy. Would highly recommend anyone to try it.

I'd like to put more beans in next time but they do jump around one they start roasting. I'm worried they will jump out or they may melt the plastic sides above the popper area.

Question: what time would you count as the crack time, the first cracking sound or when most of them crack? The first sound is less subjective but may not be representative. I'd like to record them so I can refine the technique.

[Dimal]

Well done Zaheer...

Roasting with a Popper is a lot of fun, no doubt about it. I'd highly recommend that you peruse this thread, as it contains a wealth of information from a lot of experienced people plus, it is also a very handy reference. http://coffeesnobs.com.au/roasters/2...ng-popper.html

Keep going mate, it is a very addictive pastime...

Mal.

[Ron_Chambers]

That's pretty fast roasting, although the quantity is only small. I have one of these units but haven't really used it much. I bridged out the bi-metallic strip and did a few other things I can no longer remember now, before I even used it for the 1st time- in an effort to get max heat, may not have been necessary from what you have demonstrated.

[Barry_Duncan]

zaheerka,

If you put popper and roast into your search engine you will find heaps of info on the web both on CoffeeSnobs and elsewhere.

I use a Breville Bratz 1,100 to 1,200w popper without the plastic top, with a 415g salmon tin for a chimney. I use about 180g of green beans filling up to the silver screw on the side of the chamber. I stir with a wooden spoon handle until they spin.

I roast on my balcony to share the smoke and chaff with my neighbours. No complaints. I use a metal sieve to remove chaff and baking dishes for cooling.

Barry

[zaheerkha]

Cheers all. Have been reading up and trying to think how I can reduce the rising time.

Next mod will be removing the lid and using a chimney as per recommendation from baz. Hopefully that helps. I'm also on the lookout for a variable transformer, hoping to find something cheap on eBay.

[ddhytz]

.... I use about 180g of green beans filling up to the silver screw on the side of the chamber. I stir with a wooden spoon handle until they spin.
...

Good to know one can put so many beans in one go.

... Have been reading up and trying to think how I can reduce the rising time.
....

I tried 95g beans yesterday after opening the vents a bit to get more air in (found the info on the net). It took about 8 minutes to finish at the stage I wanted to stop compared to 4 minutes without mod and 85g beans. I believe it will slow down further with more beans, but I need a chimney before I can add more beans into it. My popper is a Breville Quick Popper.