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Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

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  • Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

    About a year ago, I bought this 100 year old stove-top coffee bean roaster from Sweden. As you can see, it looks like an enclosed saucepan, with a built in stirrer which is turned with an external handle. I think the idea behind this roaster is quite good - making use of both convection and conduction. Of course its not as precise as a machine which allows you to set varying temperature... but the few times Ive used it, Ive been fairly impressed with the results.

    This pic - and subsequent pics - are from a little coffee event at our place on the weekend. We were roasting an Australian Capricorn. The roast took about 20 minutes all up - but it took a while to get to the first crack, as at first it seemed we had the temperature too low. The result was surprisingly consistent, apart from a few beans that got burnt on one side because I forgot to turn the handle at first!!

    Matt


  • #2
    Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

    A look inside the roaster - it would ordinarily be closed, but we opened it so we could keep track of the colour of the beans and take pics...

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    • #3
      Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

      Pouring out the completed roast, ready to cool

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      • #4
        Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

        Awesome, I love this.
        After my renewed experience with stovetop percolator after reading the tips in another thread, this really appeals to me, simple but excellent design.
        How was it for the smoke and chaff indoor roasting? If had a benchtop fan with an overhead airstream out of adjacent window would it suffice?
        I can imagine an extension rod for the stirrer with the pan sitting atop a camp fire, stirring the roast while drinking freshly brewed coffee...

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        • #5
          Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

          Hey there - glad to hear someone else who likes the simplicity of this sort of method!

          With the roaster closed, there was very little smoke; with it open, as in the pics, there was some, but with the rangehood extractor fan on low, this was no problem. (I once tried doing a roast on a tray in the oven, and this was disastrous, filling the room with smoke and setting off the fire alarm... not good!)

          These beans didnt seem to produce much chaff - what there was seemed to come away quite quickly while I was shaking the beans to cool them in the colander.

          I got the roaster through ebay, and found a few similar designs, all coming from europe, and all quite old... Part of me thinks it would be good to reinstate simple designs like this - although as Ive mentioned, they cant be expected to provide the precision of modern methods.

          Anyway, Ill keep trying it out... I do like the sound of the freshly roasted outdoor coffee!

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          • #6
            Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

            haha i like your thinking stoveboy!! ;D
            I pan roast too, love the pics, your flash 100yr old roaster is more high tech than my simple pan and whisk!!! hahaa.

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            • #7
              Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

              Hi Stoveboy

              It warms my Luddite heart to see the old ways still in use. I can really relate to the experience of using such an earthy method to create coffee.

              Well done.

              jeff

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              • #8
                Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

                Nice find Matt.

                I have seen these in Coffee patent documents (from 100 years ago) and wondered what the roasts would be like.

                Thanks for sharing the pics.

                Next I want to see you try it on an open fire.

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                • #9
                  Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

                  Okey-dokey... as requested... an outdoor roast!
                  Hehe... okay so its not exactly a campfire, but it was kinda fun to try it on the BBQ. This roast took only about twelve minutes - I found the bbq less controlled than the stovetop, so it was harder to pace.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

                    This is what the finished product looked like...

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                    • #11
                      Re: Trying an old-fashioned roasting method - pics

                      ...and the first coffee these beans produced...
                      yeah okay so its wonky...


                      matt

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