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Newbie help - re: scorching

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  • tasmatt
    replied
    Re: Newbie help - scorching

    Just to update you and share my excitement...

    I tried a roast last night that was insulated by a big pot thing, and the results were far far better. There were still a couple of beans with scorching, but nowhere near as bad as it was.

    The real test will be in a few days time when I come to drink these roasts (if I can hold out that long).

    Matt

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  • tasmatt
    replied
    Re: Newbie help - scorching

    Lucinda: I have done popper roasts in the past, but just found it... a little bit boring. I didnt enjoy the lack of control; roasts were also consistnetly too short for my liking. I have no intention of going back to the popper.

    Bolb: It is a very cheap heatgun indeed. Cheapest one I could find at bunnings actually. Despite having done only a few roasts I am already onto my second heatgun, as the first one died rather suddenly. Sounds like it might be worth investing in a more expensive heatgun!

    Thanks again,

    Matt

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  • bolb
    replied
    Re: Newbie help - scorching

    Hi tasmatt
    What type of heat gun do you have?
    I found that when i used my first heat gun, a warehouse $25 special i found that i would get scorch marks on the beans, not massive ones but about 2 - 3 mm in diameter.
    I then was given a new heat gun last xmas and now use this and found that i get no scorch marks at all. Apart from quality build and increased features of the new gun the other main difference is that at the end of the more expensive heat gun there is a plate that covers the heating elements while cheapie gun has them directly exposed to the beans.

    I put the scorching down to the exposed elements being the issue.

    Mal

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  • lucinda
    replied
    Re: Newbie help - re: scorching

    If you are still having issues and just want to do smaller quantities try changing over to a popper until you feel more confident.

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  • tasmatt
    replied
    Re: Newbie help - scorching

    Thanks for the reply framey

    Good guessing... I am in Tasmania, and I do roast at night (its night by 5pm here). I might try insulating the roast to see if this allows me to take the heat gun back a bit further. I might also buy a bigger bowl, as my current batch sizes are about 150gm (roasted), and this seems to be the most this bowl could take.

    Im pretty sure Im not missing an earlier second crack, unless I am actually roasting that unevenly that it just blends into first crack... but then then beans arent actually coming out that dark.

    I tend to vary the height of the heat gun a bit, generally backing off a bit around first crack, mostly to try and avoid scorching.

    I will try a bigger bowl, bigger batch size, and insulated style roast and get back to you.

    Matt

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  • Framey
    replied
    Re: Newbie help - scorching

    The timing doesnt sound radically wrong.

    The main mistake I used to make with a heatgun roast was to allow the gun nosel to get too close to the beans. Get too close and youll scorch them.

    The thing that has me a bit confused is that scorching or beans with divots / blowout marks are generally attributed to a rapid application of heat. 5 minutes between 1st and 2nd crack isnt what Id call dangerously rapid roast development.

    Is it possible you are missing an earlier second crack? ie Is the final roast super dark and oily?

    If you are in Tasmania (guessing) and roasting at night (another guess) perhaps the low ambient temp leads to you needing to apply heat fairly aggressively to maintain your desired profile?

    I used to have a SS colander inside a SS mixing bowl. This offered some slight insulation.

    Do you vary the height of the gun nosel from the bean surface much?

    What size batches are you roasting? I used to find 250-300g worked well with my setup.

    Maybe trial and error will be your friend, albeit a frustrating not very tastey friend  

    Leave a comment:


  • tasmatt
    started a topic Newbie help - re: scorching

    Newbie help - re: scorching

    Hi all,

    I am very new to this whole home roasting thing... and I need your help.

    My current method is HG/DB, and I have done around 10 roasts this way.

    My problem is however, that almost every roast I do is full of badly scorched beans. Really badly scorched.

    My typical pattern is to hit FC around 10mins, then SC kinda goes all wrong and just turns into scorch crack at around 15mins. The scorching is so bad that bits of the beans regularly fly off and hit me in the face... that hurts. Appart from the fact that it hurts, it makes for pretty bad drinking in the cup. I am usually pretty careful about making sure the beans are constantly moving.

    So... how do I reach SC without scorching the beans??

    This is driving me crazy... and hence the reason Im posting at 1am.
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