Re: Crazy Popper advice
Hi Deano
I had the experience where the Crazy Popper I bought wasnt hot enough.
Once, out of sheer frustration, I left it going for 25 minutes and the beans didnt even turn to charcoal - TRUE.
Experimenting a bit, I found that the optimum for my particular popper was:
> increase bean weight to 150g (130g for monsooned malabar due to larger bean size) to increase the thermal mass. I determined this weight as being the greatest green weight still able to be stirred by the airflow.
> Restrict airflow by placing gaffer tape over the intake vents in the base of the popper
> Temporarily (for about 10 seconds at a time) restrict the exit airflow by partly obstructing the chimney - I do not reccommend your hand for this activity. This enabled the temp to rise by 10C or so and when the obstruction was removed the temp remained at that level.
You need at least 150C to get to first crack - measure using a digital multimeter with a thermocouple (a cheap one can be obtained from jaycar or Dick Smith / Tandy for about 40 bux)
My friend Sullo has a popper which has totally different characteristics to mine so they are definitely not consistent.
To fix your problem -
> Identify whether your popper runs hot or cold - see if you can charcoal a batch of beans without modifications.
> Use a thermocouple to get an idea of the heat in the roasting chamber
> to get more heat, use a greater weight of beans and / or obstruct the airflow - tape, partly blocking the chimney, put it in a box (hotter external environment)
> to get less heat, use a lighter load and have a fan blowing across the top of the chimney to draw the heat out of the chamber faster.
Its all a learning process as well as trial and error but when you get your first decent roast you will know that you will never return to the Nescafe Blend 43.
Hope this helps
cheers mate
jeff
Hi Deano
I had the experience where the Crazy Popper I bought wasnt hot enough.
Once, out of sheer frustration, I left it going for 25 minutes and the beans didnt even turn to charcoal - TRUE.
Experimenting a bit, I found that the optimum for my particular popper was:
> increase bean weight to 150g (130g for monsooned malabar due to larger bean size) to increase the thermal mass. I determined this weight as being the greatest green weight still able to be stirred by the airflow.
> Restrict airflow by placing gaffer tape over the intake vents in the base of the popper
> Temporarily (for about 10 seconds at a time) restrict the exit airflow by partly obstructing the chimney - I do not reccommend your hand for this activity. This enabled the temp to rise by 10C or so and when the obstruction was removed the temp remained at that level.
You need at least 150C to get to first crack - measure using a digital multimeter with a thermocouple (a cheap one can be obtained from jaycar or Dick Smith / Tandy for about 40 bux)
My friend Sullo has a popper which has totally different characteristics to mine so they are definitely not consistent.
To fix your problem -
> Identify whether your popper runs hot or cold - see if you can charcoal a batch of beans without modifications.
> Use a thermocouple to get an idea of the heat in the roasting chamber
> to get more heat, use a greater weight of beans and / or obstruct the airflow - tape, partly blocking the chimney, put it in a box (hotter external environment)
> to get less heat, use a lighter load and have a fan blowing across the top of the chimney to draw the heat out of the chamber faster.
Its all a learning process as well as trial and error but when you get your first decent roast you will know that you will never return to the Nescafe Blend 43.
Hope this helps
cheers mate
jeff

Comment