Hello,
New user here. Just been into this home coffee and home roasting thing for a month or two now, and am determined to keep everything simple and low cost as I explore various aspects of coffee. I'm much more interested in understanding the process rather than diving into the gear end of things for now.
I've been pan roasting at home. I seem to be hitting a hard limit- each roast tastes largely indistinguishable from the others and has generally been drinkable, but simple and lacking in body. Better than supermarket coffee, but not anywhere as complex as specialty roasters.
So I am wondering, is this simply a shortcoming of this roasting method, or am I doing something wrong?
So more info:
I am roasting with a wok, medium flame giving a surface temperature of around 250-260C (using an IR gun). Using two spatulas at the same time for more constant bean agitation. I started off with a flat pan and a whist, and decided that was a mistake- the flat pan makes it harder to even agitate all beans constantly, and a metal whisk is so noisy that it can drown out the noise of cracks (certainly second crack).
Once roasting is done, I'll cool down fairly rapidly by pouring the beans between two colanders through a fan breeze. Seems to work effectively, though it has the unforunate side effect of blowing chaff all through the kitchen (I have to do this indoors).
Roast times typically run from 8-14 minutes depending on depth of roast (stopping anywhere from halfway between first and second crack, or going up just into second crack).
Roasting 120g per batch, getting about 13-15% weight loss.
Degassing 1-5 days after roasting.
Been through 2kg of green beans so far- all African. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Ugandan Bugisu, Tanzanian Peaberry, Rwandan Hingakawa.
New user here. Just been into this home coffee and home roasting thing for a month or two now, and am determined to keep everything simple and low cost as I explore various aspects of coffee. I'm much more interested in understanding the process rather than diving into the gear end of things for now.
I've been pan roasting at home. I seem to be hitting a hard limit- each roast tastes largely indistinguishable from the others and has generally been drinkable, but simple and lacking in body. Better than supermarket coffee, but not anywhere as complex as specialty roasters.
So I am wondering, is this simply a shortcoming of this roasting method, or am I doing something wrong?
So more info:
I am roasting with a wok, medium flame giving a surface temperature of around 250-260C (using an IR gun). Using two spatulas at the same time for more constant bean agitation. I started off with a flat pan and a whist, and decided that was a mistake- the flat pan makes it harder to even agitate all beans constantly, and a metal whisk is so noisy that it can drown out the noise of cracks (certainly second crack).
Once roasting is done, I'll cool down fairly rapidly by pouring the beans between two colanders through a fan breeze. Seems to work effectively, though it has the unforunate side effect of blowing chaff all through the kitchen (I have to do this indoors).
Roast times typically run from 8-14 minutes depending on depth of roast (stopping anywhere from halfway between first and second crack, or going up just into second crack).
Roasting 120g per batch, getting about 13-15% weight loss.
Degassing 1-5 days after roasting.
Been through 2kg of green beans so far- all African. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Ugandan Bugisu, Tanzanian Peaberry, Rwandan Hingakawa.




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