Popper -> Heat Gun Experience

[Javaphile]

Re: Popper -> Heat Gun Experience

I think the Cupping Room and the Blending Room would be the place for discussing different beans/blends and how they taste at different roasts.

Java "Throw another roast on the fire" phile

[Lovebite]

Re: Popper -> Heat Gun Experience

 I measure in only enough beans for the current pull and then put one of those cheapo alum tampers I got with one of my machines on top of the beans.  It fills the opening on the grinder perfectly and keeps the beans from flying out as theyre ground.  After the beans are ground I use a 1cm camel hair artists brush to brush any unground beans/parts of beans down into the grinding chamber and to clear out the exit chute from the grinding chamber.  I then run the grinder for a couple of seconds to clear out the last of the coffee from the grinding chamber.  I then sweep the exit chute again and then the surfaces in the doser where the grounds have settled until theyre all down into the dosing area.  I then operate the doser a number of times to get all the grounds into the portafilter, tamp, and brew.  While this may sound long and tedious the shot is being pulled less than 30 seconds after the coffee was ground.

Doing the grinding this way assures me of only using freshly ground coffee in my pulls, and allows me to switch coffees anytime I want with no prep needed other than perhaps changing the grind a bit.  

I tend to be very methodical in my approach as I intend every shot I pull to be a God Shot (*intend* being the key word there! ).  I tend to do things so that they are as consistantly repeatable as possible.  As a result I tend to put a lot more detailed effort into the entire process but the end result makes it all worthwhile.   ;D

Thats very serious Java "too much time on my hands" phile. te hehe. Only kidding of course. I respect people who have that kind of patience.... I can imagine you are the kind of guy with a sqared away workshop too.... you know what I mean? lots of jars with all of your bits and bobs in alphabetical order in hand made shelving?

On the other hand, Im the guy with a tool box for of screws, and I root around for half an hour looking for the right one.

I wish I could be that methodical, but Im just too Australian I think (pulls the pin and tosses that grenade). I really enjoy all of the coffees Ive roasted, and I do get a little sick of the same flavour for a week at a time.

I think my best end result would be 3 or 4 grinders all running different beans, but I think wed need a powerball before OIC home command would even consider signing off on project like that.

Until then I have to keep on drinking what ever is in the grinder this time... this weeks Sumatran Manhelding..... as for next week.......well, next week is promised to no bean.

[Javaphile]

Re: Popper -> Heat Gun Experience

Thats very serious Java "too much time on my hands" phile. te hehe. Only kidding of course. I respect people who have that kind of patience.... I can imagine you are the kind of guy with a sqared away workshop too.... you know what I mean? lots of jars with all of your bits and bobs in alphabetical order in hand made shelving?

My shop organized? <Javaphile falls over and hurts himself from laughing so hard> I do indeed have lots of jars, and drawers, and cans, and boxes and, and ,and...filled with stuff. As well as piles of stuff. And piles of stuff on boxes of stuff, and....I think you get the picture. LOL I live in a rather large house that I now have all to myself since my kid moved out last year and it is *filled with stuff. Not counting the garage (its full to the gills) I have about 3,000 sq ft of space here, and its all FULL. I collect.....stuff. And once I collect it, it rarely leaves. ;D

As examples I started my espresso equipment collecting with the purchase of a simple boiler type unit at a garage sale for $1. I now have 2 mazzer super jolly grinders, a Cimbali M28 2-group, a Cimbali M52, and more moka type pots than I care to think about. Another prime example is when I bought a single old Letterpress printing press years ago at an auction of surplus school equipment on a lark because it was the very press Id learned to print on. Little did I know that with-in 2 years Id be doing letterpress as a business and shortly there after would have some 6 presses and 60,000 pounds of Letterpress printing equipment in my basement, along with a new addition built specifically to hold 2 large presses. Even though I havent done any business with the equipment in 10 years, its all still here. ;D Another example? OK, I got into computers. Now I have some 20+ computers spread around here and I do it as my business...Run out of my house of course! LOL Getting the picture? ROFL ;D ;D ;D And none of it is really all that organized. I just know where everything is. Everything is fine...AS LONG AS NOBODY MOVES ANYTHING!!!

So I guess in a sense I am organized, in that I know where everything is. But youd never know it from looking at the place. ;D

Java "Lots of stuff...Little room" phile

[adrian_lovell]

Re: Popper -> Heat Gun Experience


Hey lovebite, why dont you just grind it as you need it, rather than filling the hopper? You can have different roasted beans stored in containers on the shelf (or in the freezer depending how long it takes to get through it), and that way you can drink whatever you feel like.

I guess it depends a bit on how much youre drinking, but its not too much of an inconvenience.

[Lovebite]

Re: Popper -> Heat Gun Experience

Not a bad idea. I could even just half fill the hopper if I wanted to be lazy.

The only thing is I drink around 400gms a week (well not just me), which is 1 roast.

My hands are usually tired after 20mns of stirring, so I only do 1 at a time, and not mixing keeps it super fresh.

Ill do some thinking.

[Javaphile]

Re: Popper -> Heat Gun Experience

Thats very serious Java "too much time on my hands" phile. te hehe. Only kidding of course. I respect people who have that kind of patience....

If you think thats serious, you should see the procedure I go through with the espresso machine every time I pull a shot.

First I draw a blank shot for 10 seconds (actually about a quad shot) and fill the cup Ill be using with hot water from the espresso machines tap. Then the beans are ground and tamped into the portafilter (I draw a double blank shot before removing the portafilter from the grouphead and then a quick single shot before putting the filled portafilter back on), then I empty the cup of hot water and pull the shot directly into it. That way no creama is left behind in the shot glass, its all in the cup youre drinking. While the shot is being pulled I froth the milk if the drink calls for it. Once the brewing is done I dump the grounds from the portafilter and rinse it with the hot water tap on the espresso machine. I then cycle the grouphead to rinse off most of the grounds and use an angled brush to clean around the gasket and the screen. I then put the blind filter on and activate the grouphead again. Once the back siphoning has stopped I quickly back the portafilter off just enough to release its pressure which blows out any grounds around the gasket that the brush missed and then tighten it up again, repeating 3 times. I then remove the blind portafilter and use the brush again and cycle the grouphead again to rinse off any loose ground. Then I put the blind portafilter back on it and cycle the grouphead once again for a clean water backflush. Then I put a bit of water in a shot pitcher and use that to flush out/clean the steam wand. It doesnt take as long as it sounds like and by doing this on *every shot your system is kept nice and clean and you get to taste the coffee you just brewed instead of old grounds that have been sitting baking on the grouphead for who knows how long. I do a chemical backflush once a week to get the stubborn grunge out.

If youre only brewing up really dark roasts you may not notice much of a difference in taste as theyre already pretty well burnt up before theyre ever put into the portafilter. If on the other hand youre roasting to maximize the flavor of the bean rather than roasting the heck out of the beans so alls you taste is the roast then youll notice a huge difference.

This is yet one more reason why cafe owners love the darker roasts. You dont taste all the baked on crud that the high schooler running the machine has been too lazy to clean off the grouphead. If they were serving beans that had been roasted to maximize the beans flavor rather than the roasts flavor the difference would be almost immediately noticable.

Its a bit of work but...

Java "The end product makes it all worthwhile!" phile

[robusto]

Re: Popper -> Heat Gun Experience

Good work, Adrian, its always great to see in photographs what posters describe in words. Very good photos. Im a BBQ roaster, so no hack at heatguns. But would it improve your roast if the heatgun was held in a stand a fixed distance from your beans, and the beans constantly stirred manually (with a long-handled spoon) or with a battery drill on low speed with some sort of vanes attachment? Im all for mechanising tedious jobs!
Good luck