I decided to start this thread after seeing alot of the same questions from people new to roasting. In the few months I have been roasting I have kept a journal so have used this to come up with a guide to *starting out. If anyboody else has anything else feel free to add them.
The Popper
Firstly, have a look at the specs of your popper (wattage) from my own reading of the many different poppers used by roasters this seems to really affect the time of your roast. I may be wrong but a higher wattage seems to give a higher temp in a shorter time than a lower wattage popper.
I myself have a Cascade Popper that I bought at the Warehouse. It is a bit smaller than the breville poppers and only 1100 watts compared to the breville which is 1200. The cascade will only do a maximum of 100g of beans at a time, however my roasts do take longer usually up to about 7 minutes depending on the ambient temperature on the day. A longer roast is what you are trying to achieve so the sugars in the beans have a chance to develop their subtle individual flavour with out overroasting and burning.
The Chimney
Make a chimney for your popper, do this by getting an old soup can and cut a few slits in one end. Bend these in so the can fits snugly into the top of the popper. I also use the plastic dooflicky thing that came with the popper to act as an extra holder just in case you knock the chimney and stops it from falling off too easily, this is also great to help hold my thermocouple in place.
Personally I have found a popper tha best thing to start out with as it is cheap, you can really see what is happening, it is relatively hands free with no stirring except maybe right at the beginning. I have found that I also really started to get an understanding of the roasting process too
Thermocouple and Data recorder
Let me start of by saying that this is not someting you need to have, but I have found mine invaluable when I first started roasting. It was a useful guide in getting to know my popper and also knowing when to judge when to expect first and second crack to start and finish and the temperatures the popper and beans are at when this occurs. The majority of people here use these, they cost about $25 and pay for themselves.
Stopwatch
I bought a cheap sportswatch with a stopwatch facility on it from Target and use this to make a minute by minute temperature recording throughout my roast.
Using this I can record the time and temp of the first pops of first crack, the main part of first crack and the end of first crack. Likewise with second crack. You can also write down any points to remember such as long first crack, short fist crack followed by long gap to second crack etc. Here is an example of what I do
Ambient temp 17
Time 0930 hours
Time (mins) * * * * * * Temp(C)
1 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *145
2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *184
3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *201
4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *212
5 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *220
6 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *228
7 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *233
1st crack : 212C/3.44 (first snaps)
* * * * * * * * 211C/3.57 rolling first
* * * * * * * * 223C/521 finish
2nd crack : 233C/655min first snaps
* * * *
Roast finished @ 7.05 min/235C - did not reach rolling second crack.
Roasting Notes:
Long FC
nice long gap between FC @ SC
Distinct first and second crack
Even roast
Tasting Notes
24hrs Smooth, mocha flavours with hint of sweetness on the end of the palette. Lingering Vanilla flavours.
First roast follows
The Popper
Firstly, have a look at the specs of your popper (wattage) from my own reading of the many different poppers used by roasters this seems to really affect the time of your roast. I may be wrong but a higher wattage seems to give a higher temp in a shorter time than a lower wattage popper.
I myself have a Cascade Popper that I bought at the Warehouse. It is a bit smaller than the breville poppers and only 1100 watts compared to the breville which is 1200. The cascade will only do a maximum of 100g of beans at a time, however my roasts do take longer usually up to about 7 minutes depending on the ambient temperature on the day. A longer roast is what you are trying to achieve so the sugars in the beans have a chance to develop their subtle individual flavour with out overroasting and burning.
The Chimney
Make a chimney for your popper, do this by getting an old soup can and cut a few slits in one end. Bend these in so the can fits snugly into the top of the popper. I also use the plastic dooflicky thing that came with the popper to act as an extra holder just in case you knock the chimney and stops it from falling off too easily, this is also great to help hold my thermocouple in place.
Personally I have found a popper tha best thing to start out with as it is cheap, you can really see what is happening, it is relatively hands free with no stirring except maybe right at the beginning. I have found that I also really started to get an understanding of the roasting process too
Thermocouple and Data recorder
Let me start of by saying that this is not someting you need to have, but I have found mine invaluable when I first started roasting. It was a useful guide in getting to know my popper and also knowing when to judge when to expect first and second crack to start and finish and the temperatures the popper and beans are at when this occurs. The majority of people here use these, they cost about $25 and pay for themselves.
Stopwatch
I bought a cheap sportswatch with a stopwatch facility on it from Target and use this to make a minute by minute temperature recording throughout my roast.
Using this I can record the time and temp of the first pops of first crack, the main part of first crack and the end of first crack. Likewise with second crack. You can also write down any points to remember such as long first crack, short fist crack followed by long gap to second crack etc. Here is an example of what I do
Ambient temp 17
Time 0930 hours
Time (mins) * * * * * * Temp(C)
1 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *145
2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *184
3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *201
4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *212
5 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *220
6 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *228
7 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *233
1st crack : 212C/3.44 (first snaps)
* * * * * * * * 211C/3.57 rolling first
* * * * * * * * 223C/521 finish
2nd crack : 233C/655min first snaps
* * * *
Roast finished @ 7.05 min/235C - did not reach rolling second crack.
Roasting Notes:
Long FC
nice long gap between FC @ SC
Distinct first and second crack
Even roast
Tasting Notes
24hrs Smooth, mocha flavours with hint of sweetness on the end of the palette. Lingering Vanilla flavours.
First roast follows
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