Another Coretto devotee!!!

[greenman]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

I was out walking the dog today, its trash and treasure pick up in our area this week and I spotted a lamp stand on the verge, I quickly noted that this would be ideal with a couple of modifications to house my heat gun so that it could slide up and down the shaft and be locked into position at the height required. I carted it home to the roasting department (garage) and set about the modification, it worked a treat and I now have an adjustable height heatgun holder...................

[Thundergod]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Ive mentioned this before but will again.

Lots of pedestal fans get thrown out during council cleanup times and the pedestal part might make a good heat gun holder similar to what greenman has just described.

[robusto]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Let me get this right, TG. Are you saying that the pedestal part of a fan might make a good heat gun holder? ;D

Sorry. Couldnt help myself.

[Lizzie]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

hmmm, when i read that i can see a few spoonerisms in hiding... ;D ;D

L

[GregJW]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Ive taken care of my new years resolution already and become the latest graduate from popper roasting to Coretto.

Picked up a second hand Breville BB 250 (one and a half hour knead cycle!) and a $20 Aldi HG (yeah, I know - you get what you pay for! But for that price, its a start). A variable temp HG down the track I think.

Ive got the HG rigged on an artists easel but Im not happy with it. Im going to try an old microphone boom stand Ive got lying around getting used only occasionally. Used the bucket/ vacuum trick first time for quick cooling - excellent. Data meter thermo probe seems to be reading under real temp - might try insulating it where it goes through the BM outer wall.

Used robusta beans for 2 test batches - shockers. But have done 2 good batches this afternoon - Harar and Dominican - both about 18 mins to start of SC. Only bout 200 gm each - starting slow in case of a balls-up. Having a bit of trouble with my ears picking up SC over the BM, HG and fan noise. Hopefully will get accustomed to it.

My main problem now, however, is Im close to running out of green beans after a Christmas of roasting (popper) / making coffee for family, relos , friends etc. Come on January Bean Bay!

PS- Thanks to Coretto and all those who have put information / tips on this method on this forum to date.

Greg.

[Corretto]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!


Welcome to the club Greg :-)

Different beans produce different kinds of FC and SC sounds. Some are soft and poppy and others are like a gunshot. I find that the more beans in the roast the louder the cracks are as there are more cracks to hear!


Belinda

[GregJW]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Thanks Belinda,

Ill be doing a batch of Peru Grace Villa next - very clear cracks (although I dont think Ive even got 200gm left ) - when I get my mic stand set up.

PS. I told my lovely wife its your fault our patios taken over by Corretto (correct spelling this time) paraphernalia and that theres a hole in her bucket ;D . (She doesnt really mind - loves the coffee.)

Greg

[greenman]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Welcome to Corretto World Greg, its a great way of roasting beans and being able to have control over the roast.
Ive clocked up over 30 roasts in mine now and havent had a real failure yet.
I did some Ethiopian Yirgachef yesterday when it was 42C outside (probably 50C in my garage) and second crack came on way too fast and caught me by surprise but I managed to cool them down with only the odd oily bean.

[grimsby]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Hi folks, Im new to this posting bit so please be kind.
I have been roasting for a while now using a standard crazy popper,which Im in the process of modifying to slow down the roast times to try to get more control over the roast but it seems from the posts in this thread that I might be better off going to a corretto setup.
Im a control freak and I already have a Ryobi heat gun so only need a BM.
Also like being able to see and hear whats happening.
I would appreciate comments on the smallest reliable amount of beans that you can roast in a corretto setup, as I normally only require small amounts on a weekly basis.
This is why I have persevered with the popper as the 100 grams per roast is about right.
Is the corretto method reliable with batches this small or are larger batches needed?

[Dimal]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Gday Grimsby, Welcome to CoffeeSnobs...... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Corretto roasting is probably at its best with large-ish batch sizes, say from 300-600g for the single paddle style BM and up to 1.0Kg+ for dual paddle models like the Breville Big Loaf we have. Thats not to say that you cant roast successfully with smaller batches though but with my Big Loaf, 300g is the practical minimum and probably close to 200g for single paddle jobs. Owners of this type of machine might like to confirm the smallest batches that have been consistently roasted well.

Providing you use the Zip-Lock 1-Way Valve bags though Grimsby, I dont think you would have any problems roasting 200g batches and keeping the beans quite fresh over a 10-14 day period. I usually roast batches between 750-900g and divvy it up between two or more 1-Way Valve bags which keeps em very fresh right up to when I open subsequent bags as I work my way through the batch.

Naturally, it is the wonderful level of control one has over the roast that makes the Corretto such a great method to use. It is amenable to as simple or as complex a system of control as you want to make it and is capable of producing results equal to that of typical small commercial roasters. If it was me in your position, Id definitely be giving it a go and then see what you can manage with what ever BM you get your hands on. All the best mate ,

Mal.

[grimsby]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Hi Mal,

Thanks for the welcome and for your comments re batch size.
I am quite happy to do 200g batches so I guess I will be on the lookout for a smaller single paddle BM.
Ill let you know how I get on.

Alan

[greenman]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Hi Grimsby, my Breville (has 1kg bread size loaf bucket) if I do under 200g the paddle throws the beans out of the bucket all over the place. With an extra 100g, no problems, I now usually do a standard 500g roast but have gone higher a couple of times with no problems.

[grimsby]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Hi Greenman,
I picked up a Breville BB250 on Saturday from the Cash Diddlers, and have modded it run at the flick of a switch.
I tried 200 grams of green beans in it as a dry run without heat and it did not go near throwing any beans out.
Maybe the story will be a bit different during a roast as the beans get lighter. Time will tell.
I want to replace the PTFE paddle shaft bearing with a bronze one before I try a roast, with luck, next weekend.
Thanks for your comments.

Alan

[grimsby]

Re: Another Coretto devotee!!!

Yureka! Got my Corretto setup up and running.
Have just done my first roast in it. 200grams of Columbian Volcan Galeras from the starter pack. Went like a dream, but the proof will be in the tasting. Now to wait a couple of days.
FC was at about 10 mins. at around 185 deg. (the first was at 181)
I think I heard the first snaps of SC at 205 deg. at which point I stopped the roast - between 16 and 17 minutes.
This was as far as I wanted to go.
Sorry I cant be more precise on the data, as I was hand holding the HG just to try the system out.
Roast looks nice and even to me. I cant tell the shade of roast as I dont have my CS card yet, it is dark but not anywhere near an Italian Expresso.
Didnt have any beans wanting to jump out of the bin either.
For anyone interested, I replaced the PTFE paddle shaft bearing with a bronze one. It is not actually a bearing but a seal. (I dont know if it is actually PTFE or not, but it is certainly a seal made from some high temperature resistant material)
The actual paddle shaft bearing is below this seal and is made from sintered branze.
Now I can get on with an adjustable stand for the HG.
Have an old projection screen stand which will work a treat. It has a spring loaded clamp which is a simple one-handed operation to adjust the height. Only have to make a bracket to hold the HG.
Cheers and thanks for the comments. I reckon its quite an improvement on the Crazy Popper.