I-Coffee roasting experiences

[malliemcg]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

I did a few roasts last weekend and have some troubles (benefits?) as compared to my popper.

1) The beans dont go all oily and spotty and come out much fresher, need to dial myself into grinding for fresh beans that expand in the group a lot more. Practice required, no one seems to be complaining.

2) Roasting in the shed while its raining really messes up hearing first and second crack. I think I pulled both beans I roasted a tad early, but the cup is coming out very tasty, will have to roast some more this weekend. (Currently overcast, I think I know how to make it precipitate).

Is there somewhere on CS that behaves like a wiki so that it would be possible to note the max roast sizes for the beans that require a little less than 250g to get a successful roast. I have no idea what say Monsooned Malambar would be given theyre so light but they seemed to take a while at 250g.

[jaybee]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

I think I pulled both beans I roasted a tad early,

I certainly did that for a while - I was not not used to the leisurely time it takes! Ive gone the other way now and have slightly over roasted a few batches - I must concetrate more ;D

[fivegallon]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

If you have the data logging meter it is well worth picking up the bead type thermocouple and jamming it into the equation as per this>> http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1317639014
For less than $10 it makes a big difference to roasting with the iCoffee Roaster

[sorrentina]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

when I started out- I used to use a torch to get a really good look at the beans. If the light isnt bright they appear darker through the dome than they actually are. When you shine a torch directly in you can see the true colour better. Over time though I have become more casual with my roasts- I think I have a good feel for where the beans are at- and when to kill the roast.

[jaybee]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Im sitting outside right now with 225g of Peruvian on the go. I have a timer in front of me, but the bigest give-away is the roast smell - when it nears completion the aroma seems to change quite dramatically. Anyone else noticed that?

The roaster seems to take longer now too. I guess that after the first few dozen roasts, all the electronics have settled in. My std 200-250g roast takes 22 mins to S2C rather that the 19 mins when brand new. Not complaining though, the roasts are superb!

[Kafine]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

yep mine seem to take a bit longer now. I do 150gms at a time used to make first crack at 10mins but now its 12 or so with a total time around 17 min

[headinclouds]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

i timed three roasts this week and i was at first crack at around 15mins and second at 19. these were 150g.

im sure its taking longer than it used to. i did some early roasts using the 5 setting on the dial and letting them go through automatically to the end and they were still over roasted. this weeks were on 9 and i had to do extra time.

is it a settling in, or something wearing out??

[sorrentina]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

I dont think anything would be wearing out yet- I have been using mine for nearly three years now every weekend and still going strong.

having said that I am surprised by the times you are getting for 150 grams- I will do a test on mine.

[trentski]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

I tried the table stuff to post my roast times but I couldnt get it to work, so maybe I could put it in excel and screenshot it and post it as a picture :-?

I dont think my times have drifted out any, the ambient temp seems to make the biggest difference for me, 21 roasts so far with one at 200 grams and the rest at 250 ish

[oldbeamer2]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Mine have been taking longer too!

I looked at the bottom of the roast pan and was horrified to see that it was buckled upward. I thought this was the problem, I was just about to send Jack an email when I checked the heating plate that it sits on and its curved. Felt a bit like a goose. It makes sense to have a curved bottom as it will deal with temperature changes better.

One thing Id noticed is that there were a couple of bits of chaff sitting on the heating plate. They were a bit resilient to being moved so I think they may have been there for a few roasts. I reckon that they would have been keeping the roasting pot from touching the heat plate as well as it should have. Ive now cleaned the chaff away and Ill see if that makes the roasting times any shorter.

[samhighley]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences


Ive just ordered my roaster and a starter pack of green.

Looking forward to hopefully roasting some beans later this week!

[Woopee]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Hi Gents,

I did a 200g pre heat roast of La Lapa this afternoon. Set the timer to 9 and let her rip. At 8m50sec into the roast long before first crack the machine just stopped altogether, all lights out. I double pressed the power switch to reset the roast, set the timer to 9 again but she stopped again 3 minutes later. I pressed the timer switch again, all lights on and I was able to finish the roast.

Ill fire off a pm to Jack I think. This aint normal.

Cheers.

[Kafine]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

make sure the chaff catcher is seated properly. The rim has to be below the heating element. There is a microswitch that sits under a rubber gasket and if not seated properly the machine does exactly what you describe.

[jaybee]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

The mystery of the lengthening roast time has been solved, well sort of. I gave the machine a good blow out of all chaff, including the slots, and all of a sudden those roast times are back where they were a while back. Nearly stuffed a roast as I always set an alarm to 20 mins and come back to finish the roast. I was in the area and noticed first crack much earlier than expected!

[samhighley]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

I roasted my first batch today, using the Flores Gunung Inerie that Jack included.

I attempted to follow the BeanBay instructions and roast to around CS10.

Pre-roast weight was 165 grams and it ended up at 125 grams.

I reckon I heard first crack at around 12:30, followed by what I believe to be rolling at around 13:20. I was unable to determine second-crack, and ended up pulling it based on colour at around 17:30.

Is the membership card divided up into CS1 to CS12?