Vital Grill

[valimar]

Hi All, this is my first thread about roastering. Two years ago I came across this grill by some flea market and since then I use it weekly to roaster Costa Rica Tarrazu.
It roasters perfectly 500 gr. green beans in 50 minutes. I make much better shots (Cimbali) then with any other pre-roasterd coffee I can buy in Portugal.
I wonder if any of you ever used this grill for roastering. If so please share your experiences. See picture.

[greenman]

Hi Valimar, great to see you are enjoying your coffee roasting! 50 minutes is a very long roast time, are you able to apply more heat to the beans and shorten the roast time to around the 15-18 minute mark, you would get a lot better result, the longer roast tends to bake instead of roast the beans.
happy roasting
cheers gman

[AtomicGrog]

Maybe he does his chips at the same time (sorry couldn't resist).

FYI I find it incredible how many different devices people use to roast beans with. What's next? someone should try putting some on top of the engine manifold with the engine running @ 2k rpm (for agitation)... - Joking again btw.

[Andy]

Hi Valimar,
it would be interesting to see how it would go with 100g of coffee instead of 500g.
I expect you will get a far more even roast and the flavour should be better too.

I would suggest lowering the weight until you can get a roast finished in 20 minutes odd and see how that compares to what you are doing now.

[valimar]

Yes, I agree 50 minutes is long but it comes because I like dark roast and it's not possible to change the temperature. I'm going to try Andy's sugestion and roast less amount of coffee! I think is a good idea!

[trentski]

I'm going to try Andy's sugestion and roast less amount of coffee! I think is a good idea!

Yep, He's very useful like that. Please let us know how you go.

[valimar]

Andy and greenman, thanks for your advise! You were right! I roast 100 gr of my Costa Rica and in about 10 minutes I had the first crack!
Next time I will increase the weight till I reach the 15/18 minutes mark. 100gr is just enough for a couple of days!!!
Now I am curious if I will find any difference in tast...
Cheers