My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

[Dimal]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

Think Ive got a ways to go tho -- well see how the beans are tomorrow 8-)

Oh I dunno Simone....

I dont think youre all that far away.... Thats the beauty of of having access to the thermologger, you can see very quickly just exactly what is going on. Try smaller incremental changes to the heatgun control next time and by the third or fourth batch youll be churning out perfect roasts. Pretty good when you think about it.

The main aim is to arrive at Rolling FC within a 10-12 minute window (sometimes a bit longer), depending on bean type and then the first few snaps of SC about 3-5 minutes after that. The thing you really need to watch out for though is that the temperature gradient is always positive and consistent. As a guide (not set in stone) your temperature ramp up to Rolling FC should be in the region of 15-17C/minute; once Rolling FC is bubbling along nicely, reduce your heatgun setting such that you arrive at a ramp towards SC of between 3.5-5.0C/minute. The reason you want to avoid the temperature ramps going negative, especially after the end of FC, is that this upsets the development of the caramelisation of the various sugars in the beans. Once you get it right, the flavour in the cup will fairly leap up at you.... Its a great experience. ;D

As you gain more confidence and experience with your Corretto, you may want to play around with these temperature gradients a bit in order to accentuate or subdue certain aspects of the flavour profile of the beans being roasted. Lots to learn in this very interesting hobby and such enjoyable outcomes.... Its all good. 8-) Some great information about the roasting process to be found here

Mal.

[PhilMac]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

I am wondering could the bean temp be hotter than is being measured, because I got the 1st snaps of FC around 7:30 mins when the DMM was reading 190 C.  The thermocouple was poked down a bit of fibreglass flex, along with a bit of fencing wire to keep it all stiff.

It could be.

A lot of people use a probe, inserted through a whole in the side of the BM, so that the tip of the probe is away from the wall of the pan and in the bean mass. It looks like yours may be sitting on the side of the pan, which is probably cooler than the bean mass.

I have a piece of wood placed over the pan, only a couple of inches wide, with a hole drilled through so the thermocouple wire, attached to a thin tent peg can be lowered into a corner of the pan - away from the direct blast of the heatgun, but about halfway between the paddle and the wall, and a centimetre or so above the base.

The height can also be adjusted with a bulldog clip for different roast amounts.

Cheers

[sdg]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

PS. Flipped your image around.... Seems that some compact digital cameras arent able to orientate landscape and portrait images properly (mine included) so you need to rotate them manually before you post them up.

Yes, I see what you mean -- the pic is on its side on the hard disk, so its on its side when I upload it -- Thanks for the fix

[sdg]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

Back to the coffee... profile graph follows...

To me it looks like it went too fast to FC. I am wondering could the bean temp be hotter than is being measured, because I got the 1st snaps of FC around 7:30 mins when the DMM was reading 190 C. The thermocouple was poked down a bit of fibreglass flex, along with a bit of fencing wire to keep it all stiff.

The wobbles between FC and SC was trying to back the heat off (using the HG dial), but went too far, temp started to *fall*, so wound the heat back up, overshot again, and so on.

Once you get a handle on how to fine tune your setup, youll be able to dictate the roast profile of every batch you do and thats when the real fun starts 8-).

Thats the aim! More practice! (more coffee!)

Think Ive got a ways to go tho -- well see how the beans are tomorrow 8-)

[sdg]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

Gosh, that laptop is old - can it cope with the one second updates from the DMM?

Yep. I dont attempt to run anything else tho ;D

[PhilMac]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

Gosh, that laptop is old - can it cope with the one second updates from the DMM?

Sorry, couldnt help myself

Cheers

[Dimal]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

Lookin good Simone.....

Once you get a handle on how to fine tune your setup, youll be able to dictate the roast profile of every batch you do and thats when the real fun starts 8-). Let us know how this batch turns out in a couple of days time. What was the profile this time around by the way? Might be able to help you fine tune things for next time.....

Mal.

P.S.
Flipped your image around.... Seems that some compact digital cameras arent able to orientate landscape and portrait images properly (mine included) so you need to rotate them manually before you post them up.

[sdg]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

And the final result -- 400g of Yirgacheffe Kochere -- a bit darker than Id intended -- around CS10 -- CS11?

Much more even than my spoon and dog-bowl attempts, though... and a lot less work ;D

[sdg]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

The brand new bean cooler -- ooops, looks like Ive also "borrowed" the Triton and the shed vacuum cleaner.

I contributed the box, the colander, and the wooden spoon! :

[edit]wasnt supposed to end up on its side -- wonder how I fix that?[/edit]

[sdg]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

My ancient Toshiba -- so ancient it actually has a RS232 port -- how handy

[sdg]

Re: My 1st Corretto (yet another one!)

In action...

[sdg]

Well finally acquired a BM -- good ol ebay -- an oldish Breville BB380.

So we baked a loaf of bread just for fun, then out onto the woodbox...

Seems I got really lucky with this buy -- it has a 25 minute (!) pasta knead setting -- no modding required! Hallalujah. Also the lid lifts off very conveniently (this might be normal for BMs -- Ive never owned one, so know nothing about them)

Already had the rest of the gear -- well the heat gun, DMM and datalogging software "belong" to my SO, hehe

So heres the setup...