Roasting Your Own

You know, I never realized that roasting coffee beans could be accomplished at home. Thanks to a tip from Amy at Raising Boys I've found a site that's worth passing on. It's all about roasting your own coffee!!

SkyIsland's Home Roasting Resources is full of roasting tips. One of the best tips takes you to the CoffeeBeanCoral for instructions on roasting coffee in a popcorn popper! I'm not kidding! Take a look!

"Roasting coffee is as easy as turning on the popper and dumping in the beans. First, however, there are some things to know about green coffee bean roasting. The temperatures at which coffee beans roast are very high, 350-425 degrees, so use appropriate precautions when handling the equipment and freshly roasted beans. Roasting coffee produces smoke and chaff (more on this later), and the darker the roast the more the smoke. If you have to roast inside you can use the range hood fan to facilitate in smoke removal. The chaff can be caught in a bowl. Ideally roasting outdoors or in the garage is best. Roasting in a popper, under ideal conditions, takes about 5 minutes from start to finish. The coffee bean goes through many changes as it roasts. It expands, oils form, and sugars caramelize giving us the characteristic tastes we love about coffee."

And this author goes on to explain techniques for good roasting results! They suggest using a few more kitchen tools to aid the process such as a "1/3 cup measuring cup for your green beans chaff collector, large mixing bowl (or an old coffee can) that fits under the edge of the popper cooling pan, glass or metal cake pan works well and "pulls" heat from the beans, especially if set in water or the fridge pot holder or oven mitt to handle the HOT lid."

In a nutshell, you need to know these steps before you roast:

• The beans come to temperatures between 425 and 460 degrees.
• The beans must be kept moving to avoid uneven roasting or scorching;
• The roasting must be stopped at the right moment and cooled promptly.
• Some provision must be made to vent the roasting smoke.

Also, it would be helpful to know some of the terms for different roasting levels. American coffee businesses describe these styles of roast:

• New England (light)
• American (medium)
• Viennese (slightly darker)
• French (still darker)
• Italian (still darker again)

Another set of roasting terms floating around is:

• Cinnamon (very light)
  The copyright of the article Roasting Your Own in Coffee is owned by Katherine Austinson. Permission to republish Roasting Your Own in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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