Coffee Bean Roaster Guide
Granted you could make it easier on yourself and get out the door by rushing to the nearest coffee hub, grab one to go and be off on your merry way. However, that tends to get costly, and you could be spending quite a bit for a little convenience.
If instead, you were to try home roasting your coffee, you will certainly be guaranteed that you can get the roast you want while significantly reducing the price you would normally pay for whole bean or pre-ground coffee. Not only that you would be avoiding coffee that goes dull in taste over time since green coffee beans don’t degrade in taste as fast as roasted beans.
While it may seem like the process would take a lot of time, it usually only averages a couple of minutes to get your coffee beans to the roast that’s most common for coffee drinkers. You can find green, un-roasted coffee beans online at popular hubs like Amazon or even at your local Costco super-mart. There are even some coffee shops that might be willing to sell you green coffee beans for a reasonable price as well.
Four Ways to Roast Your Coffee Beans
- Popcorn Popper
- Stove-top popper
- Conventional oven
- Coffee bean roaster appliance
There are methods for the D.I.Y.ers, and there are appliances that will ensure your coffee beans are roasted properly each time. If you choose to opt out of an appliance and give it a go with your popcorn popper at home, these are some easy techniques, with a little practice, that will help you achieve the perfect roast.
The air popper method (Popcorn Popper) is usually the most recommended process by experienced home roasters. You’ll want to ensure that your popper is placed near a well-ventilated area in case all does not go as planned and have a good light handy so you can watch the process unfold.
You would start by pouring the beans into the chamber, placing a bowl under the chute to catch chafe and turning on the popper after placing the plastic hood and butter dish in place. Listen for the first ‘crack.’ Normally this occurs after about three minutes, and you’ll want to closely monitor your beans, lifting the butter dish to check the smells that the beans give off. Depending on how dark you want your roast, you should take note of the different smells to adjust to your roast tastes.
It normally takes just about four minutes to get a dark roast so stay vigilant with your beans until they’re roasted to the desired amount and make sure to empty the coffee beans from the popper before turning it off else you might get burnt ones instead. Let the beans cool in a colander, mixing them with a large spoon to speed the process up and then seal them in an airtight container in a dark area until at least twelve hours later. Once you’ve opened it up for the first time since the day before, you’ll smell the freshest coffee you’ve ever had, and it will taste that much better too.
Coffee Bean Roaster Appliances
If these steps still don’t sound too appealing, it certainly doesn’t mean you should miss out on fresh coffee. To roast your own beans without the hassle, there’re some nice models of coffee roasters that will do the job in a jiffy and keeps the process easy and painless. A few models that have come highly rated and are guaranteed to keep your convenience in mind:
• Fresh Roast SR500: This is a very simple unit to use and it’s the cheaper model listed. It has great visibility which helps keep in check with your roast; it’s also rated to be the quietest, and it has an automatic chafe collector to keep clean up to a minimum. The only real downside is that it does need to be stirred while on a high fan setting, but a little stirring is a small price to pay for what all that the unit comes with. It is also given a one-year warranty to add peace of mind with parts made available even after the warranty expires.
• Nesco Coffee Roaster: This is a good roaster if you’re a fan of the lighter roasts. It has an integrated smoke-free setup and is relatively easy to use. However, it has been known to bake beans when left in for too long so be sure to watch your roasts when using this unit. This unit has a one-year manufacturer’s warranty but once your warranty expires the unit will not have any parts made available for repairs if something breaks.
• Behmor 1600: This lovely unit is a drum-styled roaster that gives consumers more control over their roast and even comes with an eight-pound batch of green coffee beans included with the machine. The keypad comes with four preset roasting times and is the only unit that’s capable of roasting up to a whole pound of coffee beans at a time.
The Behmore also comes with a self-clean cycle, quiet roasting to allow consumers to hear cracking in beans and has a catalytic motor to reduce smoke excessively. The downsides are that it has a hard time processing heavier chafed beans and will have a harder time doing darker roasts. It is also the most expensive unit in this list, but the costs are well worth it for the convenience. In addition to all these features, the Behmor 1600 comes with a one-year warranty and will also have parts available after the warranty expires.
However, it’s easy for good coffee to be ruined by an inferior coffee maker. All that hard work should be tasted with a machine that will be able to compliment the roast and freshness you achieved the day prior. Luckily, it’s not hard to find the best coffee maker that will do the job without sacrificing convenience. Check out our coffee maker or espresso machine reviews if you need help with your search.
Conclusion
Coffee can be a wonderful experience that can make your day start out great while not ruining your budget just to enjoy coffee that tastes on par if not better than commercial shops. The best coffee maker combined with your own home roasted coffee will add a little more satisfaction with every sip taken knowing that the combination will be one that you and your family will enjoy.