Roasting Coffee Beans at
Home
There are two types of home coffee bean
roasters available, the heat drum and fluid bed. The fluid
bed roasters are the most popular because they are to clean and
maintain, and are relatively inexpensive.
Roasting beginners love the fluid bed type
roaster because they are easy to use. The average roasting time
is between seven and twenty minutes. The roasting chambers are
made of glass, which is pretty nifty because you can watch the
roasting process take place, then stop the machine when the
coffee beans have reached your desired doneness. A batch of
roasted beans yields between 8 – 20 cups, this of course
depends if you want a light roast or a deep dark
roast.
Models like FreshRoasts, Hearthware I-Roast,
or Zach and Dani’s range in price from seventy dollars to
one-hundred and seventy dollars. A good point to remember about
these roasters is that they are not made for commercial use, so
read all the operation instructions very carefully. There is a
set cool down period between roasting processes as to not
damage the roaster, or cause voltage problems in your house. It
is also a good idea to roast your coffee beans under some kind
of ventilation system, all roaster exude a certain amount of
smoke, therefore it is just a safe practice to do so. A
If you drink lots of coffee and enjoy roasting your own coffee
beans then the Bravi model is the machine for you as it has a
higher roasting capacity and is more closely related to the
commercial type models.
The roasting process itself is a relatively
easy procedure. Roasters contain three working
components, the chaff collector, roasting chamber, and the
heated base. Depending on the size of your roasting chamber
bean portions will vary. Place the coffee beans in the roasting
chamber, replace the chaff collector, set your timer to desired
cooking time, remove the chaff collector, carefully lift out
the roasting chamber as it will still be hot, dump your beans
into a bowl, Let set to room temperature, then package the
coffee beans in an airtight container for later use.
Roasting coffee beans at home is fun,
inexpensive, and let’s you grind and experiment with your own
blends. Just what every coffee fanatic needs.
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