Who roasts their own coffee on their BBQ or Grill?

[noboundaries]

I love coffee, have since I was a kid delivering papers early mornings. Grew up on Folgers, then fell in love with coffee overseas when in the Navy. I've been searching for that perfect cup ever since, but for some reason I never considered roasting my own beans. I was perfectly happy buying roasted beans at the grocery store and grinding them for use.

Thanks to hillbillyjim and ljroller in a thread called Smoked Coffee, the seed of roasting my own beans was planted between my ears. I had no desire to buy an expensive coffee roaster, so I started watching YouTube videos about roasting coffee beans in a frying pan, plus dozens of other videos about home roasting coffee. Due to smoke and chaff, this is something you want to do outside. My gasser side burner was perfect.

All that was needed to home roast coffee was any type of frying pan, an infrared thermometer (and this isn't essential), something to stir the beans while roasting, a timer, and something to cool the beans quickly when they are done, like a fan and a strainer.

I had everything I needed except the beans. Went online to Amazon and purchased 3 lbs of unroasted, Nicaraguan, Single Ranch, Specialty beans from Primos Coffee Company. Price was $18.99, or $6.33/lb.

I've always liked a darker roast with an oily finish. Extremely dark French and Italian roasts, which I have consumed for years, have an oily finish. Then I learned that's how bad beans are roasted to be sold. I decided to try something just a little lighter with my own roasting. The beans are still dark brown, but not black, and they have a satin finish, not oily.

Roasting process: Preheat the pan to 350F on a gas grill side burner, or over a hot charcoal fire (looking forward to doing the charcoal thing), add the beans to your pan, start the timer, and stir continuously, watching for color changes, listening for 1st crack (popcorn popping sound), second crack (Rice Crispies snap), and the color you want on your beans. If things progress a little too quickly, just lift the pan off the heat and keep stirring.

The majority of the beans should crack between 6-8 minutes, as late as 9-10 minutes. A couple minutes later, the second crack sounds. When you see the color you want, turn off the heat and cool the beans quickly over a fan, putting them in a strainer or colander while you stir the beans. They cool in a couple minutes. Put the cool beans in a Ziplock bag, not completely sealed, and let them outgas CO2 for a few hours (4 to 48, depending who you're listening to). Grind what you need for a cup or pot of coffee, and enjoy.

First roast ever: 10/20/17. 1/2 cup of green beans and a small frying pan. I over heated my pan, scorched the beans, but still ended up with great tasting coffee. Total roasting time was 12 minutes, then another 3 minutes to cool. Beans were inconsistent in color from black to dark brown. Let them offgas for about 18 hours then ground enough for my single cup (12 oz) cone filtered coffee maker. Wow. Later, made an 8 oz cup in one of my three Italian Moka pots (3 cup, 6 cup, 9 cup, but they are espresso cups, like 2 oz each). Unbelievably rich and delicious, even with the scorching issue.

Picture of first roast. You can see the color inconsistency.



Second Roast ever, 10/21/17. Went to GoodWill and for $2.88 I purchased a 4" deep by 8" diameter, heavy duty pan and a wooden spatula. The deeper pan stopped me from splashing beans out of the pan while I stirred them. It worked like a charm.



I prepped everything I thought I'd need, but never used the gloves. I needed them with the frying pan, but not with this deeper pan.



Added 1 cup of green beans to a properly heated pan (took 1 min 20 seconds to reach 350F), then started stirring. Sorry, didn't get any pics of the beans turning color or cracking off the chaff. Everything happens pretty fast.



Total time on this roast was 15 minutes using this deeper pan and more beans. Result was a much more consistent color and roast. Can't wait to try them tomorrow morning.



1 cup of green beans weighed 6.25 oz. After roasted, they weighed 5.10 oz and measured almost 1 3/4 cups. Yes, the beans swell when roasted. That amount will last me probably 3 to 4 days. I usually have a 12 oz mug in the morning, and a 3 or 6 cup Moka pot in the early afternoon.

Beans in Ziplock, offgassing.



If you love coffee, and you have not tried roasting your own beans, give it a shot. It is SOOOO easy! The difference in taste is amazing.

Thank for hanging in there if you made it this far. Happy Roasting!

Ray

 

[wild west]

Thank you for posting this. My wife and i were talking about trying this a few days ago and you detailed post has inspired us to give this a try.

 

[noboundaries]

You're very welcome WW. Happy to help.

I brewed my coffee this morning with a Melita pour-over cone and filter. The "bloom" of freshly roasted and ground coffee when first hit with 200F water is WAAAAAY more active than ground store bought beans. I finished my mug of coffee 20 minutes ago, and can still savor the flavor, in a good way, not that stale "I gotta brush my teeth" way.

My wife, who is not a coffee drinker at all, took the mug out of my hand and took a sip. She went, "Yep, that's coffe....wow, that's not bitter at all." I might finally turn her into a coffee drinker.

Have fun roasting!

 

[noboundaries]

This morning was the first time I brewed a mug of the second batch of roasted coffee. Not only was it more evenly roasted, but it had "rested" for 40 hours prior to brewing. Same bean, completely different taste than the first batch. The second batch was smoother, sweeter (no sugar added), and richer tasting. The lingering aftertaste was lighter.

I've learned that roasting the same bean to different levels of roast will create different flavor profiles, and my first two experiences roasting coffee support that fact.

It is also interesting that the chaff which pops off the bean while roasting is called "silver skin" and that a "rest" period is required to maximize flavor. Familiar terminology for my grill and BBQ.

Next time I do jerky, I'll smoke some green and roasted beans in the WSM.

 

[noboundaries]

I'm sitting here sipping a mug of French press coffee from my third roast. I roasted it slightly lighter than the second roast to see how the flavor would change. The coffee people call the lighter roasts more acidic, which like fruit, is more tart. The flavors expand across the tongue differently than the darker roast, and is less sweet, but just as satisfying.

So why am I telling you this? Roasting coffee on my side burner reminds me of the first time I successfully smoked meat. For decades I ate restaurant BBQ substantially less satisfying than what I remember decades ago in South Texas. My first successful smoke with mesquite wood though, brought those South Texas BBQ memories rushing back to life on my tastebuds. I've been a smoking fool ever since, rarely spending money in BBQ restaurants.

The same thing has happened to me now with coffee, only the flavor memories were from wonderfully rich cups of coffee enjoyed ashore in Singapore and Kenya. The taste experience of those cups was so memorable I can still picture in detail the physical surroundings of those moments so long ago. I've bought roasted beans for decades at grocers, but I'm done with that now that I can roast my own and there's so much more flavor.

Thank you for reading. I'll switch back to posting about brisket, ribs, pork butt, and charcoal, but my coffee enjoyment has been forever changed by my BBQ's side burner, a pan, green beans, and a coffee grinder.

Happy smoking everyone!

Ray

 

[amlong88]

That's awesome! I've been using an old air popcorn popper. Works pretty well but they burn out quick. I like to take mine a little after second crack. With your instructions I'll be doing on the grill. Thank you!

 

[noboundaries]

That's awesome! I've been using an old air popcorn popper. Works pretty well but they burn out quick. I like to take mine a little after second crack. With your instructions I'll be doing on the grill. Thank you!

You're very welcome AL88! I've been sticking to roasting 1 cup of green beans just because I'm new and testing the flavor profiles available in the three pounds of green beans I purchased. I could probably increase my roast to 1 1/2 cups of green beans, maybe even a little more, but I'm in no hurry. I'm drinking more coffee than I have in a long time. 5 to 5 1/2 ounces of roasted coffee is only lasting me a couple days. I'll slow back down once I decide what I like best. In the meantime, there's a world of green coffee beans to roast.........literally!

I ordered 5 coffees from Sweet Maria's in Oakland. Two from Central America, one from South America, and two from Africa. Cost, including shipping, was $6.78/lb for 5 lbs. If you know a great place to get green beans, let me know.

Enjoy the pan roast.

 

[noboundaries]

My goodness, I've found another use for my outdoor grilling equipment that is just as addictive as smoking meat. I'm keeping spreadsheets and learning something with each roast. Once again, it is time, temperature, standing over the fire and stirring. The great thing is, when you have the process nailed down, you are done in 20-30 minutes from the point your brain says "I think I'll roast some coffee" to walking away from a paper bag filled with brown bean goodness that is outgassing CO2 for a couple days.

I've learned I'm not a medium roast guy. It tastes great, but I've decided I don't like the apple-like tartness the medium roasts deliver.

I always thought I was a dark French roast guy, but there's a roast level called Full City just before you get into the French roasts that is my new favorite. Without sugar, the coffee has a sweetness and chocolate taste that is amazing. Pan roasting coffee can give a bit of variation in color and roast, but the flavor balances out in the middle. I'm still experimenting with time and temps, but just like BBQ, the failures are delicious.

I've doubled my coffee intake since I started roasting my own beans. Now I have a mug in the morning, and another in the early afternoon. Occasionally I'll sneak in a third. So good. That three pound bag of green beans I started with has one more 8 oz roast left on it, then it will be gone.

Here's my first City to Full City roast. It took 24 minutes, which was too long, but it still tasted great.



Then here is the next roast that took 13.5 minutes as I adjusted my technique to get it in the 12-15 minute roast window I wanted. There's a little more color variation, with a range of Full City to Vienna (a light French roast). Can't wait to try it in a couple of days.

 

[noboundaries]

Still learning how to roast coffee. I thought learning to smoke meat was fascinating, but learning to roast coffee is like some illegal drug feeding my analytical personality.

It took me five "BBQ side burner with a deep pan and a wooden spatula" roasts to figure out how to get the beans to just the right roast profile I enjoy. I finished my 9th roast yesterday. In 30 minutes I can be done with prep, pre-heat, roast, cleanup, and have the roasted beans resting. I roast 8-8.5 oz of green beans at a time. A pound of green beans is lasting me 7-8 days with two brews a day.

What I have found most amazing is how the flavor of the bean changes for the first few days after being roasted. I could drink the Nicaraguan after 24 hours, but it was best between 48 and 72 hours, then it slowly kind of mellowed.

I just started roasting a Costa Rican bean this week. Hated it after 24 hours, very sour and astringent tasting. Tried it again at 48 and 54 hours; MUCH better, still just a tad sour tasting, but the flavor that had developed was incredible. I suspect the sour will be gone after 72-96 hours, but so will that roast of coffee. I roasted a second batch 24 hours after the first, so first brew will be between 72-96 hours of rest.

Here's the new process I'm using.
1. I take one of the iron grates from my gas grill and put it over my side burner. Doing so more evenly distributes the heat.
2. I pre-heat the pan seen in the picture above to 440-485F on the IR thermometer. Burner is on high.
3. Dump in the beans, start a phone timer, and slowly stir the beans. I use a kind of figure 8 pattern to keep the beans moving.
4. At 3 minutes on the timer I drop the burner heat to medium and start stirring the beans a little faster.
5. At 6 minutes on the timer I drop the burner heat to low and start stirring the beans more quickly. First "crack" usually happens close to this time.
6. I keep stirring the beans, listening for the end of the first crack, which usually happens around 10 minutes. I'll shoot the beans with the infrared and take a reading. The beans are usually around 400F at this point.
7. I keep stirring the beans, listening for the start of the second crack, which is like Rice Crispies. It usually happens around the 11-12 minute mark. I'm shooting the beans with the infrared every 30 seconds. My target is 425F bean temp.
8. Depending on your outside temp the beans usually hit my target between 13.5 and 15 minutes. I'm also watching the color of the beans. If I start seeing beans turn black, I'm done. At that point you are into the Light French roast stage, aka Vienna roast.
9. Then I pour the beans into a mesh colander, hold them over a fan set on high, and stir them quickly to cool the beans and stop the roast. Takes just 2-3 minutes.
10. Then I rest the beans in an open Ziplock bag for 24 hours before transferring to a clean jar with a loose lid to allow offgassing. Seal it up after 72 hours or so.
11. Grind just before use, drink and enjoy.

The temps I mentioned above work for me. Temps I've found on the Internet are all OVER the place, from way lower to way higher. Mine are closer to what I've found on Wikipedia.

So far I've tried green beans from Amazon (supplied by Primos Coffee Company in Texas), and Sweet Maria's in Oakland, CA. They have roasted quite similar to each other. I'm getting another 5 lb batch today from Amazon (supplied by Smokin' Beans Coffee Company in Louisville, GA). I need to start making Christmas gifts. I make a Mexican Coffee Liqueur and will roast my own Mexican coffee beans for this year's liqueur.

Roasted Costa Rican beans from my latest batch:

 

[dcarch]

Make life easier and your roast more consistent. Use a rotisserie. No more stirring.

dcarch

 

[noboundaries]

Make life easier and your roast more consistent. Use a rotisserie. No more stirring.
dcarch

No doubt. I have a rotisserie for my old gasser, but the mounts have disappeared so I'd have to make something. If roasting coffee took, say, an hour, I'd already have concocted something, but 12-15 minutes is nothing. I like watching the beans change colors, hearing the cracks, and finding the proper time to stop using the IR therm. My color variations have become much more consistent.

 

[dcarch]

No doubt. I have a rotisserie for my old gasser, but the mounts have disappeared so I'd have to make something. If roasting coffee took, say, an hour, I'd already have concocted something, but 12-15 minutes is nothing. I like watching the beans change colors, hearing the cracks, and finding the proper time to stop using the IR therm. My color variations have become much more consistent.

I can roast at least one pound each time.

dcarch

 

[noboundaries]

Yep, that's the drawback to pan roasting. 10 oz seems to be the most I can do with my current pan and still get an even roast.

 

[tallbm]

Wow great thread and super fascinating!!!!

I read the whole thread and I don't even drink coffee, no caffeine for me basically any time of day or I will NEVER get to sleep hahaha. I would love to make this as a gift though.

There is a company called Christopher Bean that roasts the beans when you order. On their bag they have a little roast meter identifying the type of roast (light, dark, etc.) with the temp the beans are roasted to. It seems they go to 428F for a lot of their flavored and regular type flavored coffee. Their bags/flavors with the the temp on them may give you some ideas for other coffee types and flavors you may shoot for :)

Anyhow, on to my questions.

1. Have you ground any beans and let the grinds sit a week or so to see how the flavors do?
2. Do you see any issue with me grinding the beans in my Magic Bullet with the grinder blade? I read online it should be no issue but I don't know if these beans would be any harder or different.
3. Have you gotten into any beans that have really sweet or fruity flavors? I read that Costa Rican beans can taste chocolaty and Ethiopian beans taste buttery.

Thanks for the input and again, wonderful topic!!!

 

[tallbm]

Wow just read an interesting article on Ethiopian beans from the Yirgacheffe region and how wet processing vs natural (dry) processing has a major difference in the bean's flavor outcome.

In short natural (dry) processed Yirgacheffe Ethiopian beans are very fruity and flavorful where the wet processed ones are described with words like "floral", "citrus notes", "delicate", etc.

I guess this starts to answer some of my bean flavor questions. I ask because this particular person likes fruit flavored coffees and the process of flavoring coffees seems to be quite involved and uses any number of chemicals to do the trick.

Here's that article for a good read :)
https://beanbox.co/blog/ethiopian-coffee-yirgacheffe/

 

[noboundaries]

Wow great thread and super fascinating!!!!

I read the whole thread and I don't even drink coffee, no caffeine for me basically any time of day or I will NEVER get to sleep hahaha. I would love to make this as a gift though.

There is a company called Christopher Bean that roasts the beans when you order. On their bag they have a little roast meter identifying the type of roast (light, dark, etc.) with the temp the beans are roasted to. It seems they go to 428F for a lot of their flavored and regular type flavored coffee. Their bags/flavors with the the temp on them may give you some ideas for other coffee types and flavors you may shoot for :)

Anyhow, on to my questions.

1. Have you ground any beans and let the grinds sit a week or so to see how the flavors do?
2. Do you see any issue with me grinding the beans in my Magic Bullet with the grinder blade? I read online it should be no issue but I don't know if these beans would be any harder or different.
3. Have you gotten into any beans that have really sweet or fruity flavors? I read that Costa Rican beans can taste chocolaty and Ethiopian beans taste buttery.

Thanks for the input and again, wonderful topic!!!

Here's what I've learned about beans to answer your questions:
1. Prior to roasting my own coffee, I always bought unground beans at the grocery store then ground them at home as needed in my Cuisinart burr grinder. Occasionally, I would grind enough for the week so I wouldn't wake my wife up. I could tell slight difference in the taste, but not enough to worry about. I was happy with the results.

Flash forward to roasting my own. I still have some of the ground, store-bought beans in my airtight container and use it when it is too early to grind coffee and my wife is still sleeping. There is such a HUGE difference in the taste of those ground store-bought beans and the fresh roasted, freshly ground beans. The store-bought beans don't "bloom" anywhere near as nicely as freshly ground beans. Freshly ground beans release a lot of gas at the bloom. Older, ground beans just kind of get wet. That gas in the bean at the bloom is an indicator of flavor extraction.

Roasted, unground beans stay fresh for up to three weeks from the date they are roasted. Freshly roasted beans that have been ground start losing flavor almost immediately, but start going flat and stale after 12 hours. Since I've started roasting my own, I grind before each brew. Sometimes I grind a little more than I need, and just leave the extra in the catch bin of my Cuisinart burr grinder, which is semi-airtight. When I mix it with freshly ground beans for the next roast, which could be 6-15 hours later, I really haven't noticed a difference in taste.

2. Magic bullet? Should work fine, just don't let the beans heat up a lot when grinding.

3. Differences in beans. I'm too new to roasting to really comment on the flavor differences between the beans. I do know for a fact that the same bean, roasted to different levels, will taste different due to the Maillard reaction, which is the chemical reaction of amino acids, proteins, and sugars in the beans to heat, which includes caramelization of sugars at higher temps. The 428F you mentioned above is about what I do, which is a Full City roast. It still allows the origin of the bean to be present, and includes flavors from the roast, or Maillard reaction.

How you brew it will also impact flavor. I brew one of three ways. 1) Pour-over, flow-thru coffee tastes lightest. 2) French press brewed for 4 minutes tastes a little heavier. 3) Moka pot tastes the strongest of the three and brings out the true complexity of the roasted bean, but it is rich. I usually have a Moka pot about every other day. I actually like it the best compared to espresso, Greek, and Turkish brewing.

I roasted the 3 lbs of Nicaraguan beans to six different levels, the mildest being a cinnamon roast, the darkest being a Vienna roast, or light French. The Nicaraguan beans I roasted were quite acidic, which I felt in my stomach. They tasted great across the range of roasts, with the acidity dropping off the darker I roasted them. They did have a chocolate tone at the Full City roast level, which is just before they start to blacken. I liked the taste, but not the stomach issues. I probably won't buy them again due to the acidity.

The only other beans I've roasted so far are Costa Rican. I've roasted two batches to Full City. After a 96 hour rest, then ground, the coffee is smooth, not acidic, and very uniform tasting in a pour-over. In the moka pot they taste amazing, very rich. I haven't done a French press brew with them yet. I'll do that for my afternoon brew today.

The Nicaraguan beans would drape different flavors across your taste buds with each sip, not so the Costa Rican. The flavor is more toffee-like than chocolate, slightly sweet, and has a very constant flavor. I'd buy the Costa Rican again in a heartbeat.

I've got beans from 5 more countries to try (Guatemala, Brazil, Burundi, Rwanda, and Mexico). Roasting beans from different countries is a lot like smoking different cuts of meat. It's fun to find what you like best.

 

[tallbm]

I bought 2 pounds of 100% ETHIOPIA YIRGACHEFFE GR1 naturally processed green beans. I know I PM'ed you about it but wanted to go ahead and mention it here as well. I'll give this a shot and share my experiences with everyone. :)

 

[noboundaries]

Good for you! I watched a "cupping" test recently on YouTube and those Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans are supposedly the best tasting in the world that are readily available. I needed to add that clarification because there are some insanely expensive green coffees that command up to $350/lb.

 

[noboundaries]

Resting the coffee after roasting. There seems to be a debate among home roasters on the Internet about the need to rest coffee after roasting. Personally, there's no debate; the coffee needs to rest, and different coffees need to rest different lengths of time. I've only roasted two types of coffee (Nicaraguan and Costa Rican), but I've been recording taste and length of time since roasted each time I make a brew. The taste definitely improves with the rest

I've started drinking my coffee 21 to 24 hours after the beans are roasted. The Nicaraguan beans needed a 48-72 hour rest period for the flavor to fully develop, but there wasn't a huge difference in taste between 24 and 72 hours, just an improvement.

This latest batch of Costa Rican coffee has proven to me how important the rest period is after you roast the coffee. 24 hours after being roasted, I HATED the taste of the Costa Rican coffee. I almost couldn't finish the first mug I made. I made a note on my spreadsheet not to buy it again. It was sour and off-tasting, very astringent, almost like sucking on a lemon, without the lemon flavor. The aftertaste lasted for hours, and it was not pleasant.

By 48 hours the taste had improved and the sour astringency had decreased, but it was still present.

At 72 hours the coffee was significantly better, just a hint of sourness.

Then I hit 96 hours. Wow. The coffee tasted amazing. No sourness at all. Just great, smooth flavor.

If you roast your own coffee, definitely let it rest before you brew. It can make a significant difference in taste.

 

[browneyesvictim]

This is real interesting Ray. I have never considered roasting my own coffee as worth the trouble or mess. I guess I thought there was a lot more sophisticated equipment required than a pan, wooden spoon and a strainer. This has definitely peaked my curiosity and I just might have to give it a try. I'm definitely a coffee lover as we have discussed before (except I don't miss the Navy coffee one bit!) I make my coffee in a French press during the work week. MUCH better than brewed coffee, and has led me to become a bit of a bean snob and cant tolerate "bad" coffee. I have a Moka pot, but find it is real inconvenient and only makes a small cup of joe. I need to fill my bubba mug before I go to work so 6-8 oz at a time doesn't work for me.

Now the Mrs. loves her coffee too, but she does the Cappuccinos and Latté's made with espresso shots. I cant tell you how many home espresso makers we have been trough over the last several years! Most of them really are really an insult to espresso and not very convenient to use! This results in daily trips to the coffee hut down the road at $4 to $5 a whack! That is, until Christmas last year... Santa got her a Krupps Fully Automatic. Now THAT has been a game changer for enjoying good espresso and coffee. It wasn't cheap but way better than the Coffee Hut bill was!

The moral of this story is that we have learned that WHAT you make your coffee in and HOW you make it, makes all the difference in the ability to enjoy and recognize good coffee. By the way, Dillanos and Lavazza are our go-to's lately for pre-roasted beans. So this bean roasting thing just might be worthwhile to give it a shot. Any recommendations on a green bean to start with that might be more forgiving?