Who roasts their own coffee on their BBQ or Grill?

[noboundaries]

Oh, and one more coffee hack for sour tasting coffee. If the grid I posted in #112 above doesn't work, try adding a little baking soda to the grounds before brewing. I just tried it on a different sour tasting coffee I roasted last week and it took away a lot of that mouth puckering, long-lasting, sour aftertaste. Tomorrow, I'll add just a little more baking soda (NOT BAKING POWDER!) to see if it eliminates the little sourness that is left.

Don't use a lot. If you are making a 12 cup pot, all it takes is 1/4 teaspoon. If you're only making 16 oz, like I do, it's just a pinch. You'll have to experiment to see what works.

Coffee is acidic, about a 5 on the PH scale. 7 is neutral. Baking soda is base with a PH of 9. Assuming the coffee isn't under extracted or brewed at too low a temperature, Quinic and Caffeic acids in darker roasts can make coffee taste sour. I like darker roasts. What the heck, I tried the baking soda and it worked!

Baking soda is a salt, so if you are on a low salt diet for high blood pressure, might need to skip this hack.

 

[noboundaries]

Next effort after post #119 using the Dutch Oven/Colander/Covers set up, but THIS time I threaded a Mav meat probe through the colander handle and into the beans. I could monitor the rise in temp of the beans and controlled my heat better. I preheated the set up to 425F, added the beans (8 oz of green Costa Rica Chirippo), put the covers on, and hit the timer.

It was SOOOO easy to monitor the temp of the beans.
1. The first crack came along at around 9:30 on the timer.
2. The first crack proceeded slower than in the straight pan roast method.
3. I shook the setup a lot more often closer to the end of the roast.
4. When I saw 434F on the Mav, I started to hear the first hints of the second crack. I turned off the heat and took the colander out of the DO. I just tossed the beans in the colander until they cooled a bit, then held them over the fan to blow off the chaff. Total roast time was 13:30.

Lookie what I got! The result looks BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! Even roast, no scorching, and it was very easy to find the bad beans, called "quakers." I tossed them. It's a little darker than what shows up in the photo, but not much. It pretty much matches what's on Sweet Maria's website for 434F bean temp, a City+ roast level.

This is how I'll roast my coffee from now on! I'm not waiting four days to start brewing this batch. I'm going to brew 16oz mug on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to see how the flavor changes as it rests. It's always fun to have an experiment work. Fun, fun, fun!

 

[tallbm]

That looks awesome! I think I may have to brew a batch here soon. I'll have to stick to the old pan roasting method but I'm watching your trials very closely to see how I can improve :)

 

[noboundaries]

I'm now starting to do my own blends and am having improved results. Coffees that were good on their own, but didn't knock my socks off, are great for blending with other roasted coffees.

As a background, I rate my roasted coffees by origin/farm/co-op on a scale of 1-10. Coffees I love: 10. Undrinkable: 1.

I had a Columbian (8) from Sweet Maria's, that on its own was nice, but pretty light tasting. It was roasted darker than your average coffee, but not black like a French roast.

A Mexican Organic (3), I bought green off Amazon, had a sour taste I just could not eliminate no matter what I tried (roast level, salt, baking soda, etc). It tasted decent roasted to a dark level, called a Light Vienna, then brewed in a moka pot and consumed with cream and sugar. I'm trying to get away from sugar and this wasn't helping.

Finally I had a Costa Rica Chirippo (7) I showed above I bought from Sweet Maria's. It was delicious, but lacked the body I like in a cup. The Costa Rica was my second roast using the Dutch Oven/Colander/Maverick method. It was roasted a little too light for my tastes. The Mexican and Columbian were both roasted more dark. What the heck, lets play with this.

Yesterday I started blending scoops of the three coffee beans above, by weight, in a bowl. 16 gr each of the Columbian and Mexican; 8 gr of the Chirippo. 40 grams total for 16 oz of water. Stir the beans together and then grind them.

The flavor is a noticeable improvement over each of the beans on their own. I am rating the blend an 8. It has more body and complexity, plus it toned down the sour aftertaste of the Mexican. I only share this not for you to duplicate my results with the beans I used, but to suggest you try blending your own for coffees you're not crazy about. It makes a difference.

 

[noboundaries]

I now have 14 roasts under my belt using the method I described in post #119. I'm basically getting the same roast consistency as a $1600 drum roaster. Sure, it's a little more labor intensive than fill and dump, but we're talking a 5 minute set up, a 4 minute pre-heat, a 16 minute shake n roast (shaking about every 10 seconds), a 5 minute cool down, and a five minute weigh and equipment storage process. 35 minutes total.

My new favorite final temp range is 454-464F. The roast comes out dark with just a hint of brown at 454F. The sour tastes are gone. The rich, bittersweet chocolate tastes are wonderful, and there's no burnt flavor like I've tasted from dark roast, store bought beans.

I'm on track to roast 40-45 lbs of green coffee annually, roasting every 5-6 days. Costa Rica and African coffees are my favorites. When I look at Sweet Maria's for coffees, I use the "nut and cocoa" flavor profile, then usually pick up the least expensive, buying 10 lbs at a time. Most of my orders include one 10 lb coffee, and a few 2 lb packages of other coffees for experimentation. Shipping is minimal ($9) to my location for up to 20 lbs.

I go to sleep each night thinking about my coffee the next morning. I look forward to it that much.

 

[tallbm]

I now have 14 roasts under my belt using the method I described in post #119. I'm basically getting the same roast consistency as a $1600 drum roaster. Sure, it's a little more labor intensive than fill and dump, but we're talking a 5 minute set up, a 4 minute pre-heat, a 16 minute shake n roast (shaking about every 10 seconds), a 5 minute cool down, and a five minute weigh and equipment storage process. 35 minutes total.

My new favorite final temp range is 454-464F. The roast comes out dark with just a hint of brown at 454F. The sour tastes are gone. The rich, bittersweet chocolate tastes are wonderful, and there's no burnt flavor like I've tasted from dark roast, store bought beans.

I'm on track to roast 40-45 lbs of green coffee annually, roasting every 5-6 days. Costa Rica and African coffees are my favorites. When I look at Sweet Maria's for coffees, I use the "nut and cocoa" flavor profile, then usually pick up the least expensive, buying 10 lbs at a time. Most of my orders include one 10 lb coffee, and a few 2 lb packages of other coffees for experimentation. Shipping is minimal ($9) to my location for up to 20 lbs.

I go to sleep each night thinking about my coffee the next morning. I look forward to it that much.

I think you have talked me into getting the Kaldi with all of this information hahaha. It will just have to wait though. Coffee roasting is at the end of my to-do list based on my current priorities :(
The info you post though is super valuable and thanks!!! :)

 

[noboundaries]

That Kaldi is one cool looking roaster. And the price is definitely better for the home roaster than others I've seen. I like that you can use it for darker roasts, too. A lot of the inexpensive roasters available for the home roaster are not for darker roasts.

 

[tallbm]

That Kaldi is one cool looking roaster. And the price is definitely better for the home roaster than others I've seen. I like that you can use it for darker roasts, too. A lot of the inexpensive roasters available for the home roaster are not for darker roasts.

Yeah I think it will allow me to do whatever I need to get done without me going too crazy. The idea is to produce good consistent roasts with a lower amount of effort. Beyond that is too much as you would probably agree. Look at what you are doing with a little time and household items :)

 

[rexster314]

I stumbled on this post last week. Coffee roasting always seemed "exotic" to me and have wanted to try it for some time. I purchased a stainless steel roasting drum on eBay, modified it to fit my rotisserie spit on my Kitchenaid gas grill and have been having success. I bought some green Kona beans last week and was able to get to roasting them today.

 

[KonaLance]

I

 

[KonaLance]

I like that !
I live in the middle of 2 Kona coffee farms, I will have to hit up my neighbours for some green coffee.
Are you pretty happy with rotisserie setup ?
i just looked on ebay and cannot find a drum, do you have a link to the one you found.

Yeah I think it will allow me to do whatever I need to get done without me going too crazy. The idea is to produce good consistent roasts with a lower amount of effort. Beyond that is too much as you would probably agree. Look at what you are doing with a little time and household items :)

 

[rexster314]

My bad. I got it off Amazon.

 

[KonaLance]

My bad. I got it off Amazon.

Awesome
Thank you

 

[rexster314]

I had to take my Dremel to the spit opening on each end and enlarge it to twice it's original size to fit my spit rod

 

[noboundaries]

Those baskets for the rotisserie to use on the gas grill go FAST whenever someone gets them in stock. There are lots of cheap, small baskets available, but the ones like rexster has get bought out in a hurry online.

 

[noboundaries]

I have started playing with mixing roasts; say 50% medium roast and 50% dark roast, then mixing them together. Kind of stumbled upon the process by accident back in early September. I was roasting a Costa Rican coffee that was pretty good, but rather simple tasting. I intended to take it to the Light Vienna stage, which is just before the dark French roast. I received a phone call I had to take, so I stopped the roast at the medium stage (425F bean temp) and handled the call. I then roasted another batch and took it to the Light Vienna stage (462F bean temp). After resting both batches for four days I mixed a grind 50/50 of the medium and dark, then made a mug of coffee. It was much more complex tasting than the bean roasted to one temperature alone. I've been mixing batches 50% medium and 50% dark ever since.

I've been buried with chores, work, and the arrival of our first grandchild (Mason) for the last three weeks. No time to roast coffee, so today, when I was at my grocer, Winco, I bought a bag of their Mexican French and their Ethiopian medium out of their bulk bins. I like them both alone, but when mixed together, so much better!

Just food for thought if you enjoy roasting or grinding your own coffee.

 

[rexster314]

I've moved on from my first roasting drum to this one

I got it last month. Heavier stainless, no hot spots and easier to load and empty. I also have added this rotisserie motor. Adjustable speed from 3rpm to 55rpm.

Previously it took about 25 minutes to roast a pound of coffee, now it's about 17 minutes and no scorching or hot spots.

 

[noboundaries]

Great looking drum. Like the baffles to mix it up inside.

 

[browneyesvictim]

That looks like an excellent setup Rexter. Man, I wish I could do a pound at a time.

Ray- in all fairness of disclosure... The Mrs. and I decided our Christmas present to each other this year was to get ourselves a coffee bean roaster. (I swear it was actually her idea!) We have done about a half a dozen 1/2 lb batches in our new Gene Café. Love this thing so far! Much more even roasts and no stirring the pot!

 

[noboundaries]

Ray- in all fairness of disclosure... The Mrs. and I decided our Christmas present to each other this year was to get ourselves a coffee bean roaster. (I swear it was actually her idea!) We have done about a half a dozen 1/2 lb batches in our new Gene Café. Love this thing so far! Much more even roasts and no stirring the pot!

Erik, what a great little roaster! 8 oz of green coffee roasts down to about 6.4 oz of roasted coffee the way I do it. That lasts me just under 5 days. That baby would get a workout, but would be so much easier than the process I use now.

I'm debating either replacing my rusted out gasser elements and doing drum roasting like rexster, or getting an electric drum roaster I can put over my gasser's side burner. My wife will go for either if it gives her a Christmas present idea.