Who roasts their own coffee on their BBQ or Grill?

[illini40]

Illini40, how's the roasting going? Yea? Nay?

Unfortunately, the beans I ordered are still sitting in the cabinet. I just haven’t made the time to try roasting them. Still on my radar as something I need to do!

 

[noboundaries]

All in due time. I find it a little harder to roast in the Winter. Had a nice sunny day yesterday so banged out a pound of Ethiopian. The African beans are good to grind and brew with minimal rest, like 8-12 hours. The Central America, South America, and Indonesian roasted beans, if grown in that 1000-1500 meter range, develop fully with a 2-4 day rest in my experience. The longer rest after roasting requires a tad more planning so I don't run out.

 

[Ishi]

After years of grinding beans I’m getting more and more picky on what brands I buy. These steps sound easy enough. Thanks for the thread and I’ll let you know how it goes if and when I try it.

 

[noboundaries]

You're welcome, Ishi. It is easy and beyond satisfying. Be careful, though, it can become obsessive.

Like you, I ground my own store-bought roasted beans for decades. It was delicious, but never obsessive. Then I roasted my own beans. I immediately noticed a huge difference in the taste. With experience, I learned to recognize the flavor profiles and origins I love from the supplier's cupping descriptions (Sweet Maria's in Oakland, CA). That's when the obsession set in. I literally go to bed at night and imagine the taste of coffee in the morning.

The Japanese have their tea ceremony. I have my morning coffee ceremony, doing pour-over 90% of the time. Heck, I have pour over Melitta cones older than my adult daughters. I haven't owned a coffee machine for decades. The other 10% of the time I brew coffee with one of three Italian moka pots.

The obsession involves the roast level, grind level, grind amount, water temp, bloom time, proper stir method, and extraction time based on the grind level. I don't use any timers, just experience. And that first sip of coffee is pure nirvana.

Like BBQ, a first roast is never perfect, but it reveals the possibilities.

 

[noboundaries]

I finished a 5 lb bag of green beans a few weeks ago that I absolutely HATED! It was mouth-puckering, sour-tasting, with a horrible aftertaste. I could make it palatable with a few brewing techniques too numerous to mention, but it was the first time in three years of coffee roasting I experienced such a negative response from my home roasted coffee. Sure, I've had a few less than great 5 lb bags, but could always improve the flavor by changing grind size or extraction time. I had to figure out the issue on this one coffee to avoid buying something similar in the future.

One of the great things about Sweet Maria's coffee is they provide a flavor wheel for each green coffee they sell. Whenever I order coffee, I always save a screen-shot of the flavor wheels in my order. Below are the flavor wheels of a few coffees I absolutely loved and the single one (last shown) I hated. See the flavor element culprit? I will avoid ordering all coffees with that one character in the future. Sure, it's a personal preference. Some folks may love an element that strong, but not me.

Coffees I loved.

And the one I absolutely hated.

 

[rexster314]

I've never heard of such a way to roast coffee. I will definitely have to try it!

We roast our own on our Kitchenaid grill about every two months

 

[noboundaries]

I'm up to roasting 22 ounces of green coffee with my current setup. Lasts me about 3 weeks max. Could probably get another 2-3 ounces of green coffee roasted but it wouldn't all fit in my storage container since roasted coffee expands in size.

One thing I've started doing recently is stirring my hot roasted coffee in the roasting pan for 2 to 3 minutes before I stir it over a fan to cool. The hot stirring really evens out the color, especially if I'm blending coffees from different regions in the roasting pan.

 

[bill1]

Just discovering this thread...does anyone have experience with the $100 Chinese roasters? The small $20 rice cookers have certainly reduced my potato consumption! These aren't quite set-and-forget, and they're not quite $20 . You'll still need a fan and a couple colanders to deal with the chaff/husks afterwards, but it looks easier than the alternatives. There's popcorn poppers, but this thread has taught me importance of roast uniformity and the value of steady stirring.

 

[noboundaries]

does anyone have experience with the $100 Chinese roasters?

No experience, but Walmart has them on sale right now on their website for $66.64. For that price, Bill, you could become the Chinese roaster expert!

 

[bill1]

...Walmart has them on sale right now on their website for $66.64...

All I'm seeing is a $109 version that's 220Vac only. Do you have a link? I might seriously take the plunge.

 

[noboundaries]

Here you go. Comes up with a weird link. Deleted.

 

[noboundaries]

When I search Walmart Coffee Roaster the $66 one pops up on my phone.

 

[bill1]

When I search Walmart Coffee Roaster the $66 one pops up on my phone.

I see a couple rotisserie drum-based units for that price but you still have to provide a burner for heat. The one listing implies it would work with Sterno "canned heat" underneath.

My gas grill rotisserie is a slow-turner (not ideal for coffee beans) so this isn't a bad price for a basket and rotisserie if its a fast-turner...I could adapt it to my gas grill...would be a fun little project...but I don't want to do that much setup every 4 days when it's time to prepare another batch of coffee. The all-electric stirred-pan-based ones (like in this link) require less than a cubic foot of storage space and only a half-hour total time commitment--like using a popcorn popper but with better/consistent quality.

Then again, they make VERY small gas grills for apartments. I could see a dedicated coffee roaster in my future...if only we had the patio space. Alas my wife doesn't think a classy patio consists of a wide range of cooking gadgets.

 

[noboundaries]

only a half-hour total time commitment

I've watched a YouTube video on that coffee roaster. 30 minutes for a roast is about 10 minutes beyond the max I see recommended for the best flavor. Too slow a roast can create off-flavors from "baked coffee."

I found this online for baked coffee. Baked Coffee. This defect occurs when coffee is heated for too long without reaching first crack. You may hear this referred to as “stalling” the roast. Unfortunately, this defect is invisible. It results in a distinctive flat flavour with little sweetness, often described as bread-like or papery. Baked coffee is only recognisable by taste.

Edit: My roasts last between 11min and 15min total. Wind can push me out to 16-18 mins from heat loss.

The first crack (light popcorn popping sound) generally starts between 8-10 minutes. When I was pan-roasting only 8 oz of green coffee it was around 6 minutes.

The second crack (the sound of Rice Krispies when you add milk) is my indicator I'm about to stop the roast. I rarely go more than 5-15 seconds into the second crack.

You can easily start roasting coffee and learn A LOT, with an electric hot plate, a saucepan, and a wooden spoon to stir while roasting. Preheat your pan, add the green beans, start stirring, and hit the timer on your phone. You can see the color changes of the beans, see and hear the cracks, and easily decide when you're finished roasting. Great coffee can be easily pan-roasted.

 

[bill1]

...30 minutes for a roast is about 10 minutes beyond the max...

I meant 30 minutes from the time I step out onto the patio (a couple times per week) to the time I step back in with finished product. So I'd want that to include setup, preheat, de-chaff, cleanup, and packaging in addition to the actual roasting.

Saturday I went free-range at Lowe's and found a cheap 18" wide gasser for $150 and a gorgeous SST one for $320...but when I brought up the idea of setting up a dedicated roasting area in our patio at a family gathering Sunday I received nothing but negative comments...even worse than most of my ideas receive. Instead I was given some light-roast and directed to a local roaster...like I'm some crazy old Man...but what fun is that?

So my roasting plans are on hold for a while until this negativity storm passes.

Thanks Ray, for sharing your general knowledge and in partic all your help to me personally. I'll be baaaaaack.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Still home roasting here. It's all Ray's fault because of this thread. :-) Roasting about 2-3 lbs every three weeks between the wife and I. In fact the Mrs. has kind of taken over on her own interest! Now she is picking the green beans and tuning the roast. She even set up a dedicated place for the roaster. What surprises me the most is, she is now drinking it black occasionally, There is no going back now! So I say to you Bill... You might have better luck if you can first establish a "vested interest" in the quality of roasting with the good beans with your family members.

When this Gene Cafe` roaster no longer works, I can see getting a larger one that can roast more than 1/2 lb batches at a time. I am real interested in- and will be watching- how well that Wal-Mart roaster works over a gas flame.

 

[rexster314]

Jamaican Blue Mountain I did yesterday on my gasser.

 

[noboundaries]

Still home roasting here. It's all Ray's fault because of this thread. :-)

Thanks, Erik! Fun read with you and your wife.

Thanks Ray, for sharing your general knowledge and in partic all your help to me personally. I'll be baaaaaack.

Looking forward to it, Bill. It'll happen. Like Erik said, if your wife is a coffee drinker, she'll taste the difference.

 

[noboundaries]

Jamaican Blue Mountain I did yesterday on my gasser

Now THAT is a beautiful roast, Rex!

 

[JLeonard]

Ok i'll PM you my address and paypal ya for a 5lb bag......Lemme know when! Thats some good looking beans.
Jim