Who roasts their own coffee on their BBQ or Grill?

[David Halcomb]

Fascinating thread. I'm going to go back and read the entire thread soon.

 

[noboundaries]

I read recently that drought has impacted Robusta coffee bean production in certain key countries like Brazil. Prices are expected to go up as available supplies are consumed. Robusta companies will turn toward Arabica beans to fill their need. Now, I don't drink Robusta coffee, but better safe than sorry. Ordered another 20 lbs of my favorite flavor profiles from Sweet Maria's (all Arabica beans). That's MY excuse anyway for buying more coffee. Feel free to use that excuse, no charge.

 

[noboundaries]

I'm sure many have ignored this long thread of mine, but I continually learn something new about brewing coffee.

I generally brew my morning coffee using a pour-over technique into a Melitta cone or a Clever Dripper. I'm the only coffee drinker in the house, so making a pot of coffee is too much for little OLD me and my stomach.

For the few years since I started roasting my own coffee, I noticed that I'd get a sour taste or aftertaste on occasion. The funny thing is that the same coffee didn't taste sour when brewed in a Moka pot. I chalked the sour taste up to either the coffee itself or the Melitta Cone/Clever Dripper. Nope. I recently learned it was my pour-over technique. I also learned the reason why it tasted sour and how to fix it.

Water extracts flavors from ground coffee by displacing carbon dioxide in the grounds. Guess what tastes sour if too much is left in the coffee? Carbon dioxide!

When brewing with a pour-over technique, there are several pours required. First, wet the grounds to initiate the carbon dioxide "bloom." Wait about 30 seconds. Then do another small pour, and wait about 10-15 seconds. The coffee bubbles will be dark and quite large. Then do another small pour and repeat the wait. The bubbles get lighter in color and smaller. Do another small pour, and the bubbles become lighter still. When the bubbles become almost white after a small pour, large holes appear in the bubble float. Gently stir the coffee and let it drain completely.

By doing so, you've removed all the sour-tasting carbon dioxide. Can you over-extract the coffee and get a dry, bitter taste? Yes. Learning the balance point to avoid that result is the fun of hands-on brewing.

Or buy a coffee maker that does it all for you.

Anecdotal thinking here, but I'm guessing that the reason most ground coffee sold in stores is allowed to age before being sold is that a lot of the carbon dioxide off-gasses in that time. No sour taste, but to me, it tastes flat.

I'll post pics later of the bubbles if anyone is interested. If not, this post gave me a break from writing my latest sci-fi novel.

 

[bill1]

...Carbon dioxide!...

I'm a pour-over guy too. You bet I've seen the bubbles! Guess I attributed it to the <74% close-packing of coffee grounds with air...so that was the air purging out. But now that you mention it, it does seem to lessen the further the beans are from their roast date...negating my interstitial air theory and backing up your CO2 out-gassing theory.
I'm a slow-pourer with the boiling water...trying to get more than 4 cups with my #4 filters!...but my approach has been to concentrate the pour over the areas the bubbles arise from--guess I just like popping the bubbles. But I think if it's CO2 needing to be quickly dissipated to the atmosphere, that's ok by your theory, right?
I'll have to see if I see any color changes in my bubbles...they've all seemed the same to me.

Just btw, my daughter is loving pepper in her coffee now too. I've settled on adding 1/8 tsp to the beans before grinding, so it's well mixed in the paper filter in the cone. Plenty of pepper flavor with no sludge in the cup or pot.

 

[EvenFlow87k]

I am not sure why, but I did my first coffee roast tonight. I tried to follow Ray's instructions as close as I could. A couple things I learned as I did this.
1) I cannot use my good Royal Prestige SS pan. It will not get above 350° in a reasonable amount of time.
2) I need to run my burner full throttle with my Cuisinart pan otherwise it won't stay hot enough.
3) Move your head away from the sifter when you put it over the fan, lol.

Anyway, here's the pictures

My setup. Had to change the pan though.

Stirring the pot, lol.

Cooling and covering my self with bean chaff.

The final product, and now I wait.

I will follow up with my first taste test.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jeremy

 

[noboundaries]

Great job, Jeremy! Looks like a fantastic start. Thanks for sharing the pics. If you decide you like the result, you get pretty good at timing your roasts so you don't run out. I'll be roasting a batch myself tomorrow cause my last batch only has 3-4 days left.

 

[noboundaries]

With experience, you can skip the thermometer as long as your hearing is still good. I now roast completely by sound alone. I listen for the point where first crack (popping) is almost over and second crack (Rice Krispies sound) is just starting. Then I turn off the heat and stir for a minute or two before moving it to the fan. By doing so, I knock more chaff off the beans.

Another trick I've incorporated is tilting the fan, using two colanders, and SLOWLY pouring the hot beans thru the airflow from one colander to the other. Most of the chaff blows away instead on all over me! Then I tilt the fan flat and completely cool the beans.

But, the baptism in chaff is something all new roasters learn to overcome.

 

[tallbm]

Hey noboundaries have you ever roasted a been and got like almost no chaff???

I havent roasted any in a long time but did some green Jamaican Blue Mountain beans I bought online and virtually no chaff!!!
I got a little bit when I was was airing them out in the colander but not much.

I roasted 8oz in about 10 min to get a dark roast and I know my heat was a little hot but nothing seemed out of the ordinary except no chaff.

Any thoughts? I'll get reports on how they taste in weeks time or so from my taster since I don't drink coffee :D

 

[noboundaries]

Interesting. I've never roasted Jamaican beans, but I've also never had chaff-free roasted beans. I have roasted every 2-3 weeks for the last several years (20 ounces per roast).

A couple questions come to mind.
1. Did they increase in size (40% to 100%) during the roast?
2. Since you took them to a dark roast, did you hear the first and second crack?

 

[tallbm]

Interesting. I've never roasted Jamaican beans, but I've also never had chaff-free roasted beans. I have roasted every 2-3 weeks for the last several years (20 ounces per roast).

A couple questions come to mind.
1. Did they increase in size (40% to 100%) during the roast?
2. Since you took them to a dark roast, did you hear the first and second crack?

1. Yep they increased in size as usual, see here:


2. Yes I heard first crack and some first crack was mixing with 2nd crack. I think this was cause my heat was a bit high but I heard lots of first crack and then plenty of 2nd crack as well as roasting continued.
I was doing this with skillet and a wooden spoon over a propane grill burner.
I saw the color of the roast and the oils coming and knew I was at it around a total of 10 min and decided to pull the roast.

The beans never seen burnt or smelled burnt. I wonder if the high heat obliterated the chaff as it was roasting or maybe these particular beans just didn't have much. No clue but it was definitely not like my roasts before in regards to chaff lol.

 

[noboundaries]

I read in one source that too high a heat can cause the chaff to burn up. But, honestly, no idea. It will be interesting when they are brewed. Coffee that is roasted too fast and hot can taste bitter and acidic.

I took a chaff shower with my batch last week. It is a Peruvian coffee from Sweet Maria's and so good. One of my all-time favorites. Bought it more than a year ago, though, so probably not available now.

 

[Hockeydudde]

Do you know how they were processed?
Natural process beans tend to have less chaff than dry process beans because if the fermentation process.

Also new-ish to the forum. Didn't know there was a coffee roasting cross over here. Love it!

Wanted to try smoking/roasting over coals many times, but never gave it a shot yet.

 

[noboundaries]

Do you know how they were processed?
Natural process beans tend to have less chaff than dry process beans because if the fermentation process.

Also new-ish to the forum. Didn't know there was a coffee roasting cross over here. Love it!

Wanted to try smoking/roasting over coals many times, but never gave it a shot yet.

HD, great point on the natural process results for chaff. Did not know that. I'll have to check my purchase history spreadsheet to see if I have any natural process beans.

Happy to have another roaster aboard! And, yeah, if you can do it on your grill, we'll talk about it here. I've always used propane to roast coffee, but my bottles have been iffy after many 100°F+ days. Last week's batch was almost roasted over charcoal in the Vortex, but the bottle worked.

If you roast over charcoal, share your experience here.

Happy roasting,

Ray

 

[Hockeydudde]

We are currently drinking Indian Monsoon Malabar, which is essentially left in an open air warehouse during the monsoons in India, aging it in a unique way. One result is there is no chaff remaining.

 

[noboundaries]

We are currently drinking Indian Monsoon Malabar, which is essentially left in an open air warehouse during the monsoons in India, aging it in a unique way. One result is there is no chaff remaining.

Excellent post! Thanks for sharing. I've never tried beans from that part of the world. I'll definitely research that area.

 

[noboundaries]

Indian Monsooned Malabar

The Indian Monsooned Malabar is a very low acidity, thick & creamy, overly earthy style cup of coffee. A lot of sweet tones in this cup.

burmancoffee.com

Found the above, and CRAP! It's on sale. I can't resist a green coffee sale. I buy 5 lbs at a time, and have 35 lbs in the cabinet. Time to get creative to explain why I need this coffee.

It's out of stock at Sweet Maria's, but the flavor wheels tell a great story.

India Monsoon Malabar AA

Best in the darker roast levels or as a blend application. Earthy, pungent roast tones, with some sweet/bittersweet sugars. A fairly low-sweetness coffee, and has toasted grain and nut flavors that hint at barley, roasted corn, and more. Its strength is body, and will make an interesting cup for...

www.sweetmarias.com

 

[tallbm]

Do you know how they were processed?
Natural process beans tend to have less chaff than dry process beans because if the fermentation process.

Also new-ish to the forum. Didn't know there was a coffee roasting cross over here. Love it!

Wanted to try smoking/roasting over coals many times, but never gave it a shot yet.

There was no mention of how it was processed. It's funny I did a little searching on the topic last night before reading this and found where people said the processing method can greatly affect the amount of chaff which makes sense.

I'd bet money this is the case because I had almost no chaff and what I did have was bits of chaff not any whole skins.

This gives a whole other area for you more serious roasters to dabble in. Imagine having an amazing quality bean and coffee but basically no chaff when roasting!!!
Sounds like an interesting concept to explore :D

 

[Hockeydudde]

Do you know how they were processed?
Natural process beans tend to have less chaff than dry process beans because if the fermentation process.

Also new-ish to the forum. Didn't know there was a coffee roasting cross over here. Love it!

Wanted to try smoking/roasting over coals many times, but never gave it a shot yet.

Probably a pretty low care ratio here, but I just realized I misspoke above. Dry and natural process are the same/similar. Wet processed/washed will generally have less chaff than dry/natural.
Sorry for the confusion.

 

[tallbm]

So the taste test was done today and the results... the best coffee she has ever had!

I tell you what, if this is wet processed and it removed all the chaff for me then I'll be going this route from here on out.

I've only made a few pounds total over the past few years but when I do make it I'll try and keep it as efficient as possible.

Glad to see I've got a winner and I just really went off sound of pops this time so I'll keep it going. Even if there were still some first cracks overlapping with the second cracks. I'll listen and get this darker color and know that's when I'm done to try and replicate this roast.

That's my input for the moment :D

 

[noboundaries]

So the taste test was done today and the results... the best coffee she has ever had!

I tell you what, if this is wet processed and it removed all the chaff for me then I'll be going this route from here on out.

There's no better compliment, TBM.

Below are coffees in my spreadsheet from 2021 that are labeled "Wet Processed." I don't recall less chaff, but I wasn't looking for it.

Central America	El Salvador	Balsamo-Quezaltepec, Municipality Nejapa	SHG	Finca El Cipres	Wet process, Patio Sun-dried
Africa	Burundi	Mururui Hill in Sogestal Kayanza Northern Burundi	A1	Dusangirijambo Co-op	Wet Processed, sun dried raised beds
Central America	El Salvador	Balsamo-Quezaltepec, Municipality Nejapa	SHG	Finca El Cipres	Wet process, Patio Sun-dried
Central America	El Salvador	19.45 oz Balsamo-Quezaltepec, Municipality Nejapa + 2.55 oz Ataco, Ahuachapan	SHG	Finca El Cipres	Wet process, Patio Sun-dried
Central America	El Salvador	Ataco, Ahuachapan	SHG	Finca Villa Maria (Dona Maria Alcira Celis)	Wet Processed,Patio Sun-dried

Hmm. Guess I'm going to have to play closer attention to my chaff showers. Below is what I have left in green "cherries." I typically roast one coffee at a time, unless I don't care for one, then I mix it with something else. None are labeled "wet processed."

South America	Peru	Huabal	SHB	Jaen Granjeros	Mechanically Washed, Sun Dried
Central America	Costa Rica	Dota, Tarrazu	SHB	El Conquistador	Mechanically Washed, Sun Dried
South America	Brazil	Lambari, Minas Gerais	Estate	Amecafe Cooperative	Dry Process (natural), patio sun-dried
South America	Brazil	Cerrado Mineiro	Estate	Patroncinio Ricardo Vagne	Dry Process (natural), patio sun-dried
Mexico	Mexico	Sierra Madre de Chiapas	SHG	Coop Farming	Mechanically Washed, Sun Dried
South America	Peru	El Paraiso Yoner Arevalo	SHB	Yoner Arevelo	Mechanically Washed, Sun Dried