Roasting Coffee Beans Is So Easy

If you have every tried to make wine at home you will know how difficult it is, thankfully roasting coffee beans at home is much easier than making wine - and the results are often so good than no-one would know they have been roasted at home.

Although there are a large choice of roasters available you can use general kitchen equipment such as a frying pan or popcorn maker.  Just make  sure that what ever equipment you use is clean becausee if it is not clean the coffee will absorb the flavour of any left over food.

Dark roasts contain a little less caffeine than lighter roasts, but they lack the acid taste of the latter. Be sure to start with quality beans, of course!

Roasting coffee beans need to be heated to between 460F (223C) and 530F (262C).  This may cause quite a bit of smoke in your kitchen.  Therefore make sure you have your windows open and your extraction fan turned on.  The beans will also produce a strong odour, making ventilation very important. 

Turn up the heat and get those beans in the roaster!  (You may need to disable your fire alarms for a short while).

For some roasters, the thermometer is built-in, but you may want to have an extra for when it's open, or for those frying pan experiments. Candy making thermometers work well for the purpose.

How strong you like your roast depends how long you let the beans roast.  The beans start out green, then turn yellow then brown.  The darker brown the bean the darker your roast.

As the bean begins to get hot, pressure will build up on the surface of the bean and after a while you will hear a loud crack as the bean bursts.  This should happen around four to seven minutes after your begin roasting the beans.  This sound is normal so don't be alarmed.  Just remember to keep stirring the beans so they don't stick and get burnt. 

Caramelization of the sugars inside the beans will take place as the roasting continues.  The degree of caramelization is a personal tastes so remember to keep stirring and checking the beans every 30 seconds.

Roast long enough and sometimes a second loud crack will occur. At this stage the beans will be quite dark and for some palates a little overdone. Beyond the second crack you're really just burning the beans and boiling away the sugars. The results will be too harsh for most.

Transfer the beans to a metal colander, then agitate them.  The reason you need to agitate the beans is to remove the fine skin 'chaff' that results from roasting.  Once this skin is removed the beans are ready to use.

Roasting is a trial process.  You will need to try a few batches with different roasting times before you find your perfect roast to get the perfect flavour from your coffee.  It may be an idea to remove the beans for the heat a little early as the heat within the bean will mean they still continue to cook for a little while after you have removed them from the heat.

When you use a popcorn maker to roast the beans make sure you can stir the beans so they don't stick and burn.  If you are roasting the beans on the stove top, cast iron skillets are fantastic.  Remember don't leave the beans for a second and keep stirring.  Roasting coffee beans is very quick.