Coffee talk

So I found myself in Seattle on a nice early summer day and stopped into a neighborhood coffee shop. Ordered an iced Americano. That’ll be $7. I often pay less than that for a pound of good green coffee beans. I know everything is expensive now, but dang! And the coffee was good, but it better be!
 
For the past year or so I've noticed a decline in how fast my Baratza Encore burr grinder does its job. It got to the point where I'd pull the cone, cone gasket and upper burr and clean out partially ground beans. I emailed Baratza a couple of times; both times they got back to me with suggestions, with helpful links, on what to check and sent, at no cost, a new paddle (didn't affect performance). I came to the conclusion the burrs themselves were slightly worn (maybe they were, maybe they weren't) so I filled out their online repair work order and paid for upgraded burrs, packaged up the unit and UPS'd it to Seattle. Four days later it's home with upgraded burrs (quieter, faster and better than new). FarBank - take a lesson! ;-) Pretty amazing customer service. Cost plus shipping for the repair and upgrade about half that of a new grinder.
 
EmergingFisher said:
New set up. $6 garage sale heat gun and $10 (it was half off) bread maker. Still dialing it in but so far it’s good. View attachment 82630
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I too am looking for an answer to @Matt B's question and have another: from you picture it appears you are putting beans in the bread maker and using it to agitate (stir?) and adding hot air with your gun through an opening in the top?

You're just about as low-tech as I am ;-) Heat gun, bamboo stir spoon, stainless steel bowl sitting in a box on top of a board. It works well for me. Enjoy!!

(The most important thing about roasting your own? Enjoying the smell of the roast process and taste of freshly roasted beans).
 
Buzzy said:
I too am looking for an answer to @Matt B's question and have another: from you picture it appears you are putting beans in the bread maker and using it to agitate (stir?) and adding hot air with your gun through an opening in the top?

You're just about as low-tech as I am ;-) Heat gun, bamboo stir spoon, stainless steel bowl sitting in a box on top of a board. It works well for me. Enjoy!!

(The most important thing about roasting your own? Enjoying the smell of the roast process and taste of freshly roasted beans).
Click to expand...
(Replying to both you and @Matt B)
Yes, it’s my step up from popcorn popper as it has the capacity to roast more at once and more evenly - though the popper worked great.

Bread maker agitates really well. Look for one with a metal paddle (some have plastic and that would result in beans freshly coated in melted plastic) and that has a “dough” setting as that usually has a longer continuous stir - they pretty much all have this. Point a heat gun at it and let er rip. The air of the heat gun and the agitation do a good job blowing off chaff too.

A few points:
-most bread makers have a temp register that will shut the machine down if temperatures get too high. By removing the housing you can access and move this thermometer to prevent it from happening. I just tucked mine away farther in the body of the machine, some people just drill a hole and stick it outside the machine body.
-I removed the lid for the first roast I did, but then accidentally discovered that the glass window just sort of pops out, so I decided to try it with the lid on. Seems to hold heat a lot better. Also collects the chaff, though I roast outside so whatever. You’ll see people that have modified or made new tops to their bread maker.
-Like the air popper it’s not precise. Some people go wild with modifications that can help with precision roasts, or you can listen for pops, smell it, and eye ball it to where you want. I’m doing option 2, and expect it will take a bit to get a feel.
-Lots of good videos and articles online on this method, ranging from simple to complex.
 
EmergingFisher said:
(Replying to both you and @Matt B)
Yes, it’s my step up from popcorn popper as it has the capacity to roast more at once and more evenly - though the popper worked great.

Bread maker agitates really well. Look for one with a metal paddle (some have plastic and that would result in beans freshly coated in melted plastic) and that has a “dough” setting as that usually has a longer continuous stir - they pretty much all have this. Point a heat gun at it and let er rip. The air of the heat gun and the agitation do a good job blowing off chaff too.

A few points:
-most bread makers have a temp register that will shut the machine down if temperatures get too high. By removing the housing you can access and move this thermometer to prevent it from happening. I just tucked mine away farther in the body of the machine, some people just drill a hole and stick it outside the machine body.
-I removed the lid for the first roast I did, but then accidentally discovered that the glass window just sort of pops out, so I decided to try it with the lid on. Seems to hold heat a lot better. Also collects the chaff, though I roast outside so whatever. You’ll see people that have modified or made new tops to their bread maker.
-Like the air popper it’s not precise. Some people go wild with modifications that can help with precision roasts, or you can listen for pops, smell it, and eye ball it to where you want. I’m doing option 2, and expect it will take a bit to get a feel.
-Lots of good videos and articles online on this method, ranging from simple to complex.
Click to expand...
My technique is simple too, sight and sound mostly tells me when I've hit the roast I'm looking for. I don't care for dark roasts; "City Roast" is kind of my target (depending on the bean). Cooling the beans - as soon as I've hit the spot, I dump the beans into a SS colander and begin transferring them from the collander to a SS kitchen strainer, going back and forth in front of a fan. I mostly roast in the garage at the garage door opening. There's nothing scientific about my technique but I believe my roasts are consistent; most importantly my wife and I really enjoy the coffee.
 
Buzzy said:
My technique is simple too, sight and sound mostly tells me when I've hit the roast I'm looking for. I don't care for dark roasts; "City Roast" is kind of my target (depending on the bean). Cooling the beans - as soon as I've hit the spot, I dump the beans into a SS colander and begin transferring them from the collander to a SS kitchen strainer, going back and forth in front of a fan. I mostly roast in the garage at the garage door opening. There's nothing scientific about my technique but I believe my roasts are consistent; most importantly my wife and I really enjoy the coffee.
Click to expand...
Same for me. Popcorn popper and a spoon, go till it sounds and looks right, dump it in a colander. Really the bread maker just lets me do more at one time. I'm doing my best not to dive too much deeper than this!
 
Home roasters—how vigilant are you about pulling out quaker beans?
My batch of Ethiopia Dry Process Idido Desalegn Hijo I roasted up to City+/FC last night had a lot, relative to what I’m used to seeing, and there was sort of a gradient between ultra pale obvious quakers to beans that were a shade or two lighter than the rest. I tossed a lot but eventually stopped when the remaining ones were questionable.
 
Matt B said:
Home roasters—how vigilant are you about pulling out quaker beans?
My batch of Ethiopia Dry Process Idido Desalegn Hijo I roasted up to City+/FC last night had a lot, relative to what I’m used to seeing, and there was sort of a gradient between ultra pale obvious quakers to beans that were a shade or two lighter than the rest. I tossed a lot but eventually stopped when the remaining ones were questionable.
Click to expand...
I’m not super concerned. Sometimes there’s a few that look bad and I will pick them out. But I usually leave them alone. A few beans per ounce would be on the higher end of what I usually see.
 
troutpocket said:
I’m not super concerned. Sometimes there’s a few that look bad and I will pick them out. But I usually leave them alone. A few beans per ounce would be on the higher end of what I usually see.
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ditto
 
Thanks, I think it was just on the higher end is all. Does Dry Process have more for some reason than wet processed coffee?
 
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