Roasting coffee beans at home is now so easy with the results often as good as those beans which have been professionally roasted.
A variety of roaster types are available, but even a frying pan or popcorn popper can be used. Be sure to start with ultra-clean equipment, though. Nothing spoils the taste of coffee like left over fish oils or butter.
Choosing the best beans for can afford is a good start when roasting any bean. Dark roasts have less caffeine than lighter roasts, but they also have a less acidic taste.
When roasting coffee beans for the first time it is probably a good idea to do so in a well ventilated room. The beans need to be heated to between 460F (223C) and 530F (262C), therefore this may cause some smoke and quite a strong smell!
Get those beans in your roaster and turn the heat up until it is really hot. (Disabling your home fire alarms for a little while may be a good idea).
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.
When the beans begin to heat up you make hear a loud back when the bean bursts. This is because the heat puts pressure of the surface of the bean. Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. You should here this sound after about four to seem minutes. Make sure you keep stirring the beans every 30 seconds or so.
As the sugars in the beans heat up they will begin to caramelize (this means the beans turn brown and ‘burn’ a little). The caramelization needs to be to your own personal taste. Remember to check the beans every 30 seconds or so.
Continuing to roast the beans will sometimes result in a second loud crack. By now the beans will be very dark, some people will consider them to be overdone. Roasting after the second crack will just burn the beans and make the result too harsh to drink.
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.
Try roasting a few different batches of beans to get your desired flavour. It will be a bit of a trial and error process initially. Remember the beans still continue to cook after they have been removed from the heat. So you may need to take the beans off the heat a little early.
For the popcorn popper style roasting, be sure to get one that allows you to stir up the beans to keep them moving around and not sticking to the surfaces. For the stove top style, a cast iron skillet works great. Be prepared for lots of stirring and viewing. Roasting coffee beans happens quickly!
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