Roasting Coffee Beans Is So Easy

Roasting coffee beans at home is now so easy with the results often as good as those beans which have been professionally roasted. 

There is a wide choice of roasters available.  Everyday kitchen equipment such as popcorn maker or frying pans can be used.  The most important thing is to make sure the equipment is clean.  Left over butter or oils could really affect the taste of the coffee.

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!

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.

Whilst roasting the beans will turn different colours.  The beans will start out green, then turn yellow then brown.  How dark you want your roast depends on how brown you let the beans become.

As they begin to heat up, moisture - both oil and water - will put pressure on the bean surface and you may hear a loud crack when it bursts. Not to worry, this is normal. Stirring every 30 seconds or more, you'll hear this after four to seven minutes of heating.

The sugars inside will begin to caramelize (turn brown and 'burn' slightly) as the roasting continues. Again the degree is a matter of taste. Check the color 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!