All Categories


Pages



How to roast green coffee beans yourself

You can roast your own coffee beans at home and get that perfect cup of fresh coffee you love so much. There is a taste at some coffee shops that just cannot be copied at home. Or can it?

 

If you find a coffee shop that roasts its own green coffee beans, the coffee at that shop is probably the best you ever had. And that is for a good reason. That coffee shop has the freshest roasted coffee beans you can get.

 

Most coffee you buy at the grocery store is very stale before you even buy it. At best, if you do manage to get some fresh ground coffee, you have about 3 days to use it before it goes stale. Even if you buy whole roasted coffee beans, chances are that they have been sitting around for a while before you even get your hands on them.

 

Grinding your own coffee directly at the store from whole beans offers the same problem. The beans may have been sitting there in the grinder for weeks or even months already. And after you grind the beans, you have about 3 days to use your coffee grounds.

 

Coffee starts to go stale and loose its freshness soon after it is ground. Roasted coffee beans also start to loose their fresh flavor soon after roasting.

 

For the best full flavored coffee money can buy, you need to roast your own coffee beans at home. Find a local coffee shop that roasts their own coffee from green beans. You can often buy the green coffee beans directly from the shop.

 

Raw Green Coffee Beans From Coffee ShopFresh green coffee beans from a coffee shop

 

Green coffee beans can sit around a long time just like a normal bean. It is not until the beans are roasted that they start to loose their freshness. For preppers and long term food storage, green coffee beans are highly recommended.

 

Fresh green coffee beansFresh green coffee beans to roast at home

 

To roast your own coffee at home is pretty simple. The biggest thing to know is the roasting time of coffee. There are various sorts of coffee roast ranging from light to very dark. The darker the roast, the fuller the flavor.

 

The easiest way to roast your coffee at home is to use a popcorn popper. You can use either an electric popcorn popper or a stove top hand crank popcorn popper. You can also roast coffee beans directly on the stove top in a frying pan or in the oven on a tray. But these methods are not recommended because it will produce an uneven roast.

 

Roasting coffee beans in a popcorn popperRoasting green coffee beans in a popcorn popper at home

 

 

 

To roast coffee you need a stable, hot temerature of about 475 to 500 degrees and constant motion. That is why a popcorn popper is the best. You can use a stove top hand crank model as well if you want. The hand crank popcorn popper can also be used to roast coffee beans over an open fire just like the cowboys did in the old days. This takes practice to get a good flavored coffee and it takes a good bed of coals.

 

As the coffee is roasting it will produce a lot of smoke. This smoke is greasy and can quickly smell up the house, so roasting coffee should be done in a well ventilated area such as underneath an oven hood with the exhaust fan on.

 

While roasting your coffee, it will go through various stages. The coffee beans will crack and pop like popcorn. There are two stages of this cracking. The first stage and the second stage. After the coffee reaches its second stage of cracking, it is nearing the end of its roast.

 

The best way to check if your coffee is finished is by sight and smell. When the coffee beans start to smell like coffee, they are getting ready. Watch for the color of your roasting coffee beans. Compare the color to your favorite variety of coffee. Get a couple beans out and use them for comparison. When you get the right color and roast, then pull them off of the heat.

 

The next step in the process must be done quickly. You must place the roasted beans on a flat baking pan and take them outside into the cool air. Have a second pan ready and take it with you. A good breeze or placing a fan in front of the beans is best. You want to cool the roasted beans down rapidly in order to prevent over roasting inside the beans.

 

Transfer the coffe beans rapidly from one pan into another while blowing off the chaff. The chaff is a waste by product that needs to be discarded. Keep transferring the beans from one pan to another while a breeze or fan is blowing on them to cool the beans down rapidly.

 

Fresh home roasted coffee beansFresh home roasted coffee beans

 

After the beans are cooled, most people prefer to let the coffee beans sit overnight to develop their full flavor. Coffee beans change flavor during the first 24 hours after roasting.

 

Thats it. Practice until you get that perfect cup of coffee you always wanted. Write down any changes you make in the process each time you roast coffee beans until you get the perfect roast.





About the Author

Troy Reid

Comments


No comments yet! Be the first:

Your Response


Most Viewed - All Categories