home coffee roaster?
October 12, 2005 10:25 AM Subscribe
Can anyone recommend a home coffee roaster? I have a defunct Fresh Roast plus 8. Is there anything better out there for less than $200?
My coffee-guru coworker answers thusly:
While the Z&D catalytic converter does burn off most smoke, it still produces enough smoke to trigger smoke alarms. It also is hard to hear first and second cracks, and tends to dull the flavors of the roast. Get a Hearthware I-Roast instead. It has three-stage temperature control, time periods for each stage, you can hear 1st and 2nd crack, and the coffee is much better than with the Z&D. Check out coffeegeek.com for more Iroast reviews.
posted by jclovebrew at 11:13 AM on October 12, 2005
While the Z&D catalytic converter does burn off most smoke, it still produces enough smoke to trigger smoke alarms. It also is hard to hear first and second cracks, and tends to dull the flavors of the roast. Get a Hearthware I-Roast instead. It has three-stage temperature control, time periods for each stage, you can hear 1st and 2nd crack, and the coffee is much better than with the Z&D. Check out coffeegeek.com for more Iroast reviews.
posted by jclovebrew at 11:13 AM on October 12, 2005
Lots of people seem to be using hot-air popcorn poppers for this, vis
posted by soundslikeobiwan at 11:14 AM on October 12, 2005
posted by soundslikeobiwan at 11:14 AM on October 12, 2005
I assure you my Z&D roaster has never come close to triggering my smoke alarm even when going to a dark roast. Then again, I roast for flavor and not to make Charbucks-style briquettes from the beans. It is not always easy (or necessary) to hear the cracks, but I think any other objections are unfounded. If I could roast outdoors, I would just use a popcorn popper.
Coffeegeek.com has loads of reviews and is worth checking out, as are the roasting pages at Sweet Maria's.
posted by exogenous at 11:52 AM on October 12, 2005
Coffeegeek.com has loads of reviews and is worth checking out, as are the roasting pages at Sweet Maria's.
posted by exogenous at 11:52 AM on October 12, 2005
I thought about asking my own ASK Mefi, but now that Wash Jones has the attention of coffee roasters, I'm going to ask a related question.
My first attempt at roasting beans made my partner and me sick as dogs. Has anyone else had a similar experience? (I hate to be graphic, but think Olestra). I was really excited about roasting my own beans, but I must admit, I'm a little timid after round one. Any idea what could make two coffee achievers sick after oven roasting beans?
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 2:17 PM on October 12, 2005
My first attempt at roasting beans made my partner and me sick as dogs. Has anyone else had a similar experience? (I hate to be graphic, but think Olestra). I was really excited about roasting my own beans, but I must admit, I'm a little timid after round one. Any idea what could make two coffee achievers sick after oven roasting beans?
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 2:17 PM on October 12, 2005
Response by poster: My first attempt at roasting beans made my partner and me sick as dogs...
I've been roasting for almost a year and this has never happened to me. Before your comment, I'd never even heard of it happening. Maybe it was something to do with your oven. You may try using a roaster or popcorn popper.
posted by Wash Jones at 4:09 PM on October 12, 2005
I've been roasting for almost a year and this has never happened to me. Before your comment, I'd never even heard of it happening. Maybe it was something to do with your oven. You may try using a roaster or popcorn popper.
posted by Wash Jones at 4:09 PM on October 12, 2005
Wash, I had an (original) iRoast that I was fairly pleased with, outside of the small amount of beans and the long recycle time (I've since moved on to a HotTop drum roaster). It worked well and as-advertised. It's nice to have control over the roast profile (if you don't want to do the defaults), but it was a bit of a pain to re-enter the profile each time.
From what I've seen on the various roasting forums, the new iRoast 2 seems to be liked even better, and should be in your target price range.
If I was in the market for an air roaster at the moment, that'd probably be the one I'd go with...
gesamtkunstwerk, from what I understand a lot of folks (even those normally without allergies) are very allergic to coffee roasting smoke. There's also a fair amount of caffeine in that smoke, which could certainly contribute to a bit of the "Olestra effect" (the darker you roast, the more caffeine ends up in the smoke instead of the bean).
Roasting indoors with a roaster is a pretty touchy thing, and should only be done under a good outdoor-vented stove hood -- even 150 grams of green coffee in an air roaster produces a lot amount of smoke; a pan full of coffee in an oven could produce quite a bit more and be harder to disperse (I think it'd also be a lot harder to get a good roast profile and an even roast, but that's a different question).
If you get the urge to try it again, you might consider looking for a cheap or used air popper (some of the various roasting sites will be good for advice on models and mods), and trying a roast outdoors or under a vent hood. If that works out and is something you enjoy, then you can look at moving up to something a little more controllable and less squirrly than a popcorn popper...
posted by nonliteral at 9:24 PM on October 12, 2005
From what I've seen on the various roasting forums, the new iRoast 2 seems to be liked even better, and should be in your target price range.
If I was in the market for an air roaster at the moment, that'd probably be the one I'd go with...
gesamtkunstwerk, from what I understand a lot of folks (even those normally without allergies) are very allergic to coffee roasting smoke. There's also a fair amount of caffeine in that smoke, which could certainly contribute to a bit of the "Olestra effect" (the darker you roast, the more caffeine ends up in the smoke instead of the bean).
Roasting indoors with a roaster is a pretty touchy thing, and should only be done under a good outdoor-vented stove hood -- even 150 grams of green coffee in an air roaster produces a lot amount of smoke; a pan full of coffee in an oven could produce quite a bit more and be harder to disperse (I think it'd also be a lot harder to get a good roast profile and an even roast, but that's a different question).
If you get the urge to try it again, you might consider looking for a cheap or used air popper (some of the various roasting sites will be good for advice on models and mods), and trying a roast outdoors or under a vent hood. If that works out and is something you enjoy, then you can look at moving up to something a little more controllable and less squirrly than a popcorn popper...
posted by nonliteral at 9:24 PM on October 12, 2005
A heat gun is a great cheap way to roast coffee. From my experience the quality of the roast is a lot more dependable and reproducible than with a popcorn popper. Plus you get a heat gun out of the deal, in case you ever want to strip paint or something. And it has the added advantage of only being 1/10th your budget, not to mention that diy coolness.
posted by aspo at 1:11 PM on October 13, 2005
posted by aspo at 1:11 PM on October 13, 2005
I use a homemade convection oven/stir-crazy combo that does a nice job. Should be about $100 to put one together with new equipment.
I only roast about 9oz at a time, but others have reported good results almost up to a full pound at once.
posted by turbodog at 2:01 PM on October 20, 2005
I only roast about 9oz at a time, but others have reported good results almost up to a full pound at once.
posted by turbodog at 2:01 PM on October 20, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by exogenous at 10:52 AM on October 12, 2005