4 Simple Ways to Roast Coffee Beans
Photo: flickr.com
Making coffee always starts with roasting coffee beans as green ones cannot make a nice brew. And while you can always buy pre-roasted beans, nothing beats the flavors that come with using freshly roasted beans.
Furthermore, roasting at home allows you to customize your roast to suit your preferences and brewing style. And if you are looking for the best ways to roast coffee beans at home, this piece is for you.
Here we highlight some of the easiest, fastest and most cost-efficient ways of roasting your coffee beans from the comfort of your home.
Best Ways to Roast Coffee Beans
There are countless ways of roasting coffee beans at home and they will range from using a home coffee roaster machine to using things that you already have at home.
But regardless of what you prefer to use, the most important thing is to make sure you do it correctly to get a perfect roast. Here are 4 of the best ways to roast green coffee beans at home.
1. Home Coffee Roaster
Photo: Hario
Home coffee roasters are specifically designed for roasting coffee, and so even before you use them you can confident they will do an excellent job. These machines will also come in different styles but they can be classified into two categories which are air and drum roasters.
Air coffee roasters work using the same principle as the popcorn poppers, and they will heat the beans using direct heat and then push hot air throughout the chamber to ensure all the beans are evenly roasted.
The drum roasters, on the other hand, will use indirect heat to roast the beans inside a round, drum-like chamber that rotates during the roasting to ensure even roasting. With these coffee roasters, the beans will be roasted when they come in contact with the walls of the heated chamber.
How to Roast
Step 1: Measure and place the right amount of coffee beans inside the roasting chamber
Step 2: Close the chamber and switch on the roaster
Step 3: Allow the coffee to roast until your desired roast is achieved and keep in mind the longer the beans stay in there the darker and stronger the roast will be
Step 4: Once fully roasted, pour the coffee beans into a colander and stir them
Step 5: Now store the coffee at room temperature and give it at least 12 hours to de-gas
Note: While many of these home coffee roaster machines will claim full automation, this is hardly ever the case, and different variables come into play. Hence, it is vital to make sure you monitor the entire roasting process.
2. Popcorn Popper
If you have a popcorn popper at home, you will not need to invest in a coffee roasting machine as it does a good job roasting coffee beans. And whether you have a stovetop or hot air popcorn popper, it will still be highly useful for roasting coffee.
Both types of popcorn roasters will take only a few minutes to roast the beans perfectly and they will allow you to experiment with different roasts. The process is quite similar for both hot air and stovetop popcorn popper and will involve the simple steps below.
How to Roast
Step 1: Start by setting up your popcorn popper and preheat it for a minute if it is a hot air model and about 5 minutes for a stovetop popcorn popper
Step 2: Once the ideal temperature is attained, add the green coffee beans
Step 3: Allow the coffee to roast and keep a close eye to ensure the beans do not burn
Step 4: Remove the beans and transfer them to a colander to allow them to cool
Step 5: Give the beans at least 12 hours to de-gas before storing them in an airtight container
3. Pan/Grill
Photo: elmens.com
Every home has a pan lying around and grills are also quite common in many houses. With a grill or pan around, you will not need to look further for a coffee roaster as they are good enough for the job.
This coffee roasting method is one of the oldest, and it will involve a lot of stirring. Also, roasting coffee in a pan or grill comes with a learning cover as you will have to do most of the work yourself. But, you should be okay when using a pan or grill that holds heat well.
How to Roast
Step 1: Start by maximizing ventilation in the room as this roasting method can produce a lot of smoke
Step 2: Place your thick pan or grill on medium heat or around 450 degrees Fahrenheit
Step 3: Add a thin layer of beans to the pan/grill or just enough to allow you to stir with ease
Step 4: Keep stirring the beans as they roast and make sure you never leave them to rest
Step 5: After around 5 minutes, they will have a light roast and roasting a little longer than this will give you medium to dark roast
Step 6: Once the beans are roasted to your liking, pour them into a colander to cool and then allow them to de-gas for around 12 hours.
4. Oven
Photo: chocolatealchemy.com
The oven is another good DIY home coffee roaster. But before you try it out, it is important to note that it is often quite smoky, and so you will need to have excellent ventilation.
While this roasting method might not give you the brightest and most flavorful coffee, the good news is that it still works well enough and is quite easy even for those that have never tried it before.
How to Roast
Step 1: Start by preheating the oven to around 500 degrees Fahrenheit
Step 2: Open up windows and doors to maximize ventilation as things will become quite smoky
Step 3: Spread out the coffee beans in a perforated tray and make sure it is only one layer
Step 4: Place the tray in the middle shelf of the oven for a consistent temperature
Step 5: Allow the beans to roast for at least 5 minutes if you want a light roast and a couple of minutes more for a medium to dark roast
Step 6: Transfer them to a colander and stir them to speed up the cooling before leaving them to de-gas for 12 hours
Conclusion
A good roast is always the starting point for making a great cup of coffee, and if you go wrong with the roast, you will not make a rich and tasty beverage.
You can always buy pre-roasted beans, but if you are a true coffee aficionado, you should do the roasting at home. And the good news is that there are several ways to roast coffee beans at home.
Some of the best ways to roast coffee beans are using a home coffee roaster, oven, pan/grill, and a popcorn roaster. But, while all these methods are quite simple, they will still come with a learning curve as you will need to master the ideal temperature and roasting time for different roasts.
Sources
- How to Roast Coffee Beans - WikiHow
