(Part 2) Top products from r/roasting

It really depends on the brand of roaster and how much you want to invest to automate it. Automation will mean a loss of control and due to that loss of adjustable variables, you will be shoehorned into whatever roast it wants to give you (within certain limitations). This could be a good thing for beginners, shops who want repeatability, and operations where you want to be able to do other things (sales, etc) while the machine is roasting, or have an employee with little to no roasting background operate the machine.

If you buy a roaster with all of the automation already implemented, your training could be rather simplistic and you could turn out reasonable coffee quickly. To make extraordinary coffee, you need that minute control over every possible variable. We have found that a difference of one degree at a critical changing point in our profile is tasteable in the cup. I have an engineering background and immediately wanted greater control over the basic homeroaster because I understood things about profile roasting which I could not implement on the basic system.

Your other option is to find a used commercial drum and implement your own control/automation system. If you have any electrical or systems engineering background (or know anyone who does) this is not really complicated, just time consuming. There is a lot of software available for roast monitoring & control. If you don't have some sort of automation (PID gas valve control, computer monitoring and profile control) you won't have the precise repeatability to produce a similar product every time. Sure, you don't have one hand on a damper and the other on a gas valve, but there is still plenty of 'artisan' factor in crafting a great roast on any system which isn't fully automated!

If you want to get started on a smaller homeroasting level, [Kenneth Davids book] (http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Roasting-Revised-Updated-Edition/dp/0312312199) gives a broad overview of coffee and has homeroasting techniques and insights. [Blue Bottle] (http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Bottle-Craft-Coffee-Roasting/dp/1607741180/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409583577&sr=1-1&keywords=blue+bottle+craft+of+coffee+by+james+freeman) is an entertaining read about James Freeman starting into roasting, his travels, a little bit about roasting, and a lot about prep methods. Definitely use the Sweet Marias web library! Also you might check out: homeroasters.org home-barista.com greencoffee.coop coffeegeek.com and I'm sure there are some I've missed. If you get the chance to attend a CoffeeFest, they are pretty inexpensive and there are roasting courses (basic, but nice intros to professional machines), you can meet plenty of green bean importers, and you can drink all the free coffees you can handle!

Hope my rambling answered your questions and I didn't bore you to death!

Thanks! Forgive some very basic questions, but what is ramp/soak? And why is a PID controller better than, say, a logging digital thermometer like this? (though that thermometer is more expensive than ideal considering my cheap roaster...)

I believe OP is roasting coffee to try to improve taste, not to test pressure limits of a jar, and the reason he asked this question :0

All roasted bean off-gasses, regardless of quantity. After roasting, coffee continues to undergo both chemical and physical changes that affect quality. "The pressure within the bean pores should be greater than the atmospheric pressure... as the external pressure becomes higher than the partial pressure of volatiles present in the beans, the degassing rate is reduced allowing a larger quantity of volatiles to be dissolved in the lipid fraction or absorbed on the active sites." (Clarke, 1987a, Labuza et al. 2001, reference from page 231, Espresso Coffee, The Science of Quality

If you throw beans into a sealed jar, the off gassing creates atmospheric pressure thats higher than the that within the bean pore. Evident when you open the jar lid and it makes the whooshing sound. It's worth testing yourself, I'm always pleasantly surprised when I can improve flavor in any way.

Simplest way to get into roasting imo is to just buy an inexpensive air popper. I got this PopAir for $18 new, though the price seems to have come up since then. Performance wise I'm happy with how my roasts come out, though you're never going to get much precise control with an air popper. Coffee tastes real good though.

Espresso Coffee: The Science Of Quality

> Written by leading coffee technology specialists in consultation with some of the world's biggest coffee manufacturers, the second edition of the successful Espresso Coffee will once again comprehensively cover the current status of the chemistry and technology of espresso coffee. It comprehensively covers topics such as agronomy, green coffee processing, roasting/grinding, packaging, percolating and decaffeination techniques. It provides a comprehensive resource for those interested in the fundamental notions of coffee quality; with a point of reference given in the form of a detailed bibliography to provide direction to the wider literature.

Would you recommend this for use with an air popper? I currently have [this guy](CDN DTP482 Programmable Probe Thermometer/Timer
http://amzn.com/B00046YFHE) sitting in my Amazon cart, but if I would actually benefit from running an actual chart versus just a spreadsheet of manually recorded times and temps (me roasting, wife recording), then it may be worth the cost of an actually air roaster to get a thermometer.

Sounds like an i-Roast would be perfect for you. It's what I use and I love it.

They're not being made anymore, but you can find it on ebay or amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Roast-Specs-Coffee-Roaster-capacity/dp/B000FDN1S0 )

Another option from Deans Beans (my coffee supplier):
http://www.deansbeans.com/coffee/FRSHROAST.html

Not the greatest reviews but surely worth $5. Sweet Maria's review from back in the day. And CoffeeGeek reviews

Hey, I was just thinking the same thing.

https://redd.it/5mf9i1

Trying to use my existing stove top popcorn popper that already has a lid attachment. Just plan on drilling holes in the side of the pan & attaching a baffle/arm on the inside some how. I use a propane "bayou burner" that's like a jet engine & fucking awesome for many uses. Also, it's cheap. Just need to rig this up & get to work. Ever since the gears on my popper failed me, I've been using a wood spoon in the pan method instead. Still surprisingly good & smooth coffee; but, for some reason the bean's appearance has been a little off/inconsistent compared to my normal rotary arm when gears are functioning properly.

https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-SP10-High-Pressure-Outdoor/dp/B000291GBQ

Great work! You could rig up a hood for you shop vac using something like this and make a stand for it or suspend it over the popper so you don't have to hold the hose.

Looks good. I ordered the same, went for the Phidget and a controller.

Only thing I wish I had done was loctite all the screws the FIRST time I did them instead of adding loctite piecemeal now.

Thanks again. Priority Mail sounds way too expensive -- another 33% of the $15 I'd charge. But $2.56 isn't so bad. So I just put it in an envelope (I have a ton of these), take it to the Post Office and say I want USPS Parcel Select? One thing I found said you can only buy that kind of shipping online.

If you are very worried about that, you can get a large, strong magnet like this one for under $9 on amazon and give it a quick stir through the coffee. The roaster we use actually has a magnetic bar where the coffee pours out of the cooling area, so it catches anything like that for us. We rarely find metal, though.

I know of people who have used this model, available from Amazon UK. I think it is made in Germany, so may well be available from other European Amazon sites too.

Thanks, I've been using Method cleaner which is also non-toxic, but I may pick up some simple green to give it a shot.

How about a history of coffee?

Uncommon Grounds is an excellent book about the history of coffee, including the spread of the trees, the foundation of the major companies, the economic impact of beans flooding the market, slaves, corrupt officials and roasting history.

Link to the Amazon page

Edit - I added a word.

Do you already have the center serial cable? If so, then you can pick up a cheap usb/serial converter cable.

http://www.amazon.com/1682-Heat-Resistant-Fireplace-Barbecue/dp/B000JFCEDM

I use this Amprobe with my 1600+. The wires do not terminate in long metal probes, so I can easily snake them into the roaster. This model also has USB so I can log roasts.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GFHZLG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I️ just got into doing the HG/DB method from researching this sub. Can’t tell you how my roasts have turned out as today was the first batch, but here’s my set up. The slow feeder bowl is supposed to distribute the heat better. I️ also have an air popper but am not fond of the small batch size.

OurPets DuraPet Slow Feed Premium Stainless Steel Dog Bowl https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NJ4PVW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_4fMbAb2RD4M8H

Wagner Power Products 503008 HT 1000 1,200-Watt Heat Gun https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004TUCV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_KhMbAb9GGK7NX

You could also look at exhaust cut to form gaskets like this. https://www.amazon.com/Fel-Pro-3157-Gasket-Material/dp/B000CNISM2/ref=pd_rhf_cr_s_cp_0_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B000CNISM2&pd_rd_r=BTV7MG3NPTCAVVZ15C0A&pd_rd_w=GcIVU&pd_rd_wg=F7wrf&psc=1&refRID=BTV7MG3NPTCAVVZ15C0A#customerReviews