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Home coffee roasting

#161
Doing some roasting today so decided to post a couple of pics.

Coffee001_zpse3aa3821.jpg


Guatemalan Decaf and Tanzanian Peaberry, my all time favorites.

Coffee003_zps1ed32d55.jpg


My ole workhorse, Gene Cafe. She's on her fifth burner and second fan.
 
#163
iamlowsound said:
You sir, are hardcore. Where do you buy your beans? Are those 20 pound bags? Also, what is your capacity in your roaster?

I now feel inadequate with my little setup.

lowsound
Click to expand...

Thanks Lowsound.

Coffee Holding Company, Stanen Island NY.

They are the 60kg (132.28lb) bags.

As long as you're drinking really fresh coffee and you love it, it doesn't really matter what you use. The wife and I love these two beans so we've stuck with them. Two bags usually last us about a year and a half.


10.6oz roasting capacity. 4 batches lasts us a week.
 
#164
When I was roasting regularly I typically didn't buy larger than 10lb bags of a given coffee just because I like the variety of changing it up. Though there were a few select coffees that I'd wished I had a 100lbs of later on!

brad
 
#166
Whoa, 130 pounds at a time? I suppose that gets a guy much better pricing than I get buying in 5-15 pound amounts at a time though. I don't think I've knowingly used beans 12-18 months old.

-Mike
 
#167
MJ5150 said:
Whoa, 130 pounds at a time? I suppose that gets a guy much better pricing than I get buying in 5-15 pound amounts at a time though. I don't think I've knowingly used beans 12-18 months old.

-Mike
Click to expand...

Bingo


Once we found the beans we loved I went big. They'll last forever when they're green.

I have never bought anything larger than 10lbs, 130lbs is nuts! In a good way though. So you drink 26lbs of coffee a year?

lowsound
Click to expand...

More then that, I buy two bags at a time. I give a lot away to friends and family as well.
 
#169
iamlowsound said:
jebmd, you are my coffee roasting hero.... lowsound
Click to expand...

yeah....i like to think i am bigtime....and then the REAL man comes along and shoots me down

i generally buy in 15-20 pound batches from ebay...that gives me a better price, and jeb was absolutely right...coffee beans which are green have not gone bad in my lifetime

trying some Balinese right now, very good...never seen it before and i gather its kind of rare, but bought the last 15 pounds the seller had....definitely worth it

davesignatureII-1.png
 
#170
I had some Costa Rican beans sitting on the bottom of my pile for almost four years before I roasted them. They were fantastic once I did. First crack was hard to hear though, might have been because they were drier and there wasn't much in the way of water in them to crack at first crack.

lowsound
 
#171
Lonesomedave said:
yeah....i like to think i am bigtime....and then the REAL man comes along and shoots me down

i generally buy in 15-20 pound batches from ebay...that gives me a better price, and jeb was absolutely right...coffee beans which are green have not gone bad in my lifetime

trying some Balinese right now, very good...never seen it before and i gather its kind of rare, but bought the last 15 pounds the seller had....definitely worth it

davesignatureII-1.png
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave, again, we are all just fans of fresh coffee. It was not my intent to try and be better or bigger. There is nothing like the taste of coffee roasted the same day as all of you know.

Anyone that uses the Gene Cafe and needs help with it let me know. I've had mine apart many times replacing parts. There's a place in CO that sells parts for them.
 
#172
Mike (and anyone else looking at building a BBQ roaster)

Have you ever seen this? I think I am going to modify one for the BBQ roaster that I am building. There is no way I can build a drum for that cheap. Plus, it is about the size I want anyway.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

lowsound
 
#173
I'm not a big fan of coffee roasted the same day personally. Most coffees I've roasted or had start to really get good after about 5 days post-roast. I really don't care for the particular taste that accompanies beans that have not yet rested. This is especially true for espresso prep. Unrested beans have a weird crema and taste as espresso.

Sometimes for espresso I've had beans that didn't hit their stride until 10 days out.

brad
 
#174
iamlowsound said:
Mike (and anyone else looking at building a BBQ roaster)

Have you ever seen this? I think I am going to modify one for the BBQ roaster that I am building. There is no way I can build a drum for that cheap. Plus, it is about the size I want anyway.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

lowsound
Click to expand...

Are you making a roaster out of a gas grill? That would really be really cool. Temp should be about right. Will a rotisserie spin fast enough?
 
#175
jebmd said:
Are you making a roaster out of a gas grill? That would really be really cool. Temp should be about right. Will a rotisserie spin fast enough?
Click to expand...

This is a somewhat popular roasting method for people who want to roast large batches. RK Drums was possibly the original retail bbq grill coffee roaster. You can find all kinds of info on which grills and rotisserie setups are best. I considered it at one time but I always only had a charcoal grill.

brad
 
#176
iamlowsound said:
There is no way I can build a drum for that cheap. Plus, it is about the size I want anyway.
Click to expand...

Same thing I was thinking. As I looked over the picture, I figured it was going to be a price tag over $100. I can't believe it's only $30. In my calculations for our BBQ roaster, I was well over $30 in parts for that section and then I had to take it to a welding shop.

-Mike
 
#177
iamlowsound said:
Mike (and anyone else looking at building a BBQ roaster)

Have you ever seen this? I think I am going to modify one for the BBQ roaster that I am building. There is no way I can build a drum for that cheap. Plus, it is about the size I want anyway.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

lowsound
Click to expand...

I have seen one but only because I have a Behmor. :D

It's really small. Be sure you get the one with slightly smaller grid holes or you'll get a lot of beans falling through (especially certain Ethiopians and peaberry). I bought my behmor when it first came out and it had the larger grid. Then I bought the smaller grid when that came out and it was much better.

I wonder how it would hold up in grill usage especially with the long arms you'd have to put on each side of it to make it reach to the edges of a grill.

How about this: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

brad
 
#179
I realize it isn't anything fancy. I found an IKEA hack online to make the drum, but after I bought the colanders, rod, fins, and a few miscellaneous parts, it was over $30 and I still had to build it.

-Mike
 
#180
DigMe said:
This is a somewhat popular roasting method for people who want to roast large batches. RK Drums was possibly the original retail bbq grill coffee roaster. You can find all kinds of info on which grills and rotisserie setups are best. I considered it at one time but I always only had a charcoal grill.

brad
Click to expand...


That's a great idea. I bet it works great once you get the setup right.

Just like a bass...

;)
 

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