31 August, 2009

Roasting Coffee Beans

French Roast  DIY

Watch out home hobbyists and hardcore DIYers, I'm catching up and I'm doing it without the aid of the internets. Roast your own coffee beans? Dude I have; with the right equipment making French roast is pretty darn easy.

The Set -Up

I set up outside because the process is a little smoky. I got my Kmart hot plate, my Whirley Pop stovetop popcorn popper (every well equipped kitchen should have one of these), and some green coffee beans.

Green Coffee beans

Next, I called my sister (Jeanlouise:Jolie).

Jolie: What up Dude?

MAC: Nuthin what are you doing?

Jolie: Got some cultures from Ricki Carroll and some raw goat milk from a lady in Ashville and I'm making cheese.

MAC: Cool.

Jolie: Yeah. Mom made some quark and she has been putting it on everything: Herring, potatoes, enchilatas...

MAC: Far out. Tell her to bring some for Oktoberfest.

Jolie: Right on.

MAC: So I got these coffee beans I wanna roast...

Jolie: Yeah yeah, I rinse them first then I put them in the stovetop popper wet. I roast the beans over medium high heat, constantly turning the crank so that they cook evenly.

Roasting Coffee - Halfway Done

Jolie (CONT): At first you'll have a lot of water vapor, then they'll start smoking. If they smoke a whole lot and the smoke is yellowish, back off the heat. Just keep cranking. When they are about the color you want spread them out on a baking sheet to cool.

Thanks Jolie.

Green Coffee Beans

I measured out twelve ounces on beans and roasted them (constantly cranking) for about forty-five minutes.

My friend Earl, who first roasted beans around the time the internet was invented, suggested I let the coffee rest overnight before grinding, so I did that.

Espresso

I'm not necessarily a connoisseur of coffee, but I know a good cup from bad, I got great coffee from my home roast. You can too, I have only done it once, but I will be doing it again, soon.

Cheers.

1 comment:

Joe Petrashek said...

Great idea! Didn't like the 45 minutes of cranking though. Someone said 15 min. on a frypan would be enough. But I'll try it in the popcorn popper with the exhaust fan on high.
Joe
Best home business opportunity