Anyone roast coffee beans at home?

[decocritter]

What Roaster?

What Beans?

[Trouble]

I don't even drink coffee at home.

[guitarist]

I've been mighty tempted to enter into this hobby, it's similar to other home-laboratory projects I'm drawn to. I have an advanced coffee setup at home, espresso machine, burr grinder, tools, paraphernalia..

I've prevented myself from 'going there' because I'm already a lost soul, with too many vices like this.

But I'd love to read about anyone here who's doing it.

[Winston]

Mmm. That would smell good, especially this time of year.

But I'm going to keep letting the commercial roasters do their thing.


Good luck.

- Winston

[M>B>]

I purchase Trader Joes whole bean Bay Blend and grind it at home...

[Pam]

I do. I use a Nesco roaster http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/c...ource=grid. You can roast in the house with it, but I'd still use it in a garage. Or at least in a very well ventilated area.

I buy my beans at Sweetmarias as well. I'm a decaf person so I mix 50% Sumatra/Brazilian Cerrado. If they ver have komodo blend I jump on it. You can read through their articles and get some blending ideas if you do not like single origin. I would stay away from their donkey blend.

[LaserKun]

I have researched this a bit, and I think one site suggested an air pop corn popper as a great roaster. Buy green beans, roast, grind - yes, I do want to get into that when I have more time. I have friends who do, and they would never go back to "normal" coffee they tell me.

[Grace62]

Our town has it's own coffee company and they roast every day, it smells great to drive by there! Don't feel the need to roast at home but it does sound like an interesting hobby.

[Tofer]

I have been doing it for about a year, with a $10 eBay popcorn popper (West Bend Poppery II). It's been a lot of fun, and I suggest sourcing your beans from Sweet Marias.

I like a few things about it:
1. You can't get beans any more fresh.
2. You can store green beans for a couple of years, so you can build up a bit of a coffee cellar.
3. Green beans are generally cheaper, although shipping costs can mitigate that. If you can find green beans locally, all the better.
4. It's a lot of fun.

I'm not a fan of a couple of things:
1. Roasting coffee doesn't smell like coffee (although it is a nice smell, I think), and it can produce a lot of smoke. I try to roast on my balcony, but in cold weather I do it inside and have to deal with smoke detectors.
2. I've never been able to get roast quality like you can get from professional roasters, although I never expected to. Roasts with a popper take 4-7 minutes, while professional drum roasting takes >20 min (I think).
3. I have to run at least one batch a week, and although it only takes 10 minutes of my time, it is a bit of extra time.

Bottom line: if you want to dabble, find a cheap popper and some beans and give it a go!

[earache]

I've been roasting about 6 years. Use a Hottop programmable. Most of my beans have come from Sweet Marias, but I do belong to a few green bean coops and have made some large volume purchases from them. I mostly roast for espresso, so don't do large volumes, maybe about a pound a week. It's a lot cheaper than buying from my local roaster and I get better quality too.

Tofer makes a really good suggestion about testing the waters with a popper. That's what sucked me in.