Home roasting to save money

[Skippy]

Although i wouldn't mind roasting myself and id probably quite enjoy it, I trust steve a lot more than myself when it comes to roasting my beans.

So really the main reason for me to home roast would be to save money. I realize the initial cost is quite high with buying a decent roaster, but over a longer period does home roasting save a reasonable amount on beans when you take all the costs into consideration?

[Bombcup]

I find roasting my own saves a hell of a lot of money. When I was buying 3 or 4 250g bags per week I nearly had to give up smoking it was so expensive! You don't need to spend anything at all on roasting equipment. If you have an oven you can roast beans. When you've roasted half a dozen batches and got your ears an nose tuned in you can roast excellent beans. Not as good as Steve, but not worse either, just different.

When I've done a roast in the evening I look forward to trying it all the next day at work. There really is nothing more satisfying.

[BazBean]

Budget is a very valid reason to home roast but like most when it comes to coffee I can justify almost anything if we really want to especially cost.

I rarely roast now but mainly I miss the almost spiritual ritual too it all. The actual drinking was to all intensive purposes less important. Am I just a bit weird do think ?

[ivdp]

This should not be a reason.
Coffee from Aldi/Lidl and other discount supermarkets is way cheaper than roast your own (good) beans . .
Or shall we discuss freshness maybe? Or single origins? Or . . .

[Skippy]

Im not talking about sacrificing quality to save money. Id be buying good quality greens and hopefully roasting them to a near hasbean standard. As i say, id quite like to roast myself, its just that saving money would be the main driving reason behind doing it now.

I was thinking about buying something like a gene cafe. Ive learnt the hard way with grinders that it pays to spend more and get something that will last straight up than be plagued with upgradeitis.

I didnt realize you could roast to a decent standard in an oven though, ill look into that first. Thanks guys.

[Dan]

At this time of year particularly electrical shops all have popcorn poppers in stock for under £20. Get one with side-entry air vents, epoxy a food can with both ends removed to the top as a cimney and roast in the kitchen (as long as you're comfprtable in a t-shirt the ambient temperature should be OK for roasting).

I think that this is the best way to start - see http://www.thedomesticbarista.com/content/view/13/1/ here for more.

Dan

[espressomattic]

Oven roasting is pretty darn good. I have roasted in Woks, Whirley Pops, Gene and finally the oven and the results are great. Yeah OK it gets a little messy with chaff. I take the try outside as soon as I have finished and stir the beans whilst blowing like a fool to get rid of the chaff. I then spray a fine mist of water on the beans and turn again and spray a coule more times to cool.

Just because I have an odd mind, I wondwer if you could spray a fine malt whiskey on the beans at this stage and have whiskey infused beans?

[Dan]

Just because I have an odd mind, I wonder if you could spray a fine malt whiskey on the beans at this stage and have whiskey infused beans?

I did try roasting some beans over coals made from burning old whisky barrels last year. Thought it would be an interesting experiment but it just tasted like smoky coffee!

I think that the best bet would just be to add whisky to the finished article! That said - if you're buying green to home roast you'd probably spoil it by doctoring it!

[Olings]

Somehow I find it really hard to believe that oven roasting can produce roasted beans anywhere near the quality of what Steve produces.

Then again I've never tasted Steves beans...

Maybe Probat and the likes are just a scam. Better to have a giant oven than a 15 kg roaster.

I strongly recommend to buy a Gene Café or even a Hottop rather than oven roast.

I don't mean to be patronising it's just that roasting coffee well is not a fluke or a little trick to be learned in a flash and done to perfection in a normal household oven. At least if we talk about the standards that many of the people on this forum has.

It is fun however to try it at home in the oven and gives an enormous sense of satisfaction when the beans turn brown and smell nice in the kitchen. Everyone should try it once, but it most likely wont make a great cup of coffee.


Ola

[espressomattic]

I have to disagree Ola (Not like me)

The roasts I produce are as of an equal, if not higher
standard to the Gene anyday IMHO. Naturally a HT is better than an oven, but like I said I have tried quite a few different methods and have a pretty good handle on how to roast.

You are right it is not by fluke or trick. I have roasted Kilos of beans and have had a couple of diasters, but I have learned and have really gained (As much as I hate to say it) a really deep knowledge of how to roast. The roasts I used to produce in a WP were as good as the roasted I boght from HB.

I have really high standards for my coffee and I attain it each time I roast.

Yes it is fun, but it is also a craft and one I have spent hours honing. What I would give for a Probat or the like, I know my roasts would be pretty darn good, but it ain't gonna happen. Coffee is all about innovation and experimentation and having some fun. There is nothing wrong with trying other methids, like you say it is fun.

I would urge people to not get too hung up on it and just enjoy it, make mistakes and keep on learning.

Ola, I am not disagreeing or having a go, just countering your point

Matt

[lukas]

Now this is getting interesting. I'm with both of you, Matt and Ola.
Let me explain: I know (well I can imagine) how hard it is to get the best out of a bean. It's work that needs attention and expertise and all that. But at the same time, it is quite easy to not ruin a batch of great greens and get a very satisfying cup from it (in the oven, the whirley or gene). At home, I roast mostly in a cast-iron 1920 stove-top coffee roaster with a crank, my roasts last from 15 to 20 minutes and I can roast 400-500grams of greens at a time. The Coffee almost always is very good - so good in fact, that I tend to only buy roasted when I'm out of beans or can't be bothered with the flat smelling strange the next morning.

On the other hand, I got a bag of Steve's each month for the last twelve, and that certainly showed me what I might never achieve at home.

I recently had the opportunity to roast a batch of Costa Rica Libano CoE on a Probat sample roaster. I roasted it before at home, and the Probat roast turned out a little better in the cup. It's an easy to use roaster, but at the same time I knew all the way while roasting that I'd never be able to get the same out of this bean as Walter or Steve are. I just don't have the experience with that roaster, not the expertise from roasting batches of batches of awesome coffee and all that...

So, I see where you both come from - Ola, you can't reach the coffee nirvana you seek with an oven or popper, I believe that even Matt admits that (edit: well, it seems not! . But Matt, Homeroasted coffee cat not only be good, but highly enjoyable and satisfying. You can vary the profile as you go through many roasts of the same beans, and compare the results in your mind. Homeroasting and Commercial (and I don't mean mass!) roasting are two very different things. For me.
I'd love to say that my homeroasts are as good as Matts, but I believe they arent

[Dan]

I have just acquired an iRoast and am very pleased with it. The first few batches were a disaster (oily French roast anyone?). After a few reprograms though I am producing a very, very pleasing coffee. around 9-11 minutes going from 0 to 210 and then up to 230 is delivering, depending on the ambient temperature, an excellent espresso roast with just the first signs of some surface oils and mouth-watering caramel smells.

Very pleased so far and I've not run out of roasted coffee yet, which is a major advantage!

Dan

[Skippy]

Unfortunately my oven doesn't have a window, so it would make things hard. Especially for a complete novice like myself.

Is the Gene cafe the best option for easyish home roasting if i want to do 250g at once then?

[lukas]

If you don't care cranking, the simplest way to start would be a stove-top thingy for me. Like this one:



There are times in my life I believe I'm a total nerd, though ...

[lukas]

Okay okay okay ... when I think about it, 'simple' would not exactly be the word to describe that roasting procedure ...