Roasting virgin

[davidd]

Coincident with joining the forum (hi all) I have just purchased an Alpenrost (e-bay special) and will be looking for some roasting advice. I'm sure that once I've got used to navigating the site, I'll find that there's a bucket-load of info archived here, but hope that you'll make allowances for a new boy and his niaivety. (I've belonged to groups in the past where new members were dark roasted - sure that's not goindg to be the case here!) I was seriously looking at the Hottop, but finances won out (and being a birthday present from my long-suffering Mrs.d made this a no-choicer - hope I made the right move?). Any advice gratefully received.

[MKSwing]

Any advice gratefully received.

Hi and welcome
Well, I don't own an aplenroast but there is one thing you have to know about roasting before you start. : It makes a lot of smoke, so be careful where you roast. I do it in my kitchen, closing the door and opening the window, this is what impressed me the most, the first time. The flavour during a roast is fantastic too and too bad you can't see the roasting process, it's just magical

[tisri]

I've got something of a reputation here for dark roasting everything, but I'll make an exception for you

The Alpenrost will produce a lot of smoke, so make sure you've got good ventilation. Some people roast outside, I roast with the back door open and a fan running to try and reduce the amount of smoke that gets into the house (I use a Hottop).

I really would recommend you keep a detailed log of everything you roast and how you liked the results so you can repeat them and experiment based on known results. I note the weight of the batch before and after roasting, the times first and second crack started and peaked and what settings I used. That lets you taste the results and make the next batch darker or lighter to suit your taste.

Don't be afraid to experiment, try something different to how you normally roast things. I like dark roasts, and occasionally try roasting something much lighter than normal. The beauty of home roasting is that you can do that kind of thing - sometimes they work very well and sometimes you put the whole batch in the bin and try something else. Green beans aren't hugely expensive so give things a try.

If you're feeling really brave write up some cupping notes when you drink the results of your roasts, and send them to Phil so we can all see what you've roasted and how it tasted.