I Melted My Rival

[walts]

Well it had to happen I guess. I have been putting up with beans roasted, I don't know when and enough is enough. Having nicely recieved a brand new Rival Popcorn Popper and a pack of Ethiopian Longberry green beans I thought, lets go and do it.

Okay so as well as suffering from terminal cancer, I am stone deaf to boot, so I was never going to hear first or second crack. I loaded the Rival with 150 gms of beans, replaced the little brown hat cum measuring device and switched on and waited.

After a couple of minutes an odd piece of chaff started floaing out of the chute. I held a damp cloth in front of this about two inches away and as the amount of chaff increased, it was sufficient to stop it and drop it to the work top surface. Thats okay I thought. 3 minutes on and the beans began changing colour, nice light brown. The Rival was swirling them about very nicely.

At 4.5 minutes the chaff had ceased coming out of the chute and I could smell the most wonderful aroma. Fresh roasted coffee. What a beautiful aroma guys. It knocked the socks off anything I have ever smelt before.
5 minutes and judging by the smoke coming from the to of the Rival my beans were done. I tried to lift off the measuring cup and found that it had welded to the plastic dome. Oh no! I switched off the Rival and grabbing an oven glove, lifted the done off and poured the, by now beautiful dark roasted Longberry into a large glass bowl to cool them off.

Sadly the dome has melted a little where the little brown measuring fits and examination shows that although the damage is not that great, that little brown cup aint going to fit back. Lets hope that I can still carry on roasting without that cap in place? Hopefully someone will be able to tell me about that. I never would have believed that the Rival would generate such heat to melt the dome. A design fault? Maybe.

But that Ethiopian Longberry? Cor! I tell you guys, it was just right at 5 minutes. Beautiful deep dark brown and my poor old blade grinder did me proud. But one hour later, it made the most perfect cup of thick, rich, fragrant coffee in my Bodum Press. Honestly I have never tasted such coffee and if this is home roasting, then thats for me from now on. Not sure what is going to happen with the Rival though. Just hope that nothing else melts.

[NottmSteve]

Just a tip... it will taste better if you let the beans rest for at least 48 hours...
They are still changing over this time, as gas is slowly released.

The flavours will intensify... a bit like wine (although we are talking days, not years here!).

[matts]

Lets hope that I can still carry on roasting without that cap in place? Hopefully someone will be able to tell me about that.

Hey Walt

Nice one It's fun eh...don't worry about the plastic thing, they always melt. You can roast entirely without it, but then you might have a problem with beans and chaff flying all over the place, or you can use a tin can with both ends off as a kind of spout/ chimney, you might have to squash it a bit to get it to fit into the neck of the popper and it gets hot of course (and chaff will still fly all over the place).

Also if you use a bit less beans (try 100g say) you will get a bit slower roast which is generally reckoned to be better.

Cheers
Matt

[walts]

Thanks guys. Just the encouragment I needed. Okay Steve, I will leave the beans 48 hrs to mature before grinding. I shall also limit my roast to 100 gms Matt and as you say the roast will hopefully be better still. The little brown measuring device on top of the Popper will no longer fit so I shall carry on without it. Your right of course Matt, It was great fun and I guess home roasting will be a regular event from now on. Thanks again. Walt.

[steves]

Right.

I HAVE TO have a go at this. Will the £10 Whirley Popper that josh_robb has helpfully mentioned fit the bill? Or would I be better to use a heat gun?

Steve

[zix]

Or would I be better to use a heat gun?
Steve

Do you have a bowl, preferably round-bottomed? And the heat gun? In that case, give heatgun roasting a try.

[steves]

I do have a bowl, but my wife uses that for cutting my hair

What sort of material for the bowl anyway - I've got glass or stainless steel. What sort of diameter for what sort of weight? How about bottom heat - cast iron saucepan? Perhaps better point me in the direction of a FAQ as I know so little

Steve

[zix]

I do have a bowl, but my wife uses that for cutting my hair

What sort of material for the bowl anyway - I've got glass or stainless steel. What sort of diameter for what sort of weight? How about bottom heat - cast iron saucepan? Perhaps better point me in the direction of a FAQ as I know so little

Steve

Mats´ quick-FAQ for heatgunners (other hg roasters might disagree):
Heatgun roasting is cheap, and if you have the bowl and the hg, it is very easy to try. But it should be done out in the open, on a balcony or porch or something, if you roast more than 100g.

Bowl can be anything that withstands the heat. Oven-safe glass is probably great. Stainless is OK also, but leaks more heat. I use a round-bottomed stoneware bowl, outside measures: about 10cm high, 17cm diameter. With this, I do not need any extra heat from below - some people use gas or grills for that. Too much trouble for me!

Heatgun specs aren´t important - but use one with 1500W or more. I use an El Cheapo heatgun, rated at 2000W, 300/600°C, 500/650 l/min. How much you can roast depends on bowl size and hg. I roast about 200-250g with my setup, but no more. 120-150g is fine also.

If it is windy and/or cold, consider putting up something as a windshield. Bring a watch with large easy-to-read numbers. Then roast!

Keep stirring the beans with a wooden spoon or fork or something. Plastic will probably melt, metal will get too hot to hold.
Stir almost all the time to avoid hotspots and blackened beans. Slowly playing with the heatgun over the beans is good to. Avoid stirring the beans with the airflow, they will roast unevenly and will pop off more "flakes" since the nozzle (usually) is a little too close when the airflow can stir the beans.
Depending on outside temp, heatgun specs, distance from nozzle to beans, wind, bean type, bean mass, how much you stir and perhaps some more variables, you will probably reach first crack after 4-11 minutes. I aim for 8-10. Second crack will come somewhere between 11-20 minutes. I aim for 17-20.

P.S. Beans usually even out in colour close to second crack. Don´t worry if they look uneven after first crack, but be gentle and don´t force the roast too much at the start or near second crack. If you think things move too slow, bring the nozzle closer to the beans and vice versa. D.S.

[phil]

There are a couple of TMC articles on heat gun roasting. Alex (moccafaux) wrote up his experiences some time ago.

[Dan]

Right.

I HAVE TO have a go at this. Will the £10 Whirley Popper that josh_robb has helpfully mentioned fit the bill? Or would I be better to use a heat gun?

Steve

I purchased one from Comet a few weeks ago - in a word, brilliant. I never dreamed that a £10 appliance could make such a good job but six minutes on some Brazilian Fazenda Cachoeira and I get a perfect dark roast - tastes great first thing in the morning.
Highly recommended for anyone with a tenner to spend (plus some green beans) and a hankering to try something new.