advice on green beans...

by **theDirector** » Thu May 11, 2006 2:21 pm

ok...so the story is I got a Hottop, and had been struggly to get a good dark monsoon malabar roast...today I opened a fresh bag of green beans, result i managed to do my perfect dark roast straight off...question is, i am thikning that the erratic roasts i had been getting were all down to an old bag of monsoon malabar...when i say old, it was opened b4 my iroast gave up, which must have been about 7 or 8 weeks agon now....the bag had just been rolled down in the meantime :-(

could this be the reason for my erratic roasting results? or is it just me?
many thanks

by **Steve** » Thu May 11, 2006 2:27 pm

Green moisture content can vary wildly, add to this monsoon malabar then it can be all over the map. Also its this time of year new crop monsoon is in store so its ultra fresh.

by **nickr** » Thu May 11, 2006 4:02 pm

The first roast on the Hottop almost always works well. If you try another roast staight away I find it often struggles to get to second crack. I now let the machine cool to room temp before attempting another roast.

by **theDirector** » Thu May 11, 2006 11:04 pm

i am thinking i might actually have an element problem...looking back at some notes of my roasts so far, using the same setting and beans for all three of them, one set of beans was, on a scale of 1 to 10 - 10 being very dark, 1 being green...one set of beans was 3.5, and the two other sets were 10. All roasts were done on a one off basis. I dont just don't get it...it cant have been the beans....how can i test the element...new thread i guess...

by **simonp** » Thu May 11, 2006 11:56 pm

Don't bother with anything but setting 7, and manually stop the roast. Measur ethe time to get the roast you desire, and I suspect you will find it varies no more than a minute or 2. Do you roast outside? The ambient air temperature will have a very big effect on roast time.
If you had a faulty element it would be consistent at least, so I think it is unlikely.

by **Steve** » Fri May 12, 2006 7:40 am

Monsoon malabar is one of the most unpredictable beans you can roast. As I've said the moisture content of these beans can be all over the map and can change quite rapidly and un evenly if not stored correctly.

I agree with Simon ambient temperature and possibly voltage fluctuations could be the cause here. I know one prominent hottop owner will go around turning big voltage eaters off to get consistency in his roast.

Steve

by **CakeBoy** » Fri May 12, 2006 11:08 am

Steve wrote:Monsoon malabar is one of the most unpredictable beans you can roast. As I've said the moisture content of these beans can be all over the map and can change quite rapidly and un evenly if not stored correctly.

I agree with Simon ambient temperature and possibly voltage fluctuations could be the cause here. I know one prominent hottop owner will go around turning big voltage eaters off to get consistency in his roast.

Steve

That wouldn't be Phil would it? :wink:

by **Gouezeri** » Fri May 12, 2006 11:34 am

CakeBoy wrote:
Steve wrote:I know one prominent hottop owner will go around turning big voltage eaters off to get consistency in his roast.

That wouldn't be Phil would it?

Nah, if it was Phil it would have to be preeminent! :wink:

by **Steve** » Fri May 12, 2006 12:30 pm

Could be

by **theDirector** » Sat May 20, 2006 6:14 pm

can someone explain the idea behind using only heat 7 and dumping early....new thread i guess...juswt trying to get the inside track on this machine...

by **HughF** » Sat May 20, 2006 6:58 pm

You watch the beans, listen for the cracks, smell the aroma, possibly check the temperature if you have a digital HotTop and dump when you reckon they're ready. The degree of roast for any duration will vary with the beans, the mains voltage and other factors so for the best results trust your senses rather than time. Oh, and don't be like me - DO keep a roasting log... you'll learn quicker.

Cheers,

Hugh

by **GeorgeW** » Sat May 20, 2006 7:03 pm

Second the roasting log idea. It's essential to track down the reason for inconsistencies in roasts...especially if your memory is like mine.

by **CakeBoy** » Sat May 20, 2006 8:21 pm

Do you guys log every roast or just changes? I log the first roast of each bean/blend, then just log changes to roasts, whether they are my changes or things that occur with the roast.

by **simonp** » Sat May 20, 2006 8:41 pm

theDirector wrote:can someone explain the idea behind using only heat 7 and dumping early....new thread i guess...juswt trying to get the inside track on this machine...

There are so many things that affect the roast time, temperature, humidity, voltage, beans etc, so it is better to end the roast when YOU think it is done rather than relying on the settings on the Hottop, which are purely based on time. Level "5" for instance may give a certain level of roast on one bean type, but a lighter roast on a bean that takes more heat to roast, like a Sumatran. Also it will potentially give a different result on the same bean on a day when wherever it is you roast is coller or hotter, or damper.
I see a minute or so variance from the same bean to the same roast level sometimes.

by **simonp** » Sat May 20, 2006 8:42 pm

CakeBoy wrote:Do you guys log every roast or just changes? I log the first roast of each bean/blend, then just log changes to roasts, whether they are my changes or things that occur with the roast.

Unless I am being lazy, I log each roast. At least what I roasted and when, even if not the full time sfor cracks etc (I often don't note this on a bean I have roaste da lot, and know well).

advice on green beans...

advice on green beans...

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