Who wants to learn how to roast their own coffee at home?

[ohiofly]

I don't like coffee.

Well I guess it will be ok to not like coffee, there is always Tea and that's another Thread!

[Clay]

Warning: this is a dangerous (addictive) road!

I just couldn't leave well enough alone. I was out shopping today, imagine that, and I found a Popcorn Maker that Sweet Maria's describes as an airbed popper. First I checked Ebay and used Poppery IIs are going for over $30 - that's nuts!

I was in Walgreens and found this Kitchen Gourmet Popcorn Maker on sale for $7.99. I think that they are being discontinued because when I check the Walgreens web site they are listed as " Product is no longer active". They tend to roast hot according to a thread on CoffeeGeek: http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/cof...meroast/229242 With a fan or roasting outside in cooler temps, like I will be soon in Wis, it will be a cheap way into the roasting adventure. I think I will go back and buy a second or third one as soon as I try some green beans. For $8.43 out the door it won't hurt to have a back up or two or better yet, I can run two at a time for a larger batch and roast less often.

I looked at a Presto Popcorn maker at Wally world, but it had the screen on the bottom and Sweet Maria's web site said to avoid those types of hot air poppers.

So now, what $30 burr grinder do I need so I don't have to give up my dubbing mixer?

Rick

[mjsmith1223]

How very cool to see a coffee roasting thread here...

I've been roasting my own coffee since 2004. I definitely get better coffee than I could ever get at a grocery store or a coffee shop. I source my beans from Sweet Maria's, Cate's or a local place (Higher Grounds in Traverse City, MI). Just enjoyed a really nice Mexican coffee this morning with my breakfast. I use a hand cranked popcorn popper on the stove to roast with. If a person can make popcorn, they can roast coffee.

[ol' blue]

Just a word of warning. I switched to an iRoast2 after roasting 3 batches back to back in my hot air popper. It seems that a cool down time between batches is mandatory if you don't want to slag your electronics.

[Steve Molcsan]

There is one type of coffee I saw a bucket list.

Anybody know what it is?

[CO_Flyfisher]

Definitely let the popper from Walgreens cool down between roasts. They have a one-time only thermal fuse (same design as the older Poppery II), and if you get it too hot, they MELT and you'll either have to break into the popper and bypass the fuse, or throw the thing away and get another.

After I introduced this tasteful endeavor to my FIL, he proceeded to burn up about three Toastmaster poppers (we were getting them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond at the time) because he didn't have the patience to let them cool down between roasts.
I finally got him a Poppery I as a gift, and did the quick and easy mod so the fan always runs but the switch just runs the heater (can only be done easily on the Poppery I or the original Pumper). That way, once the roast is done, all you have to do is flip the switch to shut off the heater, and since the fan continues to run, the roaster also becomes a bean cooler. You can do back-to-back batches all day this way, and never have to worry about having problems with the popper.

For those of you who didn't look, the recent link that Clay posted has some good info in it. I need to go start digging up some of my old threads over there for you guys to look at. The link mentions the Toastmaster TPC3, and that is the unit I started on (there are several TM poppers, and I was one of the ones who helped to figure out which was which).

[CO_Flyfisher]

There is one type of coffee I have on on my bucket list give a try.

Anybody know what it is?

Kopi Luwac. Stay far, far, far away!!!

[TB Wannabe]

At the risk of starting a stampede:

Let me know just how good it is..

[CO_Flyfisher]

OK, here's a good thread over at CG regarding the newer style poppers like Walgreens currently has. I posted near the end (I'm Chocolate_Dog_Kona), and there are two links in my post that are also very worthwhile reads.

[ohiofly]

At the risk of starting a stampede:

Let me know just how good it is..

At the risk of being labled. About 2yrs ago I was at a Coffee sampleing aaannnndddd well I can only say, if someone would not have told what it was! It was good. While it stayed down I haven't tried it after that
Dave