Stretching out the time after first crack

[Hill Girl]

I haven't found mods like shaking, stirring, tilting, dumping out and replacing beans, extension cords adequate to slow down my roasts, especially now that I have removed my thermostat. With what I consider extraordinary methods I can control the roast through the drying phase and then the temperature climbs more quickly than I can manage. I've had it with throwing most of my roasted beans away due to under or over roasting and am modifying with a dimmer on the heater and a thermocouple with USB connection so I can monitor and control time and temp on my laptop.

[SiphonFunction]

I've had it with throwing most of my roasted beans away due to under or over roasting

Are you using a thermometer? I'm getting roasts that are pretty phenomenal with an air popper that I actually pre-heat to speed up the roast. The first roast is never as good as the following roasts because the popper heats up more after the first batch no matter how long I pre-heat for the first batch. The roasts on still days are better than days with any breeze when I am blowing chaff out the window. It usually takes between 4 and 5 min to get to the end of first crack where I stop the roast. If the temp gets up to 415F in the center of the beans, I usually stop the roast. If the time is very short, I might let it climb to 420F. So far, I have found that until you can really control the roast, the faster the better. If you cant reach caramelization, any move towards slower is a move towards flat or even baked coffee.

[Hill Girl]

Hi Siphon!

If you're doing fast roasts how do the beans have long enough to dry so they are not just hot on the outside but not on the inside? I've thrown away a lot of under-roasted beans, hence my question!

You just use this method with City roasts, yes? It seems the speed really takes off after that point and non-electrical mods do not suffice for me.

Thanks,
Hill Girl

[jfutral]

am modifying with a dimmer on the heater and a thermocouple with USB connection so I can monitor and control time and temp on my laptop.

Have you done a thermometer mod at all yet? (Sorry if you have already mentioned this. I kind of lost track.)

Joe

[Hill Girl]

Thanks for replying. Yes, I'm measuring temperature. Method has been evolving - currently a K-type thermocouple connected to a UTC-USB from Omega.

Hill Girl

[jfutral]

Thanks for replying. Yes, I'm measuring temperature. Method has been evolving - currently a K-type thermocouple connected to a UTC-USB from Omega.

Hill Girl

What is your target time for the different legs of the roast—drying, push to 1C, time from either beginning of 1C to 2C or between 1C and 2C? And what temperature range do you see drying occurring?

And what bean types have you been focusing on? I usually stuck with high altitude/high density beans. My stabs at Hawaiian Kona and Moka was OK, but never great. I just attributed it to soft beans not liking the popper. Plus I was never sure what affect constant contact with the popper chamber had on softer beans.

One thing I was wondering (and maybe other fluidbed roasting peeps can chime in here) was maybe hot air roasting is not the best way to achieve the flavours you are shooting for.

I know, while I enjoyed the tastes from my hot air popper (and there may still be some beans I think will be better roasted there—I miss the blueberry aromas from my Ethiopian Harrar beans I got with my popper—overall, I am much happier with drum roasting with the Behmor. My only regret is I wish I had the money to spring for the HotTop.

While one may be able to replicate some of the characteristics of a drum roaster profile with an air popper, I don't think it comes close enough. Ultimately there is a difference between air roasting flavours and drum roasting flavours. YMMV.

Although, I understand the Nesco to do a great job at hitting specific roasts between 1C and 2C, probably better than a popper.

But then, maybe I just didn't try hard enough. I'm kind of lazy that way.

Joe

[gismar]

While we wait for the next article:-)

This experiment where you try to find out what happens when stretching the roast after 1st crack. You state in the article that every roast is roasted to the same roast level, with the difference being the amount of time getting there. How do you define roast level in this case? Are the different roasts roasted to the same color? Is it weight loss you use to control roast level?

Edit: I saw now that all the roasts was roasted til the beginning of 2 crack. But do you have any info on weightloss?

Kind regards,
Jørgen M
Norway.

[joe potts]

Hi just joined first post / reply on anything ever
hill girl : I assume you are using a corn popper of some sort. I have a WB poppery II with a dimmer switch on the fan and transformer on the heater. The thermostat has been disabled. First roasts before mods were about 3 min to 1c and 5 min to full city roast. A suggestion was made to open the vents in the poppery cup. I can now extend my roast time to what ever I feel is correct based mostly on agitation and roast progression, targetting 8+ min to 1c and 11min to full city + . I figured out an easy way to open the vents with a hook tool

Joe