Elusive Roast Times
I've been playing more with my Behmor. There's no way to gauge the temp as the beans roast, so I'm left a little in the dark wondering when I can stop the roast and get the color I prefer. This has led to sour batches and 'roasty' batches. I think I was saddest to get a really 'roasty' tasting Ethiopian Harrar that burnt off all of the blueberry notes. It did, however, make an okay espresso shot. I think that whatever blend I use for espresso will definitely include a bit of Harrar.
After destroying one batch of Harrar, I tried it again and managed to taste all of its berry wonderfulness, but I think there's more I could do to get it just right. I've learned that the best time to cup a coffee is two days after it's roasted, so I'm trying to do a better job of sitting on my beans before I break them out. I have a batch of Guatemalan that Carrie and I are going to taste tomorrow. I gave some of this batch to my mom the day I made it and she said it was the 'perfect roast'. Here's a cheer for being believed in!
I took my roaster to my parents' house to play with last weekend, and Fritz, my step-dad, the nuclear engineer, took a look at how to tell roast temp. He -gave- me a laser gun that you shoot at the beans and read their surface temp with. Now, this is still an imperfect tool, because there's a glass screen between my beans and me that reads at 180 degrees right when I want to stop my roast. BUT, all I have to do is crack the door and shoot the beam at my beans when I intend to stop the roast and perhaps that will at least prevent me from stopping the roast too soon. Opening the door changes everything in terms of the temp inside the roaster and could make a roast difficult to duplicate, but it could also be a good way for me to discover how the temperature corresponds to the color, times and sounds of the roast.
The hope is that I could get a good roast on my little home roaster and possibly recreate that same roast again and again. I also received my voltage regulator in the mail the other day, so that should help with variations that exist just because it uses a variable electrical current. So, more to come on all of that in the future!
After destroying one batch of Harrar, I tried it again and managed to taste all of its berry wonderfulness, but I think there's more I could do to get it just right. I've learned that the best time to cup a coffee is two days after it's roasted, so I'm trying to do a better job of sitting on my beans before I break them out. I have a batch of Guatemalan that Carrie and I are going to taste tomorrow. I gave some of this batch to my mom the day I made it and she said it was the 'perfect roast'. Here's a cheer for being believed in!
I took my roaster to my parents' house to play with last weekend, and Fritz, my step-dad, the nuclear engineer, took a look at how to tell roast temp. He -gave- me a laser gun that you shoot at the beans and read their surface temp with. Now, this is still an imperfect tool, because there's a glass screen between my beans and me that reads at 180 degrees right when I want to stop my roast. BUT, all I have to do is crack the door and shoot the beam at my beans when I intend to stop the roast and perhaps that will at least prevent me from stopping the roast too soon. Opening the door changes everything in terms of the temp inside the roaster and could make a roast difficult to duplicate, but it could also be a good way for me to discover how the temperature corresponds to the color, times and sounds of the roast.
The hope is that I could get a good roast on my little home roaster and possibly recreate that same roast again and again. I also received my voltage regulator in the mail the other day, so that should help with variations that exist just because it uses a variable electrical current. So, more to come on all of that in the future!
posted by Tracy Little | 8:58 PM
3 Comments:
Oh, my. The complexities of roasting and "sitting on your beans" sounds harrar-ying! (harrying, get it?) Okay, lame attempt.
I am enjoying reading your adventures in roasting, though. Can I play with your laser gun when you get home? :)
Lol, when I got it, I told John that Fritz gave me a gun. He was so jealous, and then I told him it had a laser beam and I think he was even more jealous (and confused) - and then I showed it to him :)
It's also really cool for figuring out where your heat is escaping your house, you can shoot it on the ceiling, and windows, under your eaves... it's true, I might just love this thing.
I love your roasting blog. This is fun. I can't wait to see all this stuff in action!
If I ever do any sitting for you, you can just pay me in beans, K???
CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!!!!
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