How To: Roast Coffee at Home

I recently learned to roast my own coffee so I thought I'd share it with you all. I know it's kind of light on actual photos and will be adding more when I find them :-)

 

 

My first stop was at Mr. Green Beans (check them out Here) another great resource for Green Beans is Sweet Maria's. The couple at Mr. Green Beans was super helpful and totally love what they do (plus it's literally a Mom and Pop shop- gotta love supporting local business)...I left feeling like I too could roast my own!

On to the tutorial...

Step One- Assemble your hardware:

 You'll need:

An Air Popper- My favorite is the Poppery II by West End (Mine may possibly be as old as I am!) You'll want to make sure you get a popper with a reservoir that is vented on the sides and not one with mesh on the bottom- the latter doesn't work (blows so hard beans end up EVERYWHERE and it doesn't vortex so the beans are unevenly roasted...total disaster).

A Long Handled Spoon (to stir the beans if they look uneven)

A Colander (or 2...even better)

1/2 Cup Measuring Cup

Either a Paper Bag Cut to fit the chute of the popper or a large bowl of water (to catch the chaff). My favorite is the bowl... it seems to be less mess.

Step 2:

Measure out 1/2 Cup Green Beans and pour them into the Popper (with the popper off :-))

Step 3:
Set a timer for the desired time (I started at 5 minutes)

Step 4: 

Plug in the popper and start the timer. You'll want to keep an eye on it because it's roasting at a very high temp and there's a risk of fire (I've never had it happen yet). 

Step 5: 

Turn off the popper (mine has no on/off switch so I just unplug it) and put on oven mitts.

Step 6:

Pour the beans into a metal colander and shake to cool ( I also place it in the freezer for 5 minutes to cool it really quickly).

Step 7:

After the beans have cooled you can brew your first pot but it's best to let them rest for at least 12 hours place them in a container that is not airtight (they will release CO2 over the next few hours).

Step 8:

Place the roasted beans into an airtight container (after the 12 hours has passed).

Enjoy!!