Roasting coffee beans at home can be a rewarding experience if you have the right equipment. The problem is that you need a couple of important things while roasting coffee beans.
One is a reliable heat source, and the other is the beans need to be continuously stirred throughout the roasting process. This is a problem for home roasters since you never know that you’ve burnt your beans until it’s too late.
Coffee beans when they are green need to go through the roasting process so that the bean can properly degas.
What Is Coffee Degassing?
Coffee Degassing is the process of releasing gases from coffee beans that have just been roasted. This gas, usually carbon dioxide, is released from the coffee bean during the roasting process; it is the “crack” you hear during the roasting process.
Degassing usually takes a few days to complete. So basically, if you want your coffee to taste good, let it rest a few days before brewing.
Cracking Beans, What Does It Mean?
This is what is called the 1st and 2nd crack, and depending on your level of roasting, the darker and more complex, the coffee bean flavor will be.
1st crack usually happens when the beans are approaching the edible phase. Light to medium roast will be achieved between the first and second crack; the dark roast will happen after the second crack.
Using A Stir-MATE To Stir Your Coffee Beans?
The Stir-MATE smart pot-stirrer comes with an extra attachment that’s advised to use for jobs like this. I found out the hard way with the original plastic stir handle. It melted from being so close to the heat.
Now despite the amount of heat, you’ll use in your pot, the plastic is supposed to handle 520 Fahrenheit. But obviously, that isn’t so true. If you’re going to do coffee bean roasting, this is where the stainless steel handle attachment comes in handy.
If you have a 5-gallon pot, this works in combination with the stainless steel mixer attachment. The real beauty of this portable machine is that it can attach to any large pot.
It’s also self-adjusting to the shape of a pot lip. This means that if it has a beveled lip edge or a rounded edge, it will fit no matter what. There is also another great feature of this machine. It runs from a battery that can be recharged.
It will also run for 10 full hours before it needs to be charged again. There are a plug-in charger and connector that come with this unit too. I recommend buying a digital thermometer so you can monitor the temperature of the beans.
This will help to keep them reaching the proper temperature that’s good for roasting coffee. It’s better if you use an infrared thermometer for cooking since a rod thermometer can get in the way of the stirring attachment.
You’ll need at least 356-401F for a light roast and 410-428F for a medium roast. Using 437-434F is well-suited for getting a very nice medium-dark to-dark roast. Don’t ever go over 450 degrees, as this will burn your beans.
What I liked About The Stir-MATE
- This stirring machine is completely cordless, and the motor is very quiet.
- The machine attachment can handle larger pots up to 5 gallons.
- The motor on this machine is high in torque and can handle large quantities of coffee beans.
- It comes with a built-in Lithium-ion battery.
- It also comes with a 1-year warranty after the date of purchase.
What I Didn’t Like About The Stir-MATE
- Please do not use the plastic stir handle that comes with the original machine; it can melt.
- Don’t add more coffee beans than the machine cannot handle to stir.
- Always check the beans’ temperature, so you’ll need to adjust your flame setting.
- Always be careful when working around hot pots at 350+ degrees Fahrenheit is used.
Need a coffee grinder? Check Out my guide on choosing the right coffee grinder!
Why Not Buy A Coffee Roaster Machine Instead?
There are already machines on the market that look like crock pots but have a stirring attachment built-in. But all of these are not recommended for roasting coffee beans.
They cannot get up to the kind of heat that a direct flame can have. Another problem is that these crock pot roasters can only halfway roast very small amounts at a time. Probably enough to yield a small sandwich bag of beans.
Not only is this wasteful, but the larger auto roasters may only manage a little bit more- at best. Since this Stir-MATE stirring machine is meant for soups and strong enough to mix cake batter, it’ll handle the weight.
As much as three cups of beans or more can be added into a pot for roasting. Just check the temperature often and look at the beans while they are roasting.
There are professional roasting machines and equipment, but for the price they ask, don’t bother. And the crockpot machines are better suited for popping popcorn or roasting peanuts instead.
Roasting your coffee beans over a stovetop flame will be the best solution to use. It should be the largest burner on your stove, but ideally, an outdoor grill can work fine too. Roasting beans indoors tend to get hot very quickly.
After roasting, you’ll need to put your beans in a sifter to shake out the chaff that comes off the beans. This is better for outside as the chaff falls to the ground and is compostable.
How long Do I Roast The Beans?
RoastyCoffee has a good article on roasting coffee if you’re looking to learn more about roasting coffee at home.
Using the equipment and technique outlined in this article, you can roast more beans with less energy, and get better roasting throughout the bean itself.
Check out My Essential Guide To Low Acidic Coffee!
Conclusion
Roasting coffee beans at home is a better solution to afford great coffee beans that aren’t expensive. It’s the roasting process that makes these beans very pricey at any store.
You can buy raw beans through the internet at a much lower price and roast them yourself. This roasting set-up uses this stirring machine, and the attachment is peanuts compared to other machines.
I think that with just the right amount of timing and learning how to roast your beans at home, you can be a real expert in no time. This is how I learned, and I highly recommend this set-up for being budget-minded.
It beats using the old popcorn machine hand crank pot that many home roasters are using. At least this stirring machine is hands-free and lets you check the temperature easier.
Just keep an eye on the roasting time and you’ll have your own perfect roasted coffee beans in no time.
