Coffee bean roasting has long been a mysterious process, but more recently, it is being opened up to the home roaster. Roasting your own coffee beans is really not that difficult. In fact, this article will tell you just how to get started.

 

You already know that you can save money by brewing coffee at home, but by roasting your own beans, you can add even more to your savings. All you need are green coffee beans and an oven or coffee roaster. There are a wide variety of methods to heat the beans enough to roast them, but the easiest is probably just to use the oven or your popcorn popper.

 

The first step is to get some green coffee beans, or raw coffee beans. These are the beans that have had the berries removed and have been dried, but not roasted. Most coffee suppliers will also sell green beans and they last for a very long time, so you can buy in bulk and just roast a small amount at a time.

 

If you want to oven roast, preheat the oven to 500º and spread the green coffee beans out on a cookie sheet, making sure they are evenly spread out and only in one layer. Having small clusters or beans piled up on top of each other will give you an uneven roast.

 

While roasting your coffee beans, you need to be right by the oven, since they can burn very easily. The first 8 minutes or so are not as crucial. You will hear a crackling sound and the beans will start to smoke after about ten minutes. . . this is when you need to really pay attention. Watch through the oven door to see when the beans reach the right roast color for your preferences. This should be about 2-3 minutes after the crackling stage.

 

It is also possible to roast the beans in your popcorn popper, just dump them in and turn it on. Be aware, however, that it is likely you will end up with a lot of chaff blowing out of the popper, so you may want to do this near an open window where the debris can be blown outside.

 

An important note, when roasting beans, remember that they will continue to cook for a minute or two after they are taken away from the heat, so be sure to cool them quickly. This can be done by pouring them into a bowl and stirring rapidly, or placing them in front of a fan.

 

Roasting your own coffee beans will give you a whole new brewing experience. The taste is incomparable to beans that have been roasted and let sit for days, you’ll never want to go back!

Filed under: Coffee Beans, Coffee Beans, green coffee beans, roasting coffee