Have you seen anything more excited than learning how to roast coffee beans? It is a statement because for us, nothing beats this process of how to roast coffee beans at home.
Learning how to roast coffee beans is about timing, temperature and using the right device to produce a fresh and the most delicious coffee you have ever tasted.
Home roasting also ensures that your coffee is as fresh as possible, and therefore the roast is as light or dark as you favor.
We proudly present to our coffee-lover at Unrest Coffee some recommended roasted coffee that certainly please the hard-to-please customers. We cover the various methods, their pros and cons and explore which one is best for your taste.
Here are 3 Ways to Roast Coffee at Home That You Wish You Knew
Understand the Roasting Process
We have filtered out these four home roasting methods that you can try right away. Depending on which approach you are going for, the result will vary, but what never changes is the process:
- Beans get hot
- Beans get roasted
- Beans get cool
- Beans get delicious
Like anything else, you cannot skip the most basic process. The quality of your coffee cup lies in this simple process. This process is not new but only the true masters know this process well. Let us show you what is happening, from raw green beans to brown coffee beans we all know.
Roasting Key Factors
When roasting coffee beans, make sure you keep in mind these 4 key factors:
- Temperature: Make sure the temperature is within the range from 370F to 540F (Or 187C to 282C). Different method will yield different temperature.
- Agitation: Never leave your beans unchecked. Keep stirring so the beans are roasted evenly.
- First Crack: The water inside the beans start to evaporate resulting in the crackling sound. When this happens, keep an eye out for the color change. If you prefer light roast, this is a great indication to stop.
- Second Crack: After around 10 minutes, a second crackling sound occurs. This crack indicates a medium roast. Shortly after, you will have dark roast. And if you continue to leave your beans in, they will start to burn, and you will have to discard the batch.
*Keep in mind that temperature is the most important factor in the process. And whichever type of roast you desire, you can stop the process then.
Know Your Roast
The aroma of your roasted beans vary by how long you roast them (and the temperature you are using). Here are some good key indications:
- Light Roast: This color is generally avoided as it can result in a sour taste. The body is weak, the aroma medium and the sweetness is low.
- Medium Light Roast: This roast is common in the eastern United States. It has a full body, a full aroma, and a mild sweetness.
- Medium Roast: A common roast in the Western United States. It has a full body, strong aroma, and mild sweetness. Check out our Baxter Coffee and Blue Hill Coffee
- Medium-Dark Roast: This roast is also known as a Light French or Viennese roast. It has a very full body, a strong aroma, and a strong sweetness.
- Dark Roast: This is known as espresso or French. It has a full body, a medium aroma, and a full sweetness. We have Allagash Coffee
- Very Dark Roast: This is also known as Spanish and Dark French. It has a weak body, a mild aroma, and a low sweetness.
- Burnt: If leave your beans on for too long, the beans turn black and the nice coffee fragrance is now replaced with a burnt smell. You may need to restart.
That is all you need to know about coffee beans. Let us quickly dive into the home roasting process. Yes, here are the 3 ways you can start to roast your coffee beans at home:
1. Home frying pan
This method is the most probable for most household since everyone certainly have a frying pan, right? From our experience, this method can take as long as 20 minutes to roast your beans to the consistency you desire. The reason is because the heat escapes from the pan too quickly, making the process very slow. And you will have to constantly stirring the beans to make sure they do not burn right off the bat if your stove is too powerful.
2. Home oven
Using home oven to roast your coffee beans is not a bad idea at all. First, you will need to pre-heat your oven to around 450F (230C). Then lay your green beans on the baking tray and put them in the oven when the preset temperature is hit. Using this method, your beans can get roasted quickly, but you cannot really stir them to achieve the right consistency on all the beans.
3. Popcorn maker
This method might be ideal for all the Netflix lovers with their own popcorn cookware. What’s best is that your beans will get that constant stir, so the heat will be distributed evenly on your beans. Popcorn maker can reach a temperature of 400F to 460F (205C to 238C) within 5-7 minutes, you can get a fast-roasting process. It may be quite loud so make sure you focus on listening to the crackling sound to determine the condition of your roasting process.
*Important: After the roasting process, take your beans out and leave it somewhere to cool down before you put it away for later use. Grind them at each usage to maintain the perfect aroma.
Try Our Roast
You got all the important information to start roasting your beans at home. Try it and let us know, we would love to see the end results.
Afraid of burning your beans or no right equipment or ingredients to roast your beans at home, check out our shop.
The coffee market is a very competitive market, but we believe in our process and the products we produce.
