One of my goals was to start roasting coffee at home. This, I am happy to say, was accomplishable!!
I did some research online and found that you can roast coffee in a popcorn air popper. There are some other ways too, like an the stove top, but I have not tried them. The popcorn air popper seemed the best option for me because I also love air popped popcorn and could not see a downside to purchasing a popcorn air popper machine. According to my research there are different kinds of air popping machines and for coffee roasting purposes you need a machine that has the inside air vents (inside the area where you will be adding the green coffee beans) in the sides and not the bottom. I did not understand what this was talking about because I thought the air vents were on the outside and not inside. Learn from my experience, the vents that are being referred to are on the inside of the machine (see image below).
Apart from the obvious green coffee beans that you need and the popcorn air popper, you will also need a metal colander. Metal because the air and beans get really hot and can melt plastic. The top cover on the air popper may also melt or warp due to the heat. Be prepared for that. Mine has done that, but everything stills fits together perfectly, so far. A timer, I use my phone. Oven mitts or something to grab the machine and pieces as they are hot and you need to dump the beans when the time is up. A wooden spoon to stir the beans as they are roasting.
What you will need if you choose to do this yourself:
- Green Coffee Beans
- Popcorn air popper
- Metal colander
- Oven mitts (or something similar)
- Timer/Phone
- Wooden spoon (you could probably use metal too, but I like the wood)
- A notebook and pen, or make notes on your laptop if you prefer that
- A measuring cup (1/2 cup works)
I came across a website called Sweet Maria’s (click https://www.sweetmarias.com/ if you wish to go to their website) that sells and provides green coffee beans from multiple regions as well as coffee roasters, brewers, grinders, and much more. Through them I purchased my air popper for only $25 and it came with 4lbs of green coffee beans for free. This was great on so many levels because I got to try 4 different kinds of coffee beans.
The process:
Turn the air popping machine on. As it heats up add about 1/2 a cup of the green beans. Start the stopwatch on your time. As you pour in the beans watch closely as you want to pour in just enough so that the beans swirl slowly. If the swirling beans come to a stop as you are pouring them in, it may be too much. Add notes in your note book as to how much you poured in. As the beans heat up they become lighter and will start to swirl faster. There is a skin on the beans that will start to fly off. As this starts to happen use the wooden spoon to help stir the beans and get all the skin off. This will continue through the whole process. The skin is called chaff and will fly away all over the area you are working in.
As the beans heat up they will change color from green to light brown or yellow and slowly darken. Depending on the type of beans and the amount put in the machine, around the 2:00 minute to 2:00 minutes and :30 seconds (2:30) mark you will hear the beans start to make a crackling sound. This is known as the first crack. It will start to sound like a quiet crackling fire. This may go one for a few minutes, but it usually goes quiet again. Again, depending on the beans and amount put in the machine, at about the 6:00 minute mark you will hear a light pop. This is slightly different than the crackling from first crack. This is known as the second crack and lets you know that the beans are done and can be taken out, the machine turned off, at any point from here on out. The longer your roast, the darker the beans will be. So if you like a lighter roast take the beans out at the second crack. I like mine medium so I let them go a little longer. Be sure to keep stirring the beans so they roast evenly and the chaff can be released.
Once the beans are roasted to your level of darkness, be sure to note in your notebook the amount of time you roasted them in order to do it again. Use the oven mitts to take the cover off the popper and dump the beans in the metal colander. They will be hot and will make the colander hot as well. Let them sit in the colander until cooled, outside is a good option as they may be smoking. Once cooled store them in an air tight container and grind the next day for your freshest cup of coffee ever.
Note: Be prepared that this does create smoke. You may set the smoke alarms off. If possible do it outside. I have set many smoke alarms off, both in my apartment and at my new house. You want lots of ventilation and fans if possible.