KellyM
Senior Cook
So making good coffee is a part of cooking, right? I'm wondering if anyone here roasts their own coffee beans, and if so, what they use to do it?
Ishbel said:No.... and anyway, I wouldn't want to forgo the weekly treat of going into the coffee merchants and buying freshly roasted beans... that smell is just heavenly when all the varieties mingle.
KellyM said:So making good coffee is a part of cooking, right? I'm wondering if anyone here roasts their own coffee beans, and if so, what they use to do it?
Ishbel, As pleasant as that sounds, I wouldn't trade home roasting once a week for it.Ishbel said:No.... and anyway, I wouldn't want to forgo the weekly treat of going into the coffee merchants and buying freshly roasted beans... that smell is just heavenly when all the varieties mingle.
skilletlicker said:Kelly,
I started about six months ago. I planned to buy an iroast2 with my first green coffee order, but at the last minute decided to take a stab at oven roasting first, then buy the roaster if that didn't work out. Well I had this elaborate idea of how I was going to go about it that ended up being ridiculous. I did discover that I can do it quite well on the stove top. The sites specializing in coffee spend tons of Kbs and bandwidth describing the relative advantages of the various roasters, which they will happily ship to you with a simple click on a shopping cart icon, then say something like, of course their are still a few cowboys out there who use the skillet method, well that must make me a cowboy 'cause it works for me. If any body's interested I'll post a short but very detailed description of exactly how I do it.
Are you talking about the Rube Goldberg contraption made from an aluminum dutch oven? The coffee sites throw in a free paper that tells you what parts to replace right away. I admit, I have no experience with these, so if anyone reading this makes them, sells them, or uses them, please add your knowledge and experience to the conversation. No offense intended.KellyM said:...I've actually seen some contraptions to do it with.
I roast 1/2 cup of green beans at a time because that's a week supply for me. More than a week and it isn't fresh roasted.KellyM said:...I would be interested in your method. I've never before spoken to anyone who skillet-roasted their beans...
KellyM said:If you think a can of Folgers is pretty danged good, ignore this post. However, if you appreciate really good coffee, you might want to think about roasting your own.
Kelly
Alix said:At 6AM I don't care whether its Folgers, Starbucks or home roasted...all I care about is getting into me. Intravenously if necessary. And trust me...everyone else in my house is as interested in that as I am!
Alix said:At 6AM I don't care whether its Folgers, Starbucks or home roasted...all I care about is getting into me. Intravenously if necessary. And trust me...everyone else in my house is as interested in that as I am!
Kelly, roasting your own sounds like an interesting procedure, but I have to admit, I simply don't have the time for something like that. I would rather just buy myself smaller amounts of good stuff so it doesn't degrade too quickly.
When I first started thinking about home roasting my attitude was that I wanted better coffee, not a new hobby. I was willing to add no more than a 10 or 15 minute once per week task, that I could schedule at my convenience in order to achieve it. My interest and proficiency have improved but the time I'm willing and able to devote to it hasn't changed. I also refuse to complicate the process of brewing that first precious morning cup. Before the home roast I was already grinding store bought whole roasted beans as needed so, for me there was absolutely no additional early prep time. Home roasted or store bought, grinding on demand might add 10 or 15 seconds per pot over pre-ground, but that's a very small price that IMHO is definitely worthwhile.Alix said:At 6AM I don't care whether its Folgers, Starbucks or home roasted...all I care about is getting into me. Intravenously if necessary. And trust me...everyone else in my house is as interested in that as I am!
Kelly, roasting your own sounds like an interesting procedure, but I have to admit, I simply don't have the time for something like that. I would rather just buy myself smaller amounts of good stuff so it doesn't degrade too quickly.
Until today, the narrowest roasted whole bean freshness window I'd heard of was six days. I admit I stretch that to seven because I'm not too good at six day recurring schedules. If I had to roast every day to get much improved coffee, I wouldn't roast.KellyM said:Coffee beans are best if used 24 hours after they are roasted. No more, no less.
Good grief Kelly, It's nine minutes once a week!KellyM said:it still sounds like a lot of work to me. For the rest of the folks out there who are not willing to put quite as much time and effort into really good coffee...
mish,mish said:Skillet, I don't drink coffee anymore, but appreciate your expertise/knowledge and sharing/posting with us here. Good read. Thank you.