If you want to save money by roasting your coffee, you must start by learning to choose the best coffee roaster for your needs. The worst thing you can do is buy the wrong kind of roaster, so this is one of the more difficult coffee-related decisions you’ll have to make.
For the sake of this post, we will be focusing primarily on automated bespoke coffee bean roasters. However, it’s important to note that you don’t need a roasting machine to enjoy the benefits of freshly roasted beans right in your own home.
You can roast beans in a popcorn popper, on the stove, on the grill, or over an open fire. However, an excellent roasting machine may be your best bet if you take home roasting seriously and want some assistance (the do-it-yourself way can take much more time and work).
For what reason do many want to roast their own beans at home? What matters most is how recently the beans were roasted and how well they turned out. Green coffee beans, or unroasted beans, are the best option for those who want to enjoy coffee at its peak freshness every time. In addition to being more cost-effective, green coffee beans have a longer shelf life than their roasted counterparts.
Many coffee connoisseurs consider the ability to roast their beans an essential skill, as it allows them to avoid buying stale coffee, enjoy their preferred level of roast whenever and wherever they like, and save money.
When choosing a coffee roaster, there are two primary machine types to consider: fluid bed/air roasters and drum roasters.
Roasting Machines with a Fluidized Bed of Air
Getting a hold of a conventional fluid bed-based roaster is the first order of business if you want to roast your coffee beans at home. These gadgets are often modest to medium in size and made for personal use in the comfort of one’s home. You won’t have to stand over them like you would if roasting at home on the stovetop, and the beans will be roasted swiftly and efficiently.
These roasters are similar to popcorn makers in that they use heated air to do their operation. In most situations, you can monitor the roast’s development for greater control and may even be offered a selection of pre-programmed roasts. You can always upgrade to a bigger and more complex roaster later on when you have more expertise, but if you’re a ‘newbie’ to home roasting, this kind of machine may be best because you can gain a feel for the whole process as you go along. These appliances are simple to operate and less expensive than others on the market.
However, there are a few drawbacks to using this type of coffee roaster. Some models can’t handle roasting much coffee at once, and others won’t last under heavy use. You may need some time to get acclimated to the machine if it is one of the kinds that does not have very user-friendly controls or pre-sets.
Roasting Pan
When choosing a coffee roaster, a fluid bed roaster is one possibility. However, drum roasting is another viable option. Once only seen in establishments that roasted their coffee beans, drum roasters are now widely available for home usage.
Since drum roasters are often larger than fluid bed machines, they can roast more beans simultaneously. Convection and conduction are the most common operating principles. You put the beans in the drum, turn on the machine, and wait for it to finish roasting.
Although these roasters are made for domestic use, their complexity in operation makes them more suited to a professional setting than a fluid bed roaster. However, this approach is preferred by the majority of coffee connoisseurs since it is thought to result in better-tasting coffee.
One disadvantage of drum roasters compared to fluid bed roasters is that it is not always possible to see inside the machine. To determine the ideal roasting time, you may need to rely on your sense of smell or hearing (as you listen to the coffee bean cracks!). This is one of the reasons why these roasting devices might not be ideal for ‘beginner’ roasters.
You may need to arrange for proper ventilation or perhaps take your roasting outdoors if your drum machine produces excessive smoke. Additionally, drum roasters are more expensive than fluid bed machines. It all comes down to how comfortable you are with home roasting; if you’ve never done it before, a liquid bed machine might be an excellent place to start, while a drum roaster might better serve an experienced roaster who needs more features.
If you’re looking to buy a roaster, it’s essential to know that online user reviews will tell you important information that the manufacturer won’t. Reviews made by regular users will offer you a much better picture of a machine’s pros and cons than any marketing copy ever could.
Some things to keep an eye out for a while using a fluid bed roaster are:
How efficient are the programs, if any?
How user-friendly is it, and what options are there?
Is the roaster of good quality?
If you roast it, how even is it?
How clear is the view into the oven?
How loud is the device, exactly?
How simple is it to disinfect the equipment?
Where does all the trash go?
Here are a few things to keep an eye out for when using a drum roaster:
How efficient are the programs, if any?
How user-friendly is it, and what options are there?
How much smoke does it make?
Can the contents of the drum be seen from the outside?
Does the device overheat?
Where does all the trash go?
How simple is it to disinfect the equipment?
Coffee N’ Beans is a coffee bean roasting company, and Carol Finch enjoys blogging about their organic coffee [http://www.coffee-n-beans.com/1207-organic-coffee.html] and other topics.
