Roasting in a Winter Wonderland
Bread Machine Roasting Update
I find myself going to great lengths to use the BM/HG roasting method instead
of my IR2. I'm pretty sure the roasts taste better in the bread machine largely
because of my ability to control the ramp up to first crack and then to prolong
the time between first and second using the heat gun.
In any case, some of my roasts, now that the cold weather has set in, have been
done at minus 20C in my unheated garage, and as long as I wave the heat gun
around the very cold bread machine, for a bit, it works just fine. Yes, I know I
could carry the bread machine into the house after I'm done and avoid this part,
but I am a lazy roaster.
I'm using a very inexpensive heat gun, with only two speeds. I half expected
this to be a problem, but it isn't. In fact, it is much lighter than some of the
better heat guns, and I find that very advantageous. It has survived several
drops onto concrete.
What seems to work best for me, is to bring the beans into first crack using the
heat gun on high (the 1500 watt setting), and then when 1st is really popping,
bring it down to the 1000 watt setting. My goal is to maintain the temp, but not
really increase it for a bit. After about 4 minutes maintaining (this varies
with the bean), I then turn it back on high, if I am going for a darker roast,
and finish the roast. If I am going for a lighter roast, I never get to
that part, and will stop the roast either shortly after first crack has truly
finished, or at some other point along the way.
My first roast was done with 3/4 pounds of beans. I routinely roast with almost
twice that amount now, and just to see if it could be done, once did a kilo
roast successfully. The only thing to remember is that as the roast pan gets
fuller, as the beams expand, I have to adjust the heat gun position so that it
never gets too close to the beans.
I was somewhat concerned about the dough cycle giving me a long enough window to
roast larger quantities. If I let the cycle finish, the roaster does not want to
start a new one right away. However, if I briefly turn off the machine (I am
talking 2 seconds or there about), the cycle simply resets, and I am good to go
again. When I roasted the kilo, I paused it about 6 minutes in, let it reset,
and gained more than enough time to do a FC+ roast.
I also took my heat gun with me on holidays, and successfully roasted in a
number of other bread machines. I did check to make sure that each of those
machines had an all metal stirring apparatus, as some bread machines do not.
On this particular November day, tt was warm enough to roast outside of the garage. Note the blue sky. Also note that the heat gun is positioned in a stand-up chicken roaster. My preference is to hold the heat gun and adjust the distance from the bean mass. I think it gives me more control than one gets using a fixed position, but this works when I am truly lazy.
I also took a picture that shows the difference in volume between 50 grams of
green and 50 grams of roasted coffee. The roast isn't really as dark as it looks
here. It's a nice full city, pulled about 3 minutes after 1st crack had done its
thing, and before 2nd crack had begun.
There are more pictures of today's roast here, in my Picasa web album. The roast isn't as uneven as it looks, but it is a Harar, and that bean never gives you the uniformity that is prized by home roasters and familiar to everyone who buys Starbucks. Of course, even I could get an evenly roasted Harar if I deliberately burned my beans.
All of you who know my husband RT should really tell him that I need a new camera. Those on good terms with god might try asking her to give me younger eyes.
I don't know if it would improve my roasting, but it sure would improve my photography.
