First Roast Results! - Large Images

[mhortsch]

Something was up with the amount of time it took I think...

Roasted Sumatra Mandheling from Sweet Marias

SC/TO, without preheating.

1st crack at 14:00, I lifted the lid twice to stir up the beans
2nd crack at 18:57, at least I thought. I actually lifted the lid off, saw the beans weren't all that dark and put the lid back on.
2nd crack at 22:36, this one was more prominent, louder. I pulled 10 secs in.

I need to work on my timing and such. Doing this out in the garage, is it possible the TO isn't getting all the wattage it needs to run full force? Or did lifting the lid a couple times and not preheating result in a longer roast?

A critique of the roast would be greatly appreciated, is it even?

[smokehouse]

How Much Beans did you use?

[mhortsch]

Well I shot for half a pound, or 8 oz.

But I don't have a scale yet, so I took a 5 pound bag, determined that I had just over 12 cups of beans. Divided that by 10 (for 10 half pounds), and used about 1 1/4 cups.

[Mister Moo]

Somethings up... too long. Way too long.

Is the heating element in the SC still connected?
Did you crank the CO up to max or not?
Did you know the heat goes away when you lift the lid?

[evazan]

Roast looks good. Nice and even. Now you just have to taste it and tell us how good it is! It is hard to tell how coffee will taste by just looking at the beans unless they are still green or charcoal.

I'm sure you have probably heard this before but first crack generally sounds like popcorn. Second crack is described differently by different people but to me it sounds like someone stepping up on twigs.

If you are used to the way starbucks beans look then only roasting to second crack would appear very light to you. Starbucks roasts in the vienna range which is well into second crack. This is when the beans start to develop oil.

In my opinion as soon as you hear second crack you have a dark roast. Anything too far past this all starts to taste the same to me.

[mhortsch]

Yeah it was somewhat difficult to figure out the cracks on my first ever roast. Trying to listen for it between the slight ticking of the Turbo Oven, the 'rattling' of the beans moving, and the rain.

Does each crack usually last awhile? I can't recall, but it seems like I heard only a few cracks each time. And the second crack almost seemed as loud as the first.

Next time I will refrain from opening the lid. The only thing I could think of was that my garage wasn't carrying a full wattage. But I did unplug everything else. It has blown a fuse in the past when I overloaded with a mini fridge and a few other things. But would that matter? Should I preheat next time?

Would it be smart to take my next batch, and roast all the way to charcoal to get an idea of what the full term is?

Oh, and the SC heating element is disconnected, and the TO was cranked to 500, at least I think. It showed up on 500, so I never bothered to make sure it was turned all the way.

[evazan]

You'll get the hang of hearing the cracks. I found it very helpful to just burn the crap out of a roast when I first started. This way you get an idea of what the whole process is. I generally only roast 64 grams of coffee at a time so I'm not sure if this holds true for large roasts too, but first crack generally lasts about a minute to two minutes. I generally don't roast too far into second crack so I'm not sure how long that will end up lasting. If you stop hearing second crack you have a very dark roast. You will probably here some stray cracks too. Sometimes one bean gets really hot for some reason and cracks 2 minutes before the others, and other times one bean doesn't get hot enough and cracks 2 minutes later.

I have never used an SC/TO so I can't give any specific advice on your setup. If you have a multimeter you can always check the voltage. As long as it is over 115 you should be fine.

[mhortsch]

So, how soon after roast should the beans obtain the coffee aroma? They still have a bit of the 'roast' smell with a hint if grassy.

[evazan]

In my time roasting I find fresh roasted coffee smells slightly different then what you are used to. I recall hearing that some commercial coffee retailers actually use a spray to scent the inside of the can to achieve that "fresh roasted coffee smell," so don't expect it to smell exactly like that.

The roast smell you speak of will eventually dissipate. I generally get my first big whif after I open up the sealed can 24 hours or so after I roast. You are storing it in an air tight jar, right?

[mhortsch]

Yeah, it's in a ceramic 'coffee' jar with the clasp.

I think I'll run a full cycle roast tomorrow to see what the results are and how long it takes.

[Mister Moo]

20-minutes is baked coffee but it will probably drink OK. You need to trim that roasting time down.

An SCCO routinely roasts a pound in less than 14 minutes. That means first crack at eight minutes and second, if the roast goes that far, happening around 10-13 minutes.

There is such a thing as low voltage in electrical circuits at different times of day; I've measured line voltage as low as 90VAC in some buildings. Check voltage with a multimeter if you know how to do it safely.

Disconnected the Stir Crazy? That's squandered roasting power. I know some folks have a rationale for not using the SC heater but it escapes me at the moment. Maybe to reduce the load on the circuit?

I haven't noticed preheating my SCCO makes much difference; I have noticed that preheating beans (30-60 seconds in a microwave before tossing into the roaster) makes a difference in cold weather.