Have you ever wondered how to roast your own coffee? Did you know that roasting your own coffee at home is an extremely easy and satisfying way to save money? You may not know this, but roasting coffee is about a difficult as boiling an egg!
Along with saving money, comes personal satisfaction, extreme freshness and intense flavor, and bragging rights! For $30 or less, here is how to start your own home coffee roasting.
How to Roast Coffee at Home
One thing that I love is finding ways to reuse kitchen appliances and gadgets that I already have. I hate keeping something around that only has one purpose. When I discovered that I could use my popcorn popper to roast coffee at home, I was more than elated!
Step 1: Gather the things you need
- A hot-air Popcorn popper with a funnel to catch the chaff. Make sure you use this model, as others could overheat. Go thrifting. (I found mine for $.99 at a Goodwill.)
- Large bowl to collect chaff (the skin layer that flakes off when cooked)
- Green coffee beans (½ cup per batch). You can order green beans online. If you can find a local store that can be ordered through, pick up your order to avoid shipping costs.
- Colander for cooling the beans (medium-sized)
- Two oven mitts or potholders
- Coffee bean grinder. I also found one at Goodwill, slightly used. If you purchase new the lower end cost around $10-$15.
Forget the Coffee Roasting Machine
Position popper under kitchen exhaust fan near an open window to dissipate smoke (beans will smoke!) Can be outside, but only in mild weather temperatures, as extreme temps could alter the bean roast
Place in popping chamber same volume of green beans as the volume of popping corn recommended in instructions accompanying popper. Do not exceed this volume.
Make certain plastic chute (cover over popper) is in place. Do not operate without this chute as the temperature will not be consistent.
Place a large bowl under chute opening to catch chaff. (See picture).
Plug in/turn on popper.
In approximately 3-4 minutes coffee-smelling smoke will appear and beans will begin to crackle. Turn of exhaust fan if indoors.
About 1 minute after smoke and crackling begin, (for light to medium roasts) and 2 minutes (for darker roasts), turn off the popper and immediately dump the beans into the colander, using oven mitts.
Place colander under kitchen exhaust fan and stir or toss beans until warm to touch.
Step 3: Enjoy Your Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans
Enjoy! Beans are at their prime 12-24 hours after roasting. However, this shouldn’t stop you from grinding some immediately after roasting! Leave freshly roasted beans out in the open for the first 24 hours to complete its de-gassing process. (makes the flavor richer).
If you want to store it immediately, be sure to leave the same amount of air in the container as the level of beans to let the de-gassing process continue. Grind beans as needed. The hard shell on the bean protects the flavor inside, so don’t grind up your beans until you are ready to brew it.
Author’s Note:
So extremely easy! And I promise, your house will smell AMAZING!!!
Play around with different types of beans to find your favorite. Roast to different levels and sample each one. Not sure what to buy? There are samplers available which could help you to find your favorite.
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is a lighter and full-bodied roast with a high caffeine level and oh so yummy! By the way, once you’ve brewed your coffee here are 21 clever uses for using the coffee grounds too!
Happy Roasting!
