"I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
If all goes as planned, I will by tonight be the proud owner of a used Fresh Roast 500.
Now I need to figure out where should I be buying green coffee. I almost pulled the trigger on some Nicaraguan off amazon because I can get it next day and maybe it's OK,... they claim it's their "best seller". Would these beans be good for a newbie to experiment with? Or should I pass on it?
edit: once you get going and the machine works as advertised and you decide you want to roast larger batches a taller roasting chamber is available.
beginners guide here is useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlRRMQpJfI
You and me both, @Patrickbrick. I already have cigars and woodworking to get caught up in, not sure I could handle another hobby. Although, the idea of roasting ones own coffee is quite romantic.
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17
Peter was robbed at that Latte Art competition. That's what happens when you let the Wife of a competitor be a judge. I'll have to bring the trophy to MKE at Herftime for surrender.
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I picked it up today. I plugged it in and ran it a bit before I paid her. Got it home and after further inspection I have determined it's a wreck. Not that it's ruined but it's filthy with char buildup and the chafe collector on top is caked up and needs a heavy cleaning because I don't figure it's possible for that thing to allow good airflow. Also the base (motor and fan) is full of big pieces of light fluffy chafe. I tried to disassemble the base so I could get a good look inside and make sure motor's airflow or the fan's airflow wasn't obstructed, but so far I can't get inside. I've taken out about six screws already but, there are two more star bit screws I haven't been able to reach yet.
Update: Without being able to take the base apart I shook it, and tapped on it until a cup or so of fluffy chafe was spread over one corner of my sink. Maybe I got most of it. Finding all that chafe sucked up into the base tells me the guy that used this had chafe all over the place. And I also took an old toothbrush and surprisingly effectively cleaned the caked up screen mesh at the top of the machine. My Nicaraguan beans from amazon came in today. Maybe I'm ready to try a batch.
@silvermouse said:
simple green is a recommended coffee roaster cleaner and compressed air for the fluffy chaff.
I use a dilution of Simple Green and water, don't remember if it's 3:1 or 5:1 water to Simple Green. Strong stuff. You want to do a dry roast after you clean with Simple Green to burn everything off before you roast with coffee.
Nowadays I use Tabs coffee pot cleaner in my coffee pot and save the cleaning fluid to clean my roaster; soaking the chaff filter and the impeller fan from my Bullet for 5 minutes and dipping and wiping the coffee oils off the roaster with a rag.
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@Bob_Luken said:
My Nicaraguan beans from amazon came in today. Maybe I'm ready to try a batch.
Go for it! Be prepared for smoke. On the stove under a vent hood is good. It will set off the smoke detector otherwise. Outdoors is good if weather permits. Once you get a good roast of good beans....
I got tired of cleaning last night and instead settled down for some libation and a Crowned Heads stick. Last thing I cleaned before I quit was the glass and metal roast chamber. I disassembled this (middle section) part and used a generic soap pad (steel wool) to get some of the baked on black char off of the bottom (metal) part of the roast chamber. There was what seemed to be a clear (silicone?) factory seal at the bottom edge all the way around where the glass meets the metal base and it appeared that the manufacturer never intended for the roast chamber to be disassembled. However, it looked like this previous owner had gotten this unit so hot that the silicone on the inside edge had been baked or boiled to a crisp. It seemed like some molasses that had been boiled in a shallow frying pan until it was both flakey and gummy at the same time.
@Yakster said:
You want to do a dry roast after you clean with Simple Green to burn everything off before you roast with coffee.
Instead of a dry run to burn off any residue, I'm considering a sacrificial run with beans, then I'll discard those beans. That way I get to practice the whole process rather than just running it with the chamber empty.
Is that a bad idea? Is there anything I'm missing that would make me regret doing it that way?
@peter4jc@Yakster@IndustMech@silvermouse
Thanks for all the help.
I made three small 100g batches. Discarded the first. Tasting the second batch now. Not as good as Peter's but way better than I had feared it might taste. And I'm surprised it tastes this good so soon after roasting. I'm hoping it might even become better tasting as it rests over the next few days. I'm glad to get my feet wet.
I saw another roaster machine on Facebook Marketplace. $18
Anybody know anything about this type of hot air roaster?
It's supposed to be smoke free. And there is an identical looking machine called Nesco Professional 1010 Home Coffee Roaster.
I'm thinking $18 bucks might not be too much of a risk to give it a try. If only it wasn't 85 miles out of my way.
I roasted 7-3/4 lbs of coffee today, four 700 gram batches of Costa Rica Tarrazu Cafetales de Dota and one 700 gram batch of Kenya Nyeri Chinga Peaberry for a net yield of about 6.6 lbs.
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Comments
Yes I can confirm
"I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
learned something new:
https://www.coffeegeek.com/blog/are-you-screaming-your-steam-wand-shouldnt-be-either/
If all goes as planned, I will by tonight be the proud owner of a used Fresh Roast 500.
Now I need to figure out where should I be buying green coffee. I almost pulled the trigger on some Nicaraguan off amazon because I can get it next day and maybe it's OK,... they claim it's their "best seller". Would these beans be good for a newbie to experiment with? Or should I pass on it?
Cool. I started out with that roaster and had fun with it. Primos sounds legit, and has good reviews here:
https://primoscoffeeco.com/products/unroasted-green-specialty-coffee-beans-3-pounds
Caturra is a nice bean.
edit: once you get going and the machine works as advertised and you decide you want to roast larger batches a taller roasting chamber is available.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlRRMQpJfI
beginners guide here is useful:
Hey! Congrats! It's a deep, deep hole, as you can imagine. A good hole, nonetheless, but deeper than deep and blacker than black.
This is why I’ve stayed away from that hole.
MOW badge received.
You and me both, @Patrickbrick. I already have cigars and woodworking to get caught up in, not sure I could handle another hobby. Although, the idea of roasting ones own coffee is quite romantic.
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17
Although, the idea of _______ing ones own ________ is quite romantic.
FIFY
What's the update, Young Bob?
Ethiopian Oromia Guji
Peter was robbed at that Latte Art competition. That's what happens when you let the Wife of a competitor be a judge. I'll have to bring the trophy to MKE at Herftime for surrender.
I remember the winner got the judge all discombobulated by mooning her...
Pretty much how she became my Wife.
I picked it up today. I plugged it in and ran it a bit before I paid her. Got it home and after further inspection I have determined it's a wreck. Not that it's ruined but it's filthy with char buildup and the chafe collector on top is caked up and needs a heavy cleaning because I don't figure it's possible for that thing to allow good airflow. Also the base (motor and fan) is full of big pieces of light fluffy chafe. I tried to disassemble the base so I could get a good look inside and make sure motor's airflow or the fan's airflow wasn't obstructed, but so far I can't get inside. I've taken out about six screws already but, there are two more star bit screws I haven't been able to reach yet.
Update: Without being able to take the base apart I shook it, and tapped on it until a cup or so of fluffy chafe was spread over one corner of my sink. Maybe I got most of it. Finding all that chafe sucked up into the base tells me the guy that used this had chafe all over the place. And I also took an old toothbrush and surprisingly effectively cleaned the caked up screen mesh at the top of the machine. My Nicaraguan beans from amazon came in today. Maybe I'm ready to try a batch.
simple green is a recommended coffee roaster cleaner and compressed air for the fluffy chaff.
This sure feels like a new hobby for me
... God damnit
@Bob_Luken
Sweet Maria's Fresh Roast SR500 Tip Sheet
Sweet Maria's Fresh Roast SR300 and SR500 Tip Sheet old version
Sweet Maria's Fresh Roast Resource Page
Roastmasters Fresh Roast SR500 Manual
I use a dilution of Simple Green and water, don't remember if it's 3:1 or 5:1 water to Simple Green. Strong stuff. You want to do a dry roast after you clean with Simple Green to burn everything off before you roast with coffee.
Nowadays I use Tabs coffee pot cleaner in my coffee pot and save the cleaning fluid to clean my roaster; soaking the chaff filter and the impeller fan from my Bullet for 5 minutes and dipping and wiping the coffee oils off the roaster with a rag.
here's the sds sheet for simple green. It works well and is pretty safe to use.
https://cdn.simplegreen.com/downloads/SDS_EN-US_SimpleGreenAllPurposeCleaner.pdf
Go for it! Be prepared for smoke. On the stove under a vent hood is good. It will set off the smoke detector otherwise. Outdoors is good if weather permits. Once you get a good roast of good beans....
I got tired of cleaning last night and instead settled down for some libation and a Crowned Heads stick. Last thing I cleaned before I quit was the glass and metal roast chamber. I disassembled this (middle section) part and used a generic soap pad (steel wool) to get some of the baked on black char off of the bottom (metal) part of the roast chamber. There was what seemed to be a clear (silicone?) factory seal at the bottom edge all the way around where the glass meets the metal base and it appeared that the manufacturer never intended for the roast chamber to be disassembled. However, it looked like this previous owner had gotten this unit so hot that the silicone on the inside edge had been baked or boiled to a crisp. It seemed like some molasses that had been boiled in a shallow frying pan until it was both flakey and gummy at the same time.
Instead of a dry run to burn off any residue, I'm considering a sacrificial run with beans, then I'll discard those beans. That way I get to practice the whole process rather than just running it with the chamber empty.
Is that a bad idea? Is there anything I'm missing that would make me regret doing it that way?
Sounds like a good plan, Bob.
@peter4jc @Yakster @IndustMech @silvermouse
Thanks for all the help.
I made three small 100g batches. Discarded the first. Tasting the second batch now. Not as good as Peter's but way better than I had feared it might taste. And I'm surprised it tastes this good so soon after roasting. I'm hoping it might even become better tasting as it rests over the next few days. I'm glad to get my feet wet.
Nice, I'm roasting today too after cleaning my roaster.
I saw another roaster machine on Facebook Marketplace. $18
Anybody know anything about this type of hot air roaster?
It's supposed to be smoke free. And there is an identical looking machine called Nesco Professional 1010 Home Coffee Roaster.
I'm thinking $18 bucks might not be too much of a risk to give it a try. If only it wasn't 85 miles out of my way.
Discontinued a long time ago, but I've heard of them.
https://library.sweetmarias.com/the-zach-danis-home-coffee-roaster-r-i-p/
I roasted 7-3/4 lbs of coffee today, four 700 gram batches of Costa Rica Tarrazu Cafetales de Dota and one 700 gram batch of Kenya Nyeri Chinga Peaberry for a net yield of about 6.6 lbs.