# Not much of a roasted smell



## Extreme steve (Feb 17, 2019)

Hi IÂ've done a few roasts now using a vogvigo, but although the bean colour looks dark enough. It does not have much of a roasted smell, compared to say a shop bought roasted beans. Also they are very dull (not as shiny as the shop bought)

I pre heat for 2 min then add 300g of beans, and roast for 18 min at 180C. Empty out onto a tray to cool straight away and stir.

Should the beans smell like the shop bought, or does that come after a few days?

Steve


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Shiny? As in oily? Roasted so dark they're black? Or both? Probably both right, you're talking "shop bought" presumably supermarket? Old, stale, covered in oil?

Yours are dull. They will be dull because the oils haven't come out yet given they're freshly roasted. If you've gone dark then if you wait a few days you'll see oil on the beans. You should have got the roasted smell as they were roasting. How they smell when you shove your face in the bag depends on the origin and roast.

Your listed times and temps are meaningless.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Frankly, the smell of freshly roasted beans is quite far from rested coffee.

Give them a week to degas, then try them.

Just make sure you keep oxygen away from your roast, e. g. using a vac bag or container. There is lots of info on storing beans in this forum - try the search function


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Roasted coffee doesn't really smell of anything straight out of the roaster...

Unless you cremate it...


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Any chance you can post a video of this roaster in action and the resulting roast? A few shots at different roast stages to show progression would be good.


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## Extreme steve (Feb 17, 2019)

I will just have to experiment a bit more. I'm only using the vogvigo until my roaster is built. Thanks for some feedback



Rob1 said:


> Any chance you can post a video of this roaster in action and the resulting roast? A few shots at different roast stages to show progression would be good.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Extreme steve said:


> I will just have to experiment a bit more. I'm only using the vogvigo until my roaster is built. Thanks for some feedback


sounds like a plan! 

Out of curiosity, what roaster do you have on order?


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## PaulL (May 5, 2014)

Plenty of resource out there which many of us read when we start roasting (and/or learn watching others who get us going). You will find decription of the smell as the beans move from green to straw through shades of brown but in essence no it doesn't smell like coffee the way we expect, it needs to rest after roasting. In my years with small roasters beans might be ready to drink after 2 to 3 days and fade after 10 days, with larger roasters this is more like 7 days to 20/30 days. You will see people who roast typically vent the smoke out of the roasting area because it's an irritant more than anything.


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## Extreme steve (Feb 17, 2019)

Hasi said:


> sounds like a plan!
> 
> Out of curiosity, what roaster do you have on order?


I'm actually building one, the drum will be static with rotating blades, Rather than a rotating drum. I estimate it should roast around 3kg to 5kg. The cost should be around £700, but I hope it will be a lot less. It will be all out of stainless steel, and I will put some photos on as soon as I start to assemble it. I'm guessing around 8 months to build. The vogvigo I'm using is really for to start to understand the roasting process, as it is such a fascinating subject


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## Extreme steve (Feb 17, 2019)

The actual roasting part smells great, so thanks for the finished smell info. I'm sure I've not roasted my beans long enough, so I will up the time first, then try more heat. Probably go for a real dark roast just to see how long it takes.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Cool stuff!

Gotta love a neat DIY project 

Looking forward to reading about your progress


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## mathof (Mar 24, 2012)

It never occurred to me that there might be a difference in how long it takes beans from small roasters to become drinkable and then fade compared to larger ones. Has anyone else noticed this? Why would that be?



PaulL said:


> Plenty of resource out there which many of us read when we start roasting (and/or learn watching others who get us going). You will find decription of the smell as the beans move from green to straw through shades of brown but in essence no it doesn't smell like coffee the way we expect, it needs to rest after roasting. In my years with small roasters beans might be ready to drink after 2 to 3 days and fade after 10 days, with larger roasters this is more like 7 days to 20/30 days. You will see people who roast typically vent the smoke out of the roasting area because it's an irritant more than anything.


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

mathof said:


> It never occurred to me that there might be a difference in how long it takes beans from small roasters to become drinkable and then fade compared to larger ones. Has anyone else noticed this? Why would that be?


No, I've not noticed that. I mainly drink espresso and get pretty much all crema shots until day 4-5 when it just starts to calm down a bit and there's a need to change grind setting. It varies from bean to bean of course but I generally find it's best to let them rest for 7 days as a minimum for espresso. Some peak and fade rapidly but I've never had any peak before 7 days, quickest peaks were Kenya Elephant and Malawi Geisha at about 7-10 days. I've had plenty of origins and varieties sitting in a cupboard for 20+ days without going stale.


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

I roast in 50g batches, so I doubt you will get smaller. I've used beans over a month old via filter and they were full of flavour.


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## PaulL (May 5, 2014)

My understanding is that the thermal mass of larger roasters roast the insides of the beans better without the outsides taking as much heat and the smaller roasters don't manage this as well. My own experience was that the smnaller roasters (iRoast, Hottop, Gene, Quest) exhibited this with beans ready to drink quicker, oils shoiwing sooner if roaster darker and the roast fading after a few days whereas with Dalian roasts (and presumably other larger roasters) you get a steadier even roast which can take a few days resting to reach it's best and remain good for a month. Plenty of folks on here with more roasting experience than I who can attest or contradict this though.


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