# Chaff and Channeling



## Ken (Mar 19, 2013)

Hi all.

Im new to roasting and have only done 8 roasts on my Cafe Gene so Im inexperienced. Ive just roasted Ethiopian yirgacheffe beans.

After dialing in grinder the shot produced lots of spritzing. Alterd grind but no joy still squirting everwhere. Back to the drawing board.

Then I noticed that this bean seemed to produce more chaff than the other beans Ive roasted. So I winoed the beans (pouring them into container outside in the garden from a height so wind can blow away chaff. Reground pulled shot and hey presto..no channeling.

Please help me out here...does chaff cause channeling? If so what do you experienced guys do to reduce chaff?


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Ive noticed this in home roasted beans - great quality as brewed but horrendous to work with as espresso


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Ken, not all beans are the same, as you will find out. Some produce chaff which blows off, some do not, but if you keep a data log of your roasts with notes , you will soon sort the chaff from the wheat, so to say!


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## mhofmeyr (May 23, 2013)

Hi ken. I never use the cooling time on my Gene cafe anymore. At the end of where I want to stop the roast, I press and hold the stop(red) button, which stops the turner. I take the beans out immediately, into a colander which sits nicely on a funnel I bought at Halfords, connected to my Hoover. The Hoover then cools my beans in less than a minute and also remove all my chaff. Since using this 'cooling' method , my roast can be stopped at the exact right time and keeping a more precise log. It works brilliantly for me. Martin


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## Ken (Mar 19, 2013)

Is there no problem you have not come across? Everybody has such helpful suggestions. Thanks senior member, Gary and Martin. What a good idea with the funnel. Does the chaff escape the holes in the colander easily? Is the funnel just a standard size? Your right about the CG cooling facility. What I do is the same.

I keep a sample of my roasted beans in a plastic display box and use them as a colour reference point for darkness of the bean. Every roast Ive done so far has a sample in box with notations about profiles/tastes. So if I found the roast too lively on original roast, then I just roast it darker comparing it to the sample. Its working so far but I want to be more precise and link it to an actual time. Therefore colour AND timing will be bring consistancy...I hope.

So much to learn. Always appreciate your tips so let me have 'em...please


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## mhofmeyr (May 23, 2013)

Your sample is a very good idea. I'm going to do that as well! Thanks. Yes, the funnel I bought is just the right size and the chaff easily sucked out. I obviously shake the beans during this process and stir it around. That way it gets rid of all the chaff. M


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## Ciligula (Jun 26, 2013)

Hey, I like this method of yours and would really like to try it out as well, but I don't seem to have a proper funnel...

How long ago did you buy it at Halfords? I might check it out, especially since I just found out about a website called Voucherbox UK, which has discount codes for Halfords and others. I've tried it with the things I had available but it just made a huge mess, although that happened at my friends place, who introduced me to roasting


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