# Most satisfactory home roast on the cheap?



## alexellis2

I have a small amount of green beans on the way - 250g so I can have a go at roasting and using 'fresh' coffee beans in my espresso.

What is the most satisfactory home roast technique on the cheap?


Pop corn maker - (which one works that can be bought in the UK?)

Hot air gun

Oven

Frying pan

Other method


Thanks


----------



## The Systemic Kid

Suggest you read up on home roasting - it's great fun but not straightforward. The greatest challenge in home roasting is ensuring evenness of roast and controlling the temperature. In the early stages of roasting, the beans soak up heat but at the critical stage of first crack, the beans become exothermic that is, they are now giving off heat so the trick is to back off on the applied heat to slow the process down at this stage. A popcorn maker is a cheap easy way to have a go.


----------



## alexellis2

Is there a specific pop-corn maker I can get in the UK that is worth trying?


----------



## The Systemic Kid

alexellis2 said:


> Is there a specific pop-corn maker I can get in the UK that is worth trying?


Have a look at this video - particularly the attention drawn to the design best suited for using as a coffee roaster. Go for something as cheap as possible so you don't waste money on the project. Should have mentioned - during roasting, the beans will shed the membrane (called chaff in the trade). This burns very easily so if you're going to have a go - suggest you do it outside at first and/or have something like a fire blanket to hand.


----------



## CoffeeCarrier

Hi Alex

I have found the the 'Prima' brand of pop corn maker does the best job at roasting green beans. They can be bought second hand on ebay £5-£15. It is difficult to get an even roast. Also, you have to go by colour because the machine gets hotter the more beans you roast, so the third batch takes less time than the first. One batch is about 55g, no harm in going for less than that. Have a largish pirex bowl on hand in which to dump the hot beans when they reach the colour you like. When the beans are done do not switch the machine off. Rather lift it and invert it (swiftly) over you bowl. That way the machine carries on running and is ready for the next batch. It you switch off then empty it, a thermal trip kicks in and you have to wait for the machine to cool before doing another batch. The continued free flow of air actually cools the thing down.

The issue I have is that it is difficult to get an even roast also it is difficult to match batch 2 exactly to batch 1, etc etc.

BTW I have 15kg of green beans from Kanyampara near to Kasese, Uganda. I am interested in doing a bean swap with someone having South American Green beans. (I visited Kanyampara personally)


----------



## alexellis2

Thanks for the hint on the brand, but all I can find for Prima on google is a plastic toy duck machine, lol. Is this the one you mean? It's difficult to get a machine that matches the style on the video mentioned because when buying online there are no pictures of the inside of the machine.

How long would you say your 55g takes to roast? I only have 200g of beans from eBay on the way and they weren't cheap, would you consider sending some green beans my way?


----------



## coldplayer

I have used a Prima model PCM001 (you can use the 002 as well, it is the same as the 001 but has a catch bowl that clips to the side). You cannot use the duck.........lol. There are a few drawbacks to using a popcorn popper. The first is the chaff, it blows everywhere. I roasted under a cooker hood, but some people roast outside in a cardboard box (i'm not kidding, check Youtube). The second problem is timing. The time between first crack and burning the bean to charcoal is quite short. Getting a good roast is easier if you can extend the roast time. This is why quite a few people, myself included, modified their popper. Details can be found on coffee forums, just try Google. The third problem is noise... they aint quiet. And fourth.... they are made cheaply, of plastic, and are designed to run occasionally, for a few minutes at a time, popping popcorn. They are not designed for batches of coffee and fail after a while. Having said all that, they are the cheapest way of having a go, without spending huge amounts of money.


----------

