# Gene Cafe 101 first roast



## Tomas (Nov 17, 2017)

Hello everyone,

I was roasting for the very first time yesterday and actually the roast went straight to the bin than  But it was intended due to the burning in of the roaster anyway - just in case.

Here comes few details: about 60-65% ambient humidity (just assuming), 19C ambient (there is a winter in Czech rep, , so I put a vent pipe out of the window), 229V AC (we do have 230V mains, not like 240V in the UK), so mine roaster is 230V version.

228g Brasil Doce Diamantina - natural went in

188g out (about 17,5% weight loss)

- no heat up, I just set max. temp (250C) and time and observing the roast.

- beans have been yellowish at about 8min - is this lets say dry end time?

- FC about 11 min (Im not sure whether I can here that properly, due to the design (noise) of the roaster -eventhough Ive used a kitchen paper towel tube 

- drop at 15:30 and running regular complete cooling cycle

- cooling cycle took almost 11 minutes to cool down to 60C (I suppose this is exhaust temp?)

Therefore the roast end up a bit dark, a slightly uneven and a bit oily....see the pic below.

Is this kind of FullCity(+?) roast ?









I will definitely try again with the same weight, but could you give me any advice? I will definitely try preheat as the first crack was a bit late. Also I will try to cool down more rapidly externally .

Preferably a medium light roast 

Also what are you doing with the beans after it s cool down to room temp? I know the coffee should be stored in dry cool dark place. But if do not have any container with valve, can I put them into a glass jar with lid and close it? Is it correct 24hrs rest and than it s drinkable? At least cupping after 24hrs and than for example for espresso leave them for 2-3 more days in the glass jar?

Thanks

Tomas


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

This looks really dark to me. As a starting point, set the timer to 18m, temp to 230, wait two minutes then go to 240 until F.C, wait 1 minute, lower to 235, watch until you are happy with the colour, and hit the cool down button twice for a fast cooling down.


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## Tomas (Nov 17, 2017)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> This looks really dark to me. As a starting point, set the timer to 18m, temp to 230, wait two minutes then go to 240 until F.C, wait 1 minute, lower to 235, watch until you are happy with the colour, and hit the cool down button twice for a fast cooling down.


Thanks! there is a more rapid cooling function while hit cool down button twice? Did not know!  thanks


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

The fast cool down will put additional strain on the roaster that unless you in a hurry to roast the next batch is only going to save you a couple of minutes. Your choice of course but just so you aware.

You appear to be well into 2nd crack there, if you could hear it would sound like electrical crackle or rice Crispies in milk sound and will be accompanied by large amounts of smoke out the exhaust. If you can see the exhaust out the window you could use the ramp up in smoke as first crack starts as an initial guide as well and smell will be something you pick up on after a while as well.

Give the beans a week to rest then try them, if a flavour you like then repeat if not think about the amount of time after first crack as maybe being an additional 20-21% of the time taken to first crack as a guide for Medium ish them monitor really closely remembering to try and stop 20 seconds earlier than you think you want to as the Gene will not instantly lose all the heat in the drum.

Keep at it and if you haven't found this site yet have a look as has the info you may need to both record your roasts (online and paper) plus the Power control mods etc

John


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## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

The makers recommendations for natural process and pea-berry beans is 200gm. I would stick to the makers guides until you get 'the feel' of your machine.

If you bought the machine from Bella Barista (in the UK) you should have had an additional set of notes that go a lot deeper than the makers guide.

(I think DaveC of this forum had some input into those notes.)

The noise of the machine can be a problem. Bear in mind though, some beans are loud and vigorous and some are quiet and gentle, It is essential that you pick up on that first crack. It will get easier with practise. You will learn and know when to be on full alert.

Have fun!


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## Tomas (Nov 17, 2017)

thanks everyone for inputs,

I did not get the machine from Bella Barista UK, therefore do not have any additional set of notes :-/

Eventhough Im a bit sick (catch a cold recently) I was running second attempt today. Therefore I relied on visible color change of the beans + hearing of 1st crack.

Used the same beans and weight - (ok, I know I should use 200g instead 

I want to avoid many variables first, therefore I did not pre-heat and just running 230C until first crack (12:20 min), than lower the temp to 226C for 4:10min.

Than the roaster was running cooling cycle for about 2 mins - E stop and cooled beans outside near the opened window (as I do not have any cooling fan/equipment yet).

The coffee is definitely roasted more lightly than before  I will try cupping tomorrow. But the weight loss is 15 percent now.

..and now two questions:

1.) What light do you use guys for visual check of the roasting? When roasting today the weather was really cloudy - completely different color appearance to the first roast. I would definitely suggest a light source with HIGH CRI (the higher the better, at least 80-90). It can be also LED source.

2.) I can see the roast is a bit uneven + propably a scorching on some beans (see below). How to avoid that?









and this is the same roast under warm white LED downlights:


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## Dei (Aug 3, 2015)

I find that the best way to cool down quickly is to hold the cool button down so it stops almost immediately, then (using oven gloves) empty the beans out onto an oven tray. The heat will dissipate really quickly. Also, if it's not wet out, I'll often pop the tray outside for a few minutes in the cold air. This works a treat!


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## mathof (Mar 24, 2012)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> This looks really dark to me. As a starting point, set the timer to 18m, temp to 230, wait two minutes then go to 240 until F.C, wait 1 minute, lower to 235, watch until you are happy with the colour, and hit the cool down button twice for a fast cooling down.


I think I read somewhere that if you press the cool down button once, the roast will cool down until the temperature reaches 60C. If you press the button twice, the machine will stop earlier, when the temperature reaches 100C.


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## Dei (Aug 3, 2015)

If you hold the button down for a second or two, the fan will shut off and the rotating container will stop next time the handle is facing you so you can pull it out. It's a little like an emergency stop. It's what I do every time. It's by far the quickest way to cool your beans.


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

Dei said:


> I find that the best way to cool down quickly is to hold the cool button down so it stops almost immediately, then (using oven gloves) empty the beans out onto an oven tray. The heat will dissipate really quickly. Also, if it's not wet out, I'll often pop the tray outside for a few minutes in the cold air. This works a treat!


 If you stop your roast 20-30 seconds earlier you can run the cool down cycle as the gene designed to do and also extend the life if it in the process as will not be leaving it soaking all that heat into areas it was not designed for. Suggesting an immediate stop to a very new roaster could lead to some rather dramatic issues and may not be understood in the manner am sure was intended, possibly also some warranty concerns.

Unless the beans are on fire then a scheduled cool down will help the longevity of the gene









John


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## Dei (Aug 3, 2015)

Fair enough. Thanks John!


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Externally cooling the beans isn't necessary. I used to do it and you can see parts on the roaster have been scorched due to the heat rising from the element and exhaust side. After fitting the temp probe I saw how effective the cooling cycle was and haven't e-stopped since.

You'll get the slight scorching without modifying the roaster for power control over the heating element. And when you do that you'll find you don't need to start cooling as early assuming you reduce power before you want to finish the roast as the element won't be as hot.


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