# Light roasting



## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

After a little bit of help. 
I have been roasting my own beans at home for a few years now. Mostly to save money to be honest, but also because I never found anything much I liked from roasters. 
I think that was because at the time I preferred a dark roast and most speciality coffee roasters seemed to be moving towards lighter roasts.

Over the years my tastes have changed a little, I now would like something a bit lighter, maybe more citrus, definitely more light caramel and less dark chocolate.

As a result I have really struggled with roasting (as my method of roasting, which suited darker roasts is proving inadequate for lighter ones)

This is currently dog bowl method style, massive stock pot on a camping stove to keep it warm, combined with heat gun and moving the beans around. 
Combined with a infrared thermometer to get bean surface temp.
Obviously using visual and audible cues too.

I have generally had good results from medium onwards, but every time I try to roast lighter I get under-development grassy roasts. 
It does seem a little bean dependent. Currently I am trying to roast a Columbian I got from Black Cat coffee, I lengthened out the roast to try and develop it more, 7-8 mins drying time, into FC at 9 minutes, 2-3 more minutes developing. 
Colour is a nice light brown but I have tried it today 4 days post roast and it's terrible! Grassy and under-developed.

Any tips? or does this method of direct heating cause too many issues with lighter roasts not fully developing throughout the bean?

Getting to the point I may just get a subscription and be done with it!


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## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

I have never used your type of roasting, but these are just general thoughts and suggestions based on my beginners experience with a Gene and Amazon.

Physical limitations of the kit?

Is your roasting chamber enclosed? Is the roast chamber of sufficient mass (and material) to provide a degree (pun intended) of temperature stability from the charge? Is the chamber ventilated and if so, can this be controlled? These may be the roots of the problem?

If not, perhaps try bringing the drum up to charge temperature, charging the beans but hold the heat down to less than what you normally would for the first (say????) 1/4 of the expected roast time to allow the bean to get internally warmed up before the outer edge gets 'done'. Then bring the heat up slowly to achieve a desirable (based on your experience) ROR and target temperature.

Have you cut through a bean or ten to see what has happened inside? More roast information and some pictures including cut through cross section pics may help to diagnose the problems.

What is the roast like at say, 10days? Sometimes I find light/medium roasts of some beans take longer to settle down than the same bean done to a medium, to medium/dark. So it may be worth waiting a few more days before kicking the idea into the bin!


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## RDC8 (Dec 6, 2016)

I'll second that last piece of advice; give the lighter roasts longer to settle down after roasting. 10-14 days usually works for me.


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

Batian said:


> I have never used your type of roasting, but these are just general thoughts and suggestions based on my beginners experience with a Gene and Amazon.
> 
> Physical limitations of the kit?
> 
> ...


 Thanks for that.

The roaster chamber isn't enclosed at the moment, I didn't want to lose the visual as I have no temp sensor inside. But I think I may re-design it. 
I have put the light roast back in storage and will see it again in a week.


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

Circling back around on this. I tried the light roast, maybe we are 10 days post and wow! It's alive! 
lovely acidity through milk, none of the grassiness!


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