How To Roast Coffee Beans At Home

There’s nothing like a good cup of freshly brewed coffee, and it’s even better if you roast the coffee beans yourself at home! Let’s take a look at how easy it is to roast coffee beans at home and get the full flavor of freshly prepared and brewed coffee with the added satisfaction that comes from doing it yourself!

Do you need a lot of equipment to make your own coffee?

If you’re a fan of great tasting coffee, you might have thought about roasting your own coffee beans at home. After all, if you have a coffee machine or french press and a coffee grinder, why not make your own coffee beans and complete the whole process at home? You don’t need a lot of equipment to roast your own coffee, as we will see, although you get the best results with a proper coffee roasting machine.

Is it difficult to roast coffee beans at home?

You might think roasting coffee at home is difficult, but it’s actually quite easy, even though it is a technical process. You will get the best results with a coffee roasting machine, but you can experiment with using a stove top skillet or frying pan, putting beans in an oven, or even using a popcorn maker, that will help you discover if it’s something you really enjoy before investing in a coffee roaster.

How do home methods of roasting coffee beans differ?

What does roasting do to coffee beans?

The principles of roasting coffee beans are the same, whichever method you choose. There has been a lot of research into what happens when roasting coffee beans, and how temperature and time affects the results. You’ll just find it a lot easier to get the exact results you want if you use a coffee roaster that’s designed for the purpose, but having said that, let’s think about what is actually happening when you roast your coffee beans.

How you roast your coffee beans makes a big difference to the flavor and character of the coffee you make with them afterwards. You’ll probably have seen coffee described as ‘dark roast’ or ‘light roast’ – and this refers to the length of time the coffee beans are roasting. Longer roasts tend to result in coffee that has a richer, sometimes more bitter or sour flavor, but this also depends on the type of bean used.

What temperature is good for roasting coffee beans at home?

Most coffee roasts start at a temperature of around 350F / 175C. You should preheat your roaster to this level and then add the beans. This will make the temperature drop, and as it rises the beans will start roasting gently. You should then start hearing ‘first crack’ (see below) after 4-5 minutes, and ‘second crack’ after 10 minutes, depending on your temperature settings. The temperature for darker roasts can be increased to around 440F / 250C to achieve ‘second crack.’

In practice, these figures are guidelines to start you on your coffee roasting adventure. In reality, different green bean varieties will roast at different speeds and larger volumes of beans take longer to roast, so a bit of careful experimentation is required. A roasting machine will help by having settings you can record as you go to work out the best combination for your exact flavor requirements.

What are ‘first crack’ and ‘second crack’ when you roast coffee beans?

Coffee roasting terminology includes ‘first crack’ and ‘second crack’ – this refers to the noise the beans make as they are heated and the moisture in them boils. This escapes with a characteristic ‘crack’ that can be used to time the roasting process.

Listening to the ‘crack’ when you roast coffee beans at home

• Before first crack: very mild roast, delicate flavor
• First crack: light roast, moderate flavor
• Between first and second crack: medium roast, developed flavor
• Second crack and afterwards: dark roast, more burnt flavors

Most coffee is roasted to a point between the first and second crack, and how long` you roast determines how full bodied and aromatic the roast is. Leaving the roast until the second crack will usually give you a dark, bitter roast – which some people prefer, so it’s all a process of experimentation.

What are the signs that your beans are being roasted to perfection?

When you first start roasting your own coffee beans you need to be quite observant – pay attention to the changes in color, the chaff coming off the beans, the aroma of the beans, and listen for the sound of the cracks as moisture escapes. All these indicators are useful to help you judge with your senses exactly when the beans are done to your liking, and it’s quite a fun process as well!

Remember that different beans will not roast exactly the same, the size and shape of the beans, their moisture content, and how many beans you are roasting at the same time will all affect the time it takes to roast them. Having a roaster with settings you can adjust enables you to record exactly how you did each batch and adjust your roast to suit the specific beans you are using.

Can you grind your beans to make coffee immediately after roasting?

After roasting the beans, it is a good idea to let them stand to ‘degas’ for up to a couple of days to allow the carbon dioxide created in the roasting process to dissipate. Although the flavor will not be strongly affected by brewing with your beans immediately after roasting, the flavor should improve over the next couple of days. Your roasted beans should stay fresh for a month after roasting, so you can safely leave them for a few days before grinding them to make your coffee.

Do you need a coffee roaster to make the best coffee at home?

Of course, it’s easier to roast coffee using a proper coffee roaster, designed for the purpose – these come in different levels of sophistication, from simple manual machines to sophisticated computer controlled ones with variable heaters and timers. Sheet metal coffee roasting machines are the best option for coffee roasting, and are widely used by professional coffee houses as well as for home use.

Coffee roasters do most of the work for you

The coffee roaster makes the roasting of the beans more even, for a more consistent result, and does most of the cleaning work for you. As you roast the green coffee beans, the skins will come off. This is called ‘chaff’ and needs to be removed from the coffee before grinding. A roasting machine usually has a mechanism for separating the chaff from the beans. If the beans are being rotated in a heated drum, this can may have slots to allow the chaff to drop through to be collected and disposed of.

Coffee roasters by Taiwa for perfect coffee, every time

Taiwa coffee roasters are one example of our excellent sheet metal fabrication services. We have more than 20 years of experience of delivering sheet metal fabrication projects, and the latest computer controlled AMADA Japanese laser cutting and precision sheet metal forming technology. This is an unbeatable combination for success.

What sheet metal fabrication services do Taiwa offer?

Our capabilities cover design, cutting, bending, joining and assembly of sheet metal products, and not only coffee roasters! Our quality controlled sheet metal manufacturing is certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards, and our Taiwan TTQS Workforce Quality Certification for our employee training and development programme demonstrates our commitment to ESG. Contact us to find the perfect partner for realizing your coffee roaster ambitions, or any other sheet metal fabrication project.