I don't usually comment on videos, but I have to say that there's a lot of value in your videos. I'm just at the very start of my roasting journey, doing my research before I buy my first roaster. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience to this community!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I was initially thinking of getting the Gene Cafe or kaleido m6 but now I think I might invest in the Aillio Bullet because I would like to make enough for friends and family. Any recommendations on a first roaster that's enough to eventually get into small farmers markets?
Wie immer, ein tolles Video! Ich freue mich immer von dir zu hören. Liebe Grüße aus Deutschland von Jan . Ich finde es sehr gut, das es deinen Kanal gibt !!!
Hallo Jan. Vielen Dank für Ihre freundliche Nachricht. Ich freue mich, dass dir meine Videos gefallen. Was verwendest du zum Kaffee rösten? Hello Jan. Thank you for your kind message. I am glad you are enjoying my videos. What are you using to roast coffee?
Hallo Jan, das sieht aus wie ein wunderbarer elektrischer Kaffeeröster. Es hat eine variable Trommelgeschwindigkeit und Luftzirkulation. Haben Sie es mit Artisan oder einer Protokollierungssoftware verbunden? Hello Jan, that looks like an wonderful electric coffee roaster. It has variable drum speed and airflow. Do you have it connected to Artisan or some logging software?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Guten Morgen, ich zeichne mit Artisan auf. Die Maschine ist recht gut und auch präzise, ich lade ihn mit genau 600 gramm. Er hat eine Heizleistung von 3 Kw. Natürlich hat er auch Nachteile. Er reagiert ca. 30 Sekunden langsamer als ein Gasröster. Ich kann leider kein Englisch sprechen, deshalb sehe ich mir deine Videos immer mit Untertitel und halber Geschwindigkeit an. Du sprichst so gut, daß der Google Übersetzer es fast wie ein Zeitungsartikel übersetzt!!! Großes Kompliment an dich.
I'm glad your roaster performs well. Yes, electric powered roasters have slower response time compared to gas. Thank you for your compliment about my videos. I am glad the captions are accurate. Happy Roasting Jan!
Another great video Mike. What I have realized lately when roasting with the Behmor, is how important the Drying Phase is as preparation for the Browning Phase. In trying to stretch out the Browning Phase for better flavor, I found I needed to go a little easier in the Drying Phase. I just completed a roast a few minutes ago where I made sure to keep the chamber "B" temperature (which is NOT the bean temperature) at about 300 F maximum. When I do that, it is much easier to control temperature in the Browning Phase. I mentioned to Eduardo in a reply to his post that THE most important thing I learned in detecting Dry End with the Behmor was to use an external 5000K LED lamp to watch the beans. Doing that allows a truer view of color, rather than using the internal yellowish bulb in the Behmor. Details of the bulb I use, if anyone is interested are: 120 VAC 14W (130 mA) 1400 lumens with a color temperature of 5000K (called Daylight). The most important parameter in that list is the color temperature. Color temperatures below about 4000K cause the beans to look more yellowish and defeat the purpose.
Great suggestion on the bulb Lou. Is it an appliance grade led bulb? Thanks for your comments about the browning phase. Keeping control of our temps to allow enough browning phase time is an area many of us have had challenges with. Great tip, Thanks!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Not sure if it is appliance grade or not. The bulb I have is a 100 W equivalent and has a standard (Medium E26) base. A description someone could search for is: "100W Equivalent BR30 Daylight Dimmable LED Light Bulb". The word "Daylight" in the description means 5000K. It's a nice bright light!
Thank you for putting together such an informative and easy to understand video. I work on a coffee farm in Kona where we have roasters for people to roast 1/2 of coffee. Very little instruction was given to me, and I'm supposed to be teaching them and helping them. So I found your channel and making my way through. I'm embarrassed to now see how little I knew and did a lot of "baking" and "charring" without knowing it! Now I go in on my days off to practice. The most helpful thing on this video was you talking and timing and showing what the turning point looks like. The yellow was much different than what I thought was yellow! And now I'm user the tryer much more diligently, by smelling and looking. We don't get to cup our roasts, but when you taste a bean, is there enough information there to say whether it was successful or not? Like crunching on a medium roast bean will have some sweetness, while a dark roast will lose that and taste bitter? I do get it that success means your guest is happy with what he/she roasted but I'm wondering once they taste the character of a medium as opposed to the dark they can learn and appreciate great coffee. Aloha from Hawaii and I'll continue watching.
Hi Jodie, don't feel embarrassed. I've been into some really popular coffee shops and the person roasting had no plan, never charted times or temperatures, always charred the coffee, and the origin notes were completely gone. I'm glad you find my videos helpful. I have a friend who went to a coffee farm in Hawaii and experienced fresh roasted coffee for the first time. That was a long time ago and he still talks about it. What type of roasters does your organization use? Yes, Chewing a bean can give some feedback. My son does that and he can taste some notes. Yes, you will be able to sense a difference between the darker bitter notes and the sweeter notes. For me personally, I don't like the texture of chewing on a coffee bean but I have done it and it might be helpful. Smelling the beans will be a big help. If you want to spend more time roasting and tasting, consider an inexpensive roaster like the Hive, where you can do it at home on your stove-top or a camping stove. It roasts small batches (170 grams) and you can practice and taste as much as you like. I would recommend you wait a day or two after roasting before drinking to get the best feedback. I use the Hive digital dome version with the temperature readout. They also have one that connects with Artisan logging software (artisan is free). I would not recommend the base model hive because the visibility isn't that great and you aren't able to read temperatures. Just my opinion...... If you can figure out how your roasters perform you could get to a couple of different profiles for your guests. They could roast by following a few directions. It could be pretty cool to figure that out. The Kona coffee Cafe Imports has on their website is from Kealakekua Bay Farm. The tasting notes include Clean with tart citric acidity, almond and perfume flavors. Are these notes you experience with your farm? Just curious about that. Here is a link to the coffee I'm talking about. www.cafeimports.com/north-america/offerings#/origin=Hawaii/view=beanology.view.typica-18330/ I'm really curious what type of roasters you are using. if you want to onnect with me on instagram, click the link on my youtube channel
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I will find out today the brand. They are a expensive machine that are Chinese made I believe. I was pretty happy with my own experiment, trying to roast a light, medium and dark. I dipped my beans at 375. The turn around was about 1:30. First crack came about 7:30 hitting around 390? I did the same thing 3 times just by changing my drop time. My dark roast went into a 2nd crack which I had never done, or was not aware of because I really didn't understand what I was doing!. We were told to only to use the fan to control the temperature. Not to change the heat. I had a hard time trying to do that. So I started the roaster at 70 percent to get it preheated and then played with bother the fan and the temperature to try and control. But I still am too fresh to chart ror. Or need an app on my phone to try and keep better track. After watching more of your videos, I think the next time I roast, I will try to extend my browning time a little longer? My dark roast took just under 12 minutes. And the temperature was 420. I thought it was too fast although the beans looked really nice and smelled like a deep cocoa and not burnt. Unfortunately we don't use the Kona beans to roast. I just found out they are from Colombia. We only use the Kona beans to roast on our big roaster for the coffee we sell. I'm not sure if I can send you green coffee from here. I know you can't take it out of the state when you vacation here. But of you would like me to send you a bag of our roasted beans I could do that! Our farm is unique that the cherries are trellised and it leads to great fruit and the volcanic soil and weather make for excellent coffee. Let me know if you would like a bag. We do a Kona peaberry that sells for 220.00 a lb. Crazy. Aloha and I'll check you out on Instagram!
Still at it with my Behmor. I have a hard time seeing the colors changes with the Behmor. But still enjoy most of the results and coffee I am getting. Thanks again for your TH-cam videos!
Hi Eduardo, I had exactly the same problem seeing color change at the end of drying in my Behmor. What made a huge difference for me was to use an external high-lumen LED light source. Once I did that, I could quite easily see the beans yellowing. Details of the bulb I use, if you want them are: 120 VAC 14W (130 mA) 1400 lumens with a color temperature of 5000K (called Daylight). The most important parameter in that list is the color temperature. Glad your roasts are doing well, so are mine! :-)
Hello Eduardo, yes, the Behmor is difficult to see yellow because of the bulb. Lou has made a great suggestion and I will try one of the bulbs he has mentioned. If I get a link I will post it. Glad you are enjoying your Behmor!
Fellow Behmor user here. It is definitely hard to see the green to yellow transition. Aside from Lou's recommendation on the LED bulb (which has helped me!) and Mike's notes on smell changes, something I've figured out is that, even if the color change is hard to see, the beans will start swelling and shedding chaff several minutes into a roast. That is usually a cue for me that the middle phase is not too far off, and not too long after I see that expansion is when I start noticing a change in smell too. Your mileage may vary, but this has helped me get something close to consistency. For most beans I roast, this happens about 4-5 minutes into a roast. Keep at it!
I really appreciate the time you spend on fully explaining the details of the drying phase. You explain in a manner that will be extremely helpful to all roasters but particularly new roasters. Excellent, thank you. I never gave any thought to the effects that loading cold/warm beans into the roaster would have on the bean temp. The dip seen on graphs explain this and experience will also allow you to determine how to of if you need to adjust the power. I have your video on BEAN DENSITY and I must assume that knowing the bean density before you roast a bean will be helpful in deterring heat settings. I just don't know yet how to use it effectively. Another point that I am curious about is how to adjust the power and the air to achieve a one to two minute roast extension after first crack. I think this is an art form that takes time to know how your roaster responds and how low you can set the power and air without stalling the roast. If you have a video on this I would love to hear. Great job. An exceptional service for home roasters. Yes, I as applying "thumbs up!"
Thank you for sharing how my video has helped you. My next "profile" series video will answer your question about extending the development phase. What roaster are you using?
Some great tips right here, thank you Could you also maybe give a good tip as to what is a good time for a turning point to happen since how fast or slow turning point happens depends on the charge temperature
Thanks for your comment. What type of roaster do you have. For a drum roaster, I think the turning point time and temperature might differ based on the ET, Soak time (if any), and the bean density. Because of this the TP time and temp will change from one coffee to the next or if your ET is higher or lower at charge from one roast to the next. Here is how I use Turning Point date. Once I create a profile I have target event times including my dry time. So, my goal is to find the charge temperature that will get my green coffee yellow by the target time. Turning point is a way I measure the momentum of the roast early on and I make adjustments to the heat based on the time and temp of Turning Point so I will reach my target dry event time.
Monsooned Malabar, no way to get when is end of drying, really hard to control them. I am always happy when you put out new video, keep doing absolutely great job!!!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Yes, I am roasting with Gene Cafe, smells and colours are easy to track, cracks are harder. For me on the Gene is really hard to have a roast under control, somehow I am managing, but all roasts are long at least 12-13 minutes, if I try to do shorter roast, is hard to not run through development, or to crash development, no mater how much i am trying to control RoR through browning. I started to roast end of November and already have 60 roasts in my logbook, 3 friends of mine starting to buy coffee from me, so that is helping, Best regards from Slovenia
Another great video Mike. I am red/green deficient (color blind), so it's very challenging for me to determine when all of the green is gone. I can see the yellow, but I feel some of the early beans are going tan before all the green is gone and it's hard to tell those apart sometimes. I am trying to learn the smells better to compensate. Still pretty new at this, but having a great time learning and your videos are very helpful. Thanks!
Hi John. I have seen special glasses for color blindness. I have no idea if that would help. I also don't know how much they cost. Your point about seeing some yellow and green mixed is near the end of dry is a great observation. This is where you, as the roaster, will have to determine when dry is dry. It sounds like you are able to notice the contrast of the yellow and green, so maybe you can use that as a marker. Watch for the contrast as the smell starts to resemble the yeast or bread dough smell. Once you see the contrast, add another 15 seconds or so and see if the contrast starts to go away and call that dry. This is not a perfect science. Much of it is simply going through the dry phase over and over and over until you start to understand the color and smell behavior of the beans while they are exposed to the high temperatures over time. I should have asked what type of roaster you are using? The temp readings might be helpful as well.
i also came to day special glasses. maybe insurance will cover it. u can also chew on it. when is done. is crunchy. u can taste the flavor too. u can also hear the color too
I really enjoy your videos Mike, very helpful.I use a WhirlyPop®for my home roasts. I have trouble keeping the dry phase at 50% or less; I'm usually getting about 52%. It seems like more heat in early and the roast gets away in the later stages. One thing I have been doing is taking the roasts earlier in the development phase i.e ~ :45 -1:00 after 1st crack and letting it coast till the end.
Hi John,Thanks for your comments. I'm glad you are enjoying my videos! I imagine your roast times are 15-20 minutes with the WhirlyPop right? Yea, 52% is still pretty good for a percentage. The more important factor is getting the timing down on the browning and development. What type of coffee are you roasting? What is the end result as far as taste?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab My Times are generally in the 13 to 15 minute range. I roast mostly Central American coffees and Kenya AA. I just got some Sulawesi Natural process I'm going to play around with.
Thanks for the reply. Sounds pretty good John. I forgot to ask what size batch you are roasting. Also, are you getting any of the fruit or acidity with your roasts? Thanks for sharing!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I am experimenting with batch size; I had been doing 300g~ 10 oz roasts, but just decided to try 8 oz. My thinking behind this is it would be easier to control browning and development phases as there is less thermal mass, we'll see. I don't roast too dark so my coffee is bright when I roast DP cofee they seem fruity. Thanks.
I'm using a Hottop 2K+ and charge the beans at 400°. My turning point is normally around 1 minute also; the last roast was 192.2° @ 1:03 minutes. I leave the heat on after charging because I'm afraid it will take too long to finish the drying phase otherwise. I might try shutting off the heat for 30 seconds at charge to see what happens next roast. Dry end for me is normally just over 5 minutes and it winds up being less than 50% of the total roast time. My most recent roast dry end was at 5:21 minutes at 300°. I use a low voltage clamp-on light (that I use to judge inkjet prints) that shines into the roasting chamber. It does help although I still struggle to judge dry end or is there still green? I turn away for 15 seconds and look again.
Adrian, if you are able to get under 50% for your try time that is great. Momentum for the roast is critical. I think in your situation, if you are not experiencing roasting defects, don't soak for 30 seconds unless you have some time and momentum to sacrifice in the dry phase. Some roasters are a little under powered and that soak time would be difficult to recover your momentum. I forget, is there a trier on the Hottop?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thanks, Mike. The Hottop does not have a trier. There is a glass panel in front of the roaster and I have my lamp shining into it. It gives a decent view of the beans.
Good info thanks for your efforts! it is so easy to kill a roast very early on by adding too much or too little heat. It really comes down to finding the sweet spot for a particular system and how quickly one can get to the start of yellow without causing damage. Scorching does not have to be seen for there to be heat damage. Suggest checking out N3Roaster work on roast phases and the way he breaks up the roast is far more useful than popular nomenclature. The time to start of Yellow does not matter that much, Id say within 3 to 8 mins and comes down to the roast machine, batch size and its heat transfer ability. A major contributor to sweetness and balance of acidity is how quickly the roast moves through starting to see Yellow and start of Brown, Neal suggests at least 100 sec and some profiles he pushes this out to 120 - 130 sec. From the video it looks like you have a good amount of time between starting to see Yellow and start of Brown OR end of Dry. I think "drying phase" is not very useful and creates much confusion. From start of Brown we then can time how long to First Crack / end of First Crack and start of 2nd crack. Setting up the start of the roast so one can have some control over time in these distinct phases is the key. Cheers
Hi Stephen, What are you roasting with? I'm familiar with Neal. Can you please share which video Neal roasts from charge to dry end in 120 seconds? I was watching Neal roasting on a Diedrich and his roast was 18 minutes long?
Thanks for reviewing the end of the Dry Phase again. I'm using a Behmor 1600+ and I find it challenging. Reminder to use smell is a good one. When roasting with the Behmor if you could eliminate the second fan starting up would you do so? Would the B temperature be more accurate throughout the roast? Any thoughts?
Hi Stanley, thanks for your comment. I'm not sure what you mean about a second fan. Are you referring to the fan that kicks on around 5 minutes into the roast? I would not remove or disconnect any fan. Assuming you are always roasting the same batch size, the fan kicks on consistently at the same time, every time. I would anticipate this occurring and modify your power setting as needed. If you don't, the fan will lower your "B" temperature by 20 degrees. Which temperature "B" or "A" you use is a personal decision. There are some that swear by the "A" temp and others like me who just use the "B" temp. The "A" temp isn't really useful until the fan turns on. In the end, you will have to decide what is the best reference point for you as you roast on the Behmor. Sorry about that.
Hi Mike. Terrific knowledge presented in a simple, logical manner. Much appreciated. Q: When I roast, I have a range of charge temps (higher for more dense, higher-elevation beans, lower for the rest). I heat my drum for 30m or so and set heat to 0 to let it fall to my charge temp. Then I keep heat at 0 for about a minute to ‘soak’. I’m finding that my turning point is consistently around 1m, whereas I see from your roasts and others that 1.30 is more average. Since I’m already at 0 heat, I can’t extend by reducing the heat. Any comments/suggestions? Thanks.
Thanks for sharing your charge @WelshMcSpicy. Can you tell me what roaster you are using as well as the type of coffee, batch size and the charge temp you are using? Also, how long is is your dry phase and total roast time if you don't mind sharing. That can help me offer a reasonable answer. Thanks
I had been roasting to early second crack (the only metric I was aware of) in a hot air popcorn popper for about 8 months and I bought a Behmor 1600 Plus less than a week ago. Needless to say most of the confusion I’ve come across so far has been in Behmor’s manuals and guides and I feel as if I’ve been thrown a lifeline finding your videos. I have a couple of questions about the drying phase. 1) I would imagine the length of time for the drying phase would be relative to the size of the batch for starters, is that correct? 2) would there be a difference in managing the drying phase if I were roasting a hard bean like an Ethiopian vs a soft bean like a Brazilian? 3) if so how would I treat them differently? I know this is a lot but I’m trying g to get up to speed on the basics as quickly as I can. I really love your content!
Michael, thanks for sharing your roasting journey and congrats on the behmor. There is a difference in how to approach your roast profile based on bean density. The harder the bean to more heat the bean can handle without roast defects. This is why you can read the behmore manual recommending different power levels for different bean types. Regarding batch size, Yes, your batch size will influence your total roast time. I recommend roasting about 8 ounces per batch. Watch my behmor videos and you will see my general approach roasting with that roaster.
Thanx Mike very timely video. I’m about 2 mos in with my Kaldi Fortis (after 1 year on a FR540) and I struggle with dry end. I’m still learning my roaster for sure. Im trying to get my temp stable before I charge. Does the bean have much of an impact on turning point or is that more dependent on the roaster and burner? Keep ‘‘em coming!
Hi Brian, thanks for your comment/question and for watching my video. Don't be too picky with the temp stability before charge. If you are gentle with your heat near charge (not blasting the gas/electric you should be able to get within a degree of what you want to charge at. Are you prewarming your roaster for 20+ minutes? Yes, the bean does have an impact on TP but your charge temp, soak (if any) and batch size will have more of an impact. If you are generally roasting the same types of beans, say central american, then more than likely the density will be similar. Moisture will have an influence as well but like I said, temp is king. After paying attention to a few roasts using the same charge temp with the same coffee, change up coffee and see what you notice. I would be curious to hear what you find.
How do you roast effectively with the hive, not being able to see the roast. Using Artisan, how do you tell if the beans are dry end with the hive? Also, any tips on stability of maintaining ROR with the hive? Thanks.
Thanks for watching my video and your question. While the hive does have "poor" visibility, you are able to see through the hole in the top. I have began to use a LED light that I can wear on my head which gives me "good" visibility, enough to determine when I reach dry end. I also use my nose to smell the state of the beans during the roast. If you were to use the hive without any other data you could still successfully roast coffee but it takes some experience with the heat so you know how long to work in each phase. This is a really important point because you are using data and have asked about Stability of Maintaining ROR. Just by working/focusing on each phase, one at a time, you are getting your temp from charge to dry end....... then dry end to first crack...... and finally first crack to drop. In each of these phases your ROR will be either ascending (the dry phase) or descending (the rest of the roast). So in the most simple terms, you will have a descending ROR if you are targeting specific periods of time for each phase with target temperatures. Now, to better answer your question about stability and maintaining, my solution was to chart out my entire roast starting with my phase percentages based on the coffee I wanted to roast. Then I decided a total roast time. From there, I was able to calculate my temperature goals and broke down my temps into 30 second intervals. I did this entire process in a video using the hive called "Taking Control of your Roast" as seen here: th-cam.com/video/shnQf3fsoxg/w-d-xo.html I talk about charting the times and temps and you see me follow that during the roast. I highly recommend you take a look at that video if you have not already seen it. Last, you mentioned using artisan. I use artisan for my drum roaster. If you have the hive version with the data then you will be reading the bean temp. There is a lot going on when roasting with the hive if you follow the example I shared about charting out your roast. I think it is easier to pay attention to my temperature change which will walk me right to my target temperature for that phase, BUT the other option is to follow the line. You will have an easier time doing that IF you have a target time and temp to hear toward during each phase. That is my opinion and my recommendation. Doing this will help you have a more stable descending ROR. It won't be perfect. Your dealing with such a small mass of beans over a flame that there will be some variation. Honestly, after a little practice you won't notice this because the coffee is going to roast wonderfully consistent and taste great. Let me know if I need to be more specific or if you have any follow up on this "G". Enjoy the HIVE. It is a great roaster!
great video! One question: Is it a goal to have the drying phase last a specific amount of time? For example, do you want the drying phase to last 5 minutes (or longer or shorter)? You mentioned that if your temp is too hot, you can scorch the outside of the beans leaving the inside less dry or less roasted. So it seems like a lower temp is preferable up to a point. As you mentioned, you don't want the temp too low or the roast takes too long to complete.
Hello Pima, thanks for the encouragement. First, I'm curious what type of roaster you are using. This could alter my answer. For now, I will assume it is a drum roaster. Yes, the dry phase is a time where the beans are absorbing heat. Too much heat and you get roasting defects. Too little heat and you do not have enough momentum and your roast times are long, giving you a boring flat cup. Imagine a roller coaster. It starts by getting pulled up the tracks to the first tall hill. This is the dry phase. If you don't have enough heat, the ride will go down the first hill and not have enough momentum to make it up the next hill on it's own. That is the roast from dry end to first crack. So, if you have too high a hill (too much heat) you will go so fast through the browning phase (yellow to first crack) that you don't allow enough time for reactions to take place for flavor development. Too slow and you bake them all out. Finding the right charge temperature takes trial and error. Your roaster might not be capable of getting to dry end in 5 minutes. You will have to figure that out. What type of roaster do you have and what roast level do you like?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab thanks for that very detailed reply! I am doing air roasting with a popcorn popper. I can slow the roast at any point by turning it off for a few seconds, stir, then back on. I also slow it by using slightly smaller quantities than its 1/2 cup normal qty (counter intuitive) and by using an extension cord (which is a plus because that way I can roast outside and let the chaff blow off into the breeze). So with an air roaster, would I be aiming for 5 minutes to get to dry end? In the past dry end is coming in around 3 minutes, first crack at 6 or so, and ending the roast around 8.
No, Air roasters will roast in shorter period of time. The heat transfer from hot air is more efficient than a metal drum during the dry phase. You should experiment with total roast time and see what gives you the best results for the type of coffee and roast level you want. I would still try and balance your profile with the 50/30/20 phase percentages if possible and then take it from there. It seems like you were pretty close with your times but most successful times seem to be between 6-7 minutes on a popper.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab thank you again for the quick reply and for the reminder about balancing the phases into a 50/30/20 ratio. The challenge has been getting the dry phase up to 50% of total time, but I should be able to slow it down a bit and end up with 3 1/2 to 4 minutes.
Hi Steve, in general, I am for about a 4;30 dry phase for most of my dry process coffees. I am trying to go for the lighter side of medium to highlight the fruit and acidity.
Hi Mike. Thank you for your great video. I new in coffee home roaster. I roast coffee bean with modified SR540 (heater and fan can be run independent) . I tried to roast Robusta coffee bean (Vietnam bean) and I did not get crack 1. I tried to roast that bean with pan, crack 1 after 3 minutes and very loud. So I think when I roast with SR540 I had lost crack 1. I want to asked you how coffee without crack 1? lost aroma? lost sweet or something? thank Mike!
I have never roasted robusta coffee Ngo. It is strange you can get crack on frying pan but not with sr540. Because there is no aroma it appears your temperatures were not hot enough. You have modified roaster to control heat and fan separate. What is hottest temperature you can reach with fan at 4 and heat at 9? Also temperature with fan at 9 temp at 9? Also you could have lower voltage that is causing these difficulties.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Hi Mike, thank you for your respond. I only get very loud crack with frying pan in below 3 minutes. I tried with another longer roast Robusta with frying pan, about 9 minutes, no FC happened. So I think Robusta need a very big of RoR for FC. With lower RoR Robusta will slowly cracks and no FC appear. My modified SR540 can reach 230 degrees C or more in 5 minutes or less depend fan. It directly runs with 230V voltage.
Your roaster has plenty of power Ngo. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with Robusta beans. I am sorry I can't be more helpful. Are you part of the facebook group for the Fresh Roast coffee roasters? They may be able to offer some insight.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thank you, Sir. Robusta is not so good quality. I want to study roast coffee so I buy Robusta because of it is cheap. Also I hear that I can hold dry phase long as I want without affect to aroma. What do you think Mike?
The dry phase is an overlooked phase but I think it is the most important phase. With most roasters, the dry phase helps us get our coffee to a point where the complex flavors begin to form. If we apply too much heat during the dry phase, we risk roasting defects. If we push the coffee with too much heat and we get to the end of dry, we may have too much energy/momentum and we move too quickly through the browning phase. I would suggest you watch the entire series I have in my "essential coffee roasting" playlist as this will help present my understanding of coffee roasting. Aroma is important, but not so much during the dry phase other than confirming that the moisture is leaving the bean and we are moving towards the end of dry.
Thank you for clearing up the beginning and end of the dry phase. I use the FR540 and the dry phase seems to move pretty quickly even with high fan, low heat settings. I still struggle a bit finding that perfect color change signaling the end of this event but I think you have cleared that up for me. How about decafe, which does not typically yellow and most are rather brown to begin with.
Glad it was helpful Gary. Check out my "3 tips for roasting decaf" video here th-cam.com/video/hFUntgND070/w-d-xo.html I talk about color, smell and other helpful tips regarding roasting decaf coffee. Thanks for your question and for watching my videos!
Hi Mike! I’ve been home toasting for going on 12 years, first on an Nesco, then upgraded to a Behmor about 8 years ago. I had settled on a method that gave me pretty consistent results (half pound batches roasted on 1 lb setting in manual). I thank you for your scientific and insightful approach as I have spent time studying your method after having that “Aha!” moment. My question is simply this: If I can manage to preheat my Behmor properly, can I successfully roast a full one pound batch rather than having to roast two successive half pound batches? Most of my coffees are Central American and Ethiopian as I like being on the Sweet Maria’s subscription where they send me 4 lbs per month and I don’t get to choose the coffee.
Hi Stacy, thanks for watching and your comment. It all comes down to the total roast time. A larger batch size will lengthen your total roast time and ultimately the flavor of the coffee. It may not be a bad thing but the only way to know for sure is to try. My guess is your total roast time will lengthen by 2-4 minutes. All of this hinges on how you are currently roasting. Are you using a behmor “p” profile or are you manually roasting? How long are your roasts? What roast level are you going to?
Hi Shane. Thanks for watching. You detect no aromas during the dry phase? Sorry about that. When do you begin to smell aromas? Did you have any success with the dark roasts?
Many hints, but I am still not consistant in nailing dry end- beans do behave very differently. Is there a minimum temperature one should reach in minute 1,2,3 ?
Temperatures will differ for every roaster. They will also vary with different coffee. On my roaster the dry phase usually occurs between 325 - 335 f. Here are the last 5 roast dry end temps: Sumatra 334 El Salvador 331 Hondouran decaf 330 Kenyan Nyeri 334 Pink Colombian 331
In°C it seems to be rather high -anyway is dry end really very important? I know, it is the point where to reduce heat and increase air, but is'nt it enough to reach dry end = about 330F = 165C in time to fit a declining RoR and a good percentage of overall roast time?
Hi Mike. Thank you for making these videos. I've been roasting for several years on a Behmor. I just upgraded to a Buckeye BC-2 drum roaster. I have a couple of questions for you. When you charge your beens I notice you turn off the heat for about a minutes. Your temperature drops to about 260deg. When I attempt this my bean temperature tanks. Is your roasting drum double walled? Mine isn't. Could this be the reason? I have to keep the heat on to prevent my temperature from dropping into the mid 100's. Second question. You mention environmental temperature but don't discuss it in detail. Is the ET a nice to know temperature or is it more important than it seems?
Hi Gracie, great question. Think of ET as how fast you are driving and think of BT as you gas petal. Im driving faster than I should when I charge my roaster so I let off the gas petal and coast down to the speed limit. That is the picture of charging your roaster at the charge temp you want but your TT is 40 degrees higher than your BT. That is one method I use to keep my BT lower to avoid roasting defects without giving away all of my BT while I coast. Another method is to have both BT and ET at about the same temp and charge with fuel on. All dry phase rules still apply related to roasting defects and your ability to get your coffee to dry end by your target time. ET is really interesting. I have used it to roast without paying attention to the ror. Imagine having your ET line horizontally flat at about 10 degrees above your drop temp. Try that sometime. Say your drop temp is 410. Keep your ET at 420 during the entire roast. Maybe lower it as you enter development so your ET line and BT line touch at drop. That’s an interesting roast.
Sounds like you are roasting too hot and too fast. Which Kaleido model do you have? Let me know and I can make some suggestions. Share your desired roast level and how much coffee you are trying to roast per batch.
Consider a charge weight of 300 grams and a charge temperature of of 170c. When the beans go into the roaster set your sV to 220 and your Power to 75%. Your air should be set at 30 and leave it there for most of the roast. Now, watch artisan and the predicted time to dry. As you get closer to the 4:30 mark you will notice your ROR go down. This is normal. Leave your power at 75%. Begin to watch the bean color and when there is no green left in the bean mark dry. Now, you mentioned you are getting smokey and bitter tastes. This is because your air was low and/or your roaster was too hot and you took the beans too far into the roast. You don't need to go to 2nd crack for Espresso. What you want is good development. So, watch your ET temperature during the dry phase and when it reaches 215, begin to lower your power. Start with 60% and see if that flattens the ET so it is not increasing. Assuming you got to dry around 4:30 - 5 Minutes your next target is first crack. manage your heat so you reach first cack at about 8:30 which should be at a temperature around 185c. At the point of First Crack, increase your fan to 40 and manage your power so your ROR doesn't crash or flick up. You want a ROR of about 10 as you enter FC and a ROR of about 4 or 5 when you drop. Your drop temp should be about 202c with a development time of about 1:45 - 2:00 minutes. Give that a try and see how that helps with the smokey bitter taste. Your total roast time should be about 10:30 - 11:00 or so. If you find your roast is still going too fast, then manage your heat with lower settings during the roast. Let me know what happens.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab No1...Artisan won't connect. No clue why. I have the dual but it disconnects from artisan any time I start it. No2. So when I set the charge temp...it's the BT that my Kaleido sets the temp to...not the ET. And the BT is 15 degrees warmer than ET at the time of charge, this is consistent. So is the ET meant to be 170 at the time of charge or BT? No3 the advise I've been given around the community is the opposite...that my roast is taking too long and that's why I'm getting burnt notes. I was told to make the roast go shorter. I'm also not sure how my ET is meant to reach 215 but the roast takes over 8 minutes...I'm bringing my ET down when it reaches 180 and still finishing at 8 minutes.
I know we all have different personalities, Mike, and I want you to know that I have over 50 years of teaching experience. It's "plane-as-day" that you have an enormous amount of knowledge on this subject. However, as I mentioned before, I wish you would get to the point much sooner. Maybe something like this: "the dry phase is a very important part of the roast. So, the temperate (range) you're shooting for should be around (blank) for around (blank) minutes." I suspect you will eventually tell me, nonetheless, it becomes a little difficult listening to you go on about the most little things first. Would you please try to get the chase a little sooner? Thanks for your time and knowledge. Kind regards, Paul
Paul, thank you for your commitment to teaching. That is wonderful. I really do appreciate your suggestions and I know I could be much more concise. I realize you want a number or range for temps but as I have mentioned in an earlier message temperatures are not something easily shared between your device, environment, coffee, roast style, probe placement and more. The better way to get to your perfect answer is to determine how long it takes to get to dry. If your target dry time to get to dry end is 5 minutes then your charge temperature and the amount of power needed will be adjusted accordingly to hit that 5 minute mark. There are considerations while trying to achieve this including your roasters power capabilities, the coffee density and ultimately what your goal is for the profile. Are you roasting a Brazilian natural or an Ethiopian washed. These two coffees will require different charge temperatures, maybe even different phase times. I hope that response provides more information about how difficult it is to pick name a temperature. Honestly my dry end temp will even differ from one roast to the next depending on how hard i am pushing my roast with heat. With regards to the way I present, I am always open to criticism and I have taken your comments to heart. Thank you. It is challenging to be concise when it comes to roasting. I have had people ask me to elaborate more when I make my points. They want to know why I am doing that thing. Through that explanation there are other points they pick up and learn. More importantly, because my audience has a wide variety of roasting experience, devices, and environments, I am sometimes not able to make brief points. What one person find boring or even wandering, others find valuable. I was putting chapters in my videos. This allows people to skip around and just capture the main points. Lately I have been so busy with work (my real job) I'm having difficulty creating new content and doing all of the backend details TH-cam wants to list my videos. The comments are appreciated. Thank you.
I don't usually comment on videos, but I have to say that there's a lot of value in your videos. I'm just at the very start of my roasting journey, doing my research before I buy my first roaster. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience to this community!
Thanks Adrian. I'm glad my videos have been helpful. What roaster are you considering? Just curious.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I was initially thinking of getting the Gene Cafe or kaleido m6 but now I think I might invest in the Aillio Bullet because I would like to make enough for friends and family. Any recommendations on a first roaster that's enough to eventually get into small farmers markets?
Wie immer, ein tolles Video! Ich freue mich immer von dir zu hören. Liebe Grüße aus Deutschland von Jan . Ich finde es sehr gut, das es deinen Kanal gibt !!!
Hallo Jan. Vielen Dank für Ihre freundliche Nachricht. Ich freue mich, dass dir meine Videos gefallen. Was verwendest du zum Kaffee rösten?
Hello Jan. Thank you for your kind message. I am glad you are enjoying my videos. What are you using to roast coffee?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Guten Morgen, ich habe einen HB Röster M6E . Die Maschine ist elektrisch und man kann bis 800 Gramm damit rösten.
Hallo Jan, das sieht aus wie ein wunderbarer elektrischer Kaffeeröster. Es hat eine variable Trommelgeschwindigkeit und Luftzirkulation. Haben Sie es mit Artisan oder einer Protokollierungssoftware verbunden?
Hello Jan, that looks like an wonderful electric coffee roaster. It has variable drum speed and airflow. Do you have it connected to Artisan or some logging software?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Guten Morgen, ich zeichne mit Artisan auf. Die Maschine ist recht gut und auch präzise, ich lade ihn mit genau 600 gramm. Er hat eine Heizleistung von 3 Kw. Natürlich hat er auch Nachteile. Er reagiert ca. 30 Sekunden langsamer als ein Gasröster. Ich kann leider kein Englisch sprechen, deshalb sehe ich mir deine Videos immer mit Untertitel und halber Geschwindigkeit an. Du sprichst so gut, daß der Google Übersetzer es fast wie ein Zeitungsartikel übersetzt!!! Großes Kompliment an dich.
I'm glad your roaster performs well. Yes, electric powered roasters have slower response time compared to gas. Thank you for your compliment about my videos. I am glad the captions are accurate. Happy Roasting Jan!
Another great video Mike. What I have realized lately when roasting with the Behmor, is how important the Drying Phase is as preparation for the Browning Phase. In trying to stretch out the Browning Phase for better flavor, I found I needed to go a little easier in the Drying Phase. I just completed a roast a few minutes ago where I made sure to keep the chamber "B" temperature (which is NOT the bean temperature) at about 300 F maximum. When I do that, it is much easier to control temperature in the Browning Phase.
I mentioned to Eduardo in a reply to his post that THE most important thing I learned in detecting Dry End with the Behmor was to use an external 5000K LED lamp to watch the beans. Doing that allows a truer view of color, rather than using the internal yellowish bulb in the Behmor.
Details of the bulb I use, if anyone is interested are: 120 VAC 14W (130 mA) 1400 lumens with a color temperature of 5000K (called Daylight). The most important parameter in that list is the color temperature. Color temperatures below about 4000K cause the beans to look more yellowish and defeat the purpose.
Great suggestion on the bulb Lou. Is it an appliance grade led bulb? Thanks for your comments about the browning phase. Keeping control of our temps to allow enough browning phase time is an area many of us have had challenges with. Great tip, Thanks!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Not sure if it is appliance grade or not. The bulb I have is a 100 W equivalent and has a standard (Medium E26) base. A description someone could search for is: "100W Equivalent BR30 Daylight Dimmable LED Light Bulb". The word "Daylight" in the description means 5000K. It's a nice bright light!
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Thank you for putting together such an informative and easy to understand video. I work on a coffee farm in Kona where we have roasters for people to roast 1/2 of coffee. Very little instruction was given to me, and I'm supposed to be teaching them and helping them. So I found your channel and making my way through. I'm embarrassed to now see how little I knew and did a lot of "baking" and "charring" without knowing it! Now I go in on my days off to practice. The most helpful thing on this video was you talking and timing and showing what the turning point looks like. The yellow was much different than what I thought was yellow! And now I'm user the tryer much more diligently, by smelling and looking. We don't get to cup our roasts, but when you taste a bean, is there enough information there to say whether it was successful or not? Like crunching on a medium roast bean will have some sweetness, while a dark roast will lose that and taste bitter? I do get it that success means your guest is happy with what he/she roasted but I'm wondering once they taste the character of a medium as opposed to the dark they can learn and appreciate great coffee. Aloha from Hawaii and I'll continue watching.
Yes, charring and baking are the two BIGGEST FAILURES!
Hi Jodie, don't feel embarrassed. I've been into some really popular coffee shops and the person roasting had no plan, never charted times or temperatures, always charred the coffee, and the origin notes were completely gone. I'm glad you find my videos helpful. I have a friend who went to a coffee farm in Hawaii and experienced fresh roasted coffee for the first time. That was a long time ago and he still talks about it.
What type of roasters does your organization use?
Yes, Chewing a bean can give some feedback. My son does that and he can taste some notes. Yes, you will be able to sense a difference between the darker bitter notes and the sweeter notes. For me personally, I don't like the texture of chewing on a coffee bean but I have done it and it might be helpful. Smelling the beans will be a big help.
If you want to spend more time roasting and tasting, consider an inexpensive roaster like the Hive, where you can do it at home on your stove-top or a camping stove. It roasts small batches (170 grams) and you can practice and taste as much as you like. I would recommend you wait a day or two after roasting before drinking to get the best feedback. I use the Hive digital dome version with the temperature readout. They also have one that connects with Artisan logging software (artisan is free). I would not recommend the base model hive because the visibility isn't that great and you aren't able to read temperatures. Just my opinion......
If you can figure out how your roasters perform you could get to a couple of different profiles for your guests. They could roast by following a few directions. It could be pretty cool to figure that out. The Kona coffee Cafe Imports has on their website is from Kealakekua Bay Farm. The tasting notes include Clean with tart citric acidity, almond and perfume flavors. Are these notes you experience with your farm? Just curious about that. Here is a link to the coffee I'm talking about. www.cafeimports.com/north-america/offerings#/origin=Hawaii/view=beanology.view.typica-18330/
I'm really curious what type of roasters you are using. if you want to onnect with me on instagram, click the link on my youtube channel
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I will find out today the brand. They are a expensive machine that are Chinese made I believe. I was pretty happy with my own experiment, trying to roast a light, medium and dark. I dipped my beans at 375. The turn around was about 1:30. First crack came about 7:30 hitting around 390? I did the same thing 3 times just by changing my drop time. My dark roast went into a 2nd crack which I had never done, or was not aware of because I really didn't understand what I was doing!. We were told to only to use the fan to control the temperature. Not to change the heat. I had a hard time trying to do that. So I started the roaster at 70 percent to get it preheated and then played with bother the fan and the temperature to try and control. But I still am too fresh to chart ror. Or need an app on my phone to try and keep better track. After watching more of your videos, I think the next time I roast, I will try to extend my browning time a little longer? My dark roast took just under 12 minutes. And the temperature was 420. I thought it was too fast although the beans looked really nice and smelled like a deep cocoa and not burnt. Unfortunately we don't use the Kona beans to roast. I just found out they are from Colombia. We only use the Kona beans to roast on our big roaster for the coffee we sell. I'm not sure if I can send you green coffee from here. I know you can't take it out of the state when you vacation here. But of you would like me to send you a bag of our roasted beans I could do that! Our farm is unique that the cherries are trellised and it leads to great fruit and the volcanic soil and weather make for excellent coffee. Let me know if you would like a bag. We do a Kona peaberry that sells for 220.00 a lb. Crazy. Aloha and I'll check you out on Instagram!
Still at it with my Behmor. I have a hard time seeing the colors changes with the Behmor. But still enjoy most of the results and coffee I am getting.
Thanks again for your TH-cam videos!
Hi Eduardo, I had exactly the same problem seeing color change at the end of drying in my Behmor. What made a huge difference for me was to use an external high-lumen LED light source. Once I did that, I could quite easily see the beans yellowing. Details of the bulb I use, if you want them are: 120 VAC 14W (130 mA) 1400 lumens with a color temperature of 5000K (called Daylight). The most important parameter in that list is the color temperature. Glad your roasts are doing well, so are mine! :-)
@@luigicollins3954; where did you get the external high-lumen LED light and the light bulbs? Do you have a link?
Thanks!
Hello Eduardo, yes, the Behmor is difficult to see yellow because of the bulb. Lou has made a great suggestion and I will try one of the bulbs he has mentioned. If I get a link I will post it. Glad you are enjoying your Behmor!
@@EdGodoyPlana I got my light at a local hardware big box store (Menards) and the bulb manufacturer is Feit.
Fellow Behmor user here. It is definitely hard to see the green to yellow transition. Aside from Lou's recommendation on the LED bulb (which has helped me!) and Mike's notes on smell changes, something I've figured out is that, even if the color change is hard to see, the beans will start swelling and shedding chaff several minutes into a roast. That is usually a cue for me that the middle phase is not too far off, and not too long after I see that expansion is when I start noticing a change in smell too. Your mileage may vary, but this has helped me get something close to consistency. For most beans I roast, this happens about 4-5 minutes into a roast. Keep at it!
I really appreciate the time you spend on fully explaining the details of the drying phase. You explain in a manner that will be extremely helpful to all roasters but particularly new roasters. Excellent, thank you. I never gave any thought to the effects that loading cold/warm beans into the roaster would have on the bean temp. The dip seen on graphs explain this and experience will also allow you to determine how to of if you need to adjust the power. I have your video on BEAN DENSITY and I must assume that knowing the bean density before you roast a bean will be helpful in deterring heat settings. I just don't know yet how to use it effectively. Another point that I am curious about is how to adjust the power and the air to achieve a one to two minute roast extension after first crack. I think this is an art form that takes time to know how your roaster responds and how low you can set the power and air without stalling the roast. If you have a video on this I would love to hear. Great job. An exceptional service for home roasters. Yes, I as applying "thumbs up!"
Thank you for sharing how my video has helped you. My next "profile" series video will answer your question about extending the development phase. What roaster are you using?
Some great tips right here, thank you
Could you also maybe give a good tip as to what is a good time for a turning point to happen since how fast or slow turning point happens depends on the charge temperature
Thanks for your comment. What type of roaster do you have. For a drum roaster, I think the turning point time and temperature might differ based on the ET, Soak time (if any), and the bean density. Because of this the TP time and temp will change from one coffee to the next or if your ET is higher or lower at charge from one roast to the next.
Here is how I use Turning Point date. Once I create a profile I have target event times including my dry time. So, my goal is to find the charge temperature that will get my green coffee yellow by the target time. Turning point is a way I measure the momentum of the roast early on and I make adjustments to the heat based on the time and temp of Turning Point so I will reach my target dry event time.
Monsooned Malabar, no way to get when is end of drying, really hard to control them.
I am always happy when you put out new video, keep doing absolutely great job!!!
Thank you for your kind words Zvonimir. Yes, Monsoon Malabar is weird. Are you able to sense different smells of that coffee during the dry phase?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Yes, I am roasting with Gene Cafe, smells and colours are easy to track, cracks are harder. For me on the Gene is really hard to have a roast under control, somehow I am managing, but all roasts are long at least 12-13 minutes, if I try to do shorter roast, is hard to not run through development, or to crash development, no mater how much i am trying to control RoR through browning.
I started to roast end of November and already have 60 roasts in my logbook, 3 friends of mine starting to buy coffee from me, so that is helping,
Best regards from Slovenia
Another great video Mike. I am red/green deficient (color blind), so it's very challenging for me to determine when all of the green is gone. I can see the yellow, but I feel some of the early beans are going tan before all the green is gone and it's hard to tell those apart sometimes. I am trying to learn the smells better to compensate. Still pretty new at this, but having a great time learning and your videos are very helpful. Thanks!
Some say the smell is related to fresh cooked pasta.
Hi John. I have seen special glasses for color blindness. I have no idea if that would help. I also don't know how much they cost.
Your point about seeing some yellow and green mixed is near the end of dry is a great observation. This is where you, as the roaster, will have to determine when dry is dry. It sounds like you are able to notice the contrast of the yellow and green, so maybe you can use that as a marker. Watch for the contrast as the smell starts to resemble the yeast or bread dough smell. Once you see the contrast, add another 15 seconds or so and see if the contrast starts to go away and call that dry.
This is not a perfect science. Much of it is simply going through the dry phase over and over and over until you start to understand the color and smell behavior of the beans while they are exposed to the high temperatures over time.
I should have asked what type of roaster you are using? The temp readings might be helpful as well.
i also came to day special glasses. maybe insurance will cover it.
u can also chew on it. when is done. is crunchy. u can taste the flavor too. u can also hear the color too
Thanks you so much for your sharing
My pleasure YeNaing. Thanks for watching. What type of roaster are you using to roast?
Great video! I use a Sonofresco fluid bed roaster & it's difficult to even here first crack!
Yea, air roasters can make heating crack difficult
I really enjoy your videos Mike, very helpful.I use a WhirlyPop®for my home roasts. I have trouble keeping the dry phase at 50% or less; I'm usually getting about 52%. It seems like more heat in early and the roast gets away in the later stages. One thing I have been doing is taking the roasts earlier in the development phase i.e ~ :45 -1:00 after 1st crack and letting it coast till the end.
Hi John,Thanks for your comments. I'm glad you are enjoying my videos! I imagine your roast times are 15-20 minutes with the WhirlyPop right? Yea, 52% is still pretty good for a percentage. The more important factor is getting the timing down on the browning and development. What type of coffee are you roasting? What is the end result as far as taste?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab My Times are generally in the 13 to 15 minute range. I roast mostly Central American coffees and Kenya AA. I just got some Sulawesi Natural process I'm going to play around with.
Thanks for the reply. Sounds pretty good John. I forgot to ask what size batch you are roasting. Also, are you getting any of the fruit or acidity with your roasts? Thanks for sharing!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I am experimenting with batch size; I had been doing 300g~ 10 oz roasts, but just decided to try 8 oz. My thinking behind this is it would be easier to control browning and development phases as there is less thermal mass, we'll see. I don't roast too dark so my coffee is bright when I roast DP cofee they seem fruity.
Thanks.
I'm using a Hottop 2K+ and charge the beans at 400°. My turning point is normally around 1 minute also; the last roast was 192.2° @ 1:03 minutes. I leave the heat on after charging because I'm afraid it will take too long to finish the drying phase otherwise. I might try shutting off the heat for 30 seconds at charge to see what happens next roast. Dry end for me is normally just over 5 minutes and it winds up being less than 50% of the total roast time. My most recent roast dry end was at 5:21 minutes at 300°. I use a low voltage clamp-on light (that I use to judge inkjet prints) that shines into the roasting chamber. It does help although I still struggle to judge dry end or is there still green? I turn away for 15 seconds and look again.
Adrian, if you are able to get under 50% for your try time that is great. Momentum for the roast is critical. I think in your situation, if you are not experiencing roasting defects, don't soak for 30 seconds unless you have some time and momentum to sacrifice in the dry phase. Some roasters are a little under powered and that soak time would be difficult to recover your momentum.
I forget, is there a trier on the Hottop?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thanks, Mike. The Hottop does not have a trier. There is a glass panel in front of the roaster and I have my lamp shining into it. It gives a decent view of the beans.
Very helpful channel, thank you
Glad you think so William! Thank you for watching!
Good info thanks for your efforts! it is so easy to kill a roast very early on by adding too much or too little heat. It really comes down to finding the sweet spot for a particular system and how quickly one can get to the start of yellow without causing damage. Scorching does not have to be seen for there to be heat damage.
Suggest checking out N3Roaster work on roast phases and the way he breaks up the roast is far more useful than popular nomenclature. The time to start of Yellow does not matter that much, Id say within 3 to 8 mins and comes down to the roast machine, batch size and its heat transfer ability.
A major contributor to sweetness and balance of acidity is how quickly the roast moves through starting to see Yellow and start of Brown, Neal suggests at least 100 sec and some profiles he pushes this out to 120 - 130 sec. From the video it looks like you have a good amount of time between starting to see Yellow and start of Brown OR end of Dry. I think "drying phase" is not very useful and creates much confusion.
From start of Brown we then can time how long to First Crack / end of First Crack and start of 2nd crack. Setting up the start of the roast so one can have some control over time in these distinct phases is the key.
Cheers
Hi Stephen, What are you roasting with? I'm familiar with Neal. Can you please share which video Neal roasts from charge to dry end in 120 seconds? I was watching Neal roasting on a Diedrich and his roast was 18 minutes long?
Thanks for reviewing the end of the Dry Phase again. I'm using a Behmor 1600+ and I find it challenging. Reminder to use smell is a good one. When roasting with the Behmor if you could eliminate the second fan starting up would you do so? Would the B temperature be more accurate throughout the roast? Any thoughts?
Hi Stanley, thanks for your comment. I'm not sure what you mean about a second fan. Are you referring to the fan that kicks on around 5 minutes into the roast? I would not remove or disconnect any fan. Assuming you are always roasting the same batch size, the fan kicks on consistently at the same time, every time. I would anticipate this occurring and modify your power setting as needed. If you don't, the fan will lower your "B" temperature by 20 degrees.
Which temperature "B" or "A" you use is a personal decision. There are some that swear by the "A" temp and others like me who just use the "B" temp. The "A" temp isn't really useful until the fan turns on. In the end, you will have to decide what is the best reference point for you as you roast on the Behmor. Sorry about that.
Hi Mike. Terrific knowledge presented in a simple, logical manner. Much appreciated.
Q: When I roast, I have a range of charge temps (higher for more dense, higher-elevation beans, lower for the rest). I heat my drum for 30m or so and set heat to 0 to let it fall to my charge temp. Then I keep heat at 0 for about a minute to ‘soak’. I’m finding that my turning point is consistently around 1m, whereas I see from your roasts and others that 1.30 is more average. Since I’m already at 0 heat, I can’t extend by reducing the heat. Any comments/suggestions?
Thanks.
Thanks for sharing your charge @WelshMcSpicy. Can you tell me what roaster you are using as well as the type of coffee, batch size and the charge temp you are using? Also, how long is is your dry phase and total roast time if you don't mind sharing. That can help me offer a reasonable answer. Thanks
I had been roasting to early second crack (the only metric I was aware of) in a hot air popcorn popper for about 8 months and I bought a Behmor 1600 Plus less than a week ago. Needless to say most of the confusion I’ve come across so far has been in Behmor’s manuals and guides and I feel as if I’ve been thrown a lifeline finding your videos. I have a couple of questions about the drying phase. 1) I would imagine the length of time for the drying phase would be relative to the size of the batch for starters, is that correct? 2) would there be a difference in managing the drying phase if I were roasting a hard bean like an Ethiopian vs a soft bean like a Brazilian? 3) if so how would I treat them differently? I know this is a lot but I’m trying g to get up to speed on the basics as quickly as I can. I really love your content!
Michael, thanks for sharing your roasting journey and congrats on the behmor.
There is a difference in how to approach your roast profile based on bean density. The harder the bean to more heat the bean can handle without roast defects. This is why you can read the behmore manual recommending different power levels for different bean types.
Regarding batch size, Yes, your batch size will influence your total roast time. I recommend roasting about 8 ounces per batch.
Watch my behmor videos and you will see my general approach roasting with that roaster.
Thanx Mike very timely video. I’m about 2 mos in with my Kaldi Fortis (after 1 year on a FR540) and I struggle with dry end. I’m still learning my roaster for sure. Im trying to get my temp stable before I charge. Does the bean have much of an impact on turning point or is that more dependent on the roaster and burner? Keep ‘‘em coming!
Hi Brian, thanks for your comment/question and for watching my video. Don't be too picky with the temp stability before charge. If you are gentle with your heat near charge (not blasting the gas/electric you should be able to get within a degree of what you want to charge at. Are you prewarming your roaster for 20+ minutes?
Yes, the bean does have an impact on TP but your charge temp, soak (if any) and batch size will have more of an impact. If you are generally roasting the same types of beans, say central american, then more than likely the density will be similar. Moisture will have an influence as well but like I said, temp is king. After paying attention to a few roasts using the same charge temp with the same coffee, change up coffee and see what you notice. I would be curious to hear what you find.
How do you roast effectively with the hive, not being able to see the roast.
Using Artisan, how do you tell if the beans are dry end with the hive?
Also, any tips on stability of maintaining ROR with the hive?
Thanks.
Thanks for watching my video and your question. While the hive does have "poor" visibility, you are able to see through the hole in the top. I have began to use a LED light that I can wear on my head which gives me "good" visibility, enough to determine when I reach dry end. I also use my nose to smell the state of the beans during the roast.
If you were to use the hive without any other data you could still successfully roast coffee but it takes some experience with the heat so you know how long to work in each phase. This is a really important point because you are using data and have asked about Stability of Maintaining ROR. Just by working/focusing on each phase, one at a time, you are getting your temp from charge to dry end....... then dry end to first crack...... and finally first crack to drop. In each of these phases your ROR will be either ascending (the dry phase) or descending (the rest of the roast). So in the most simple terms, you will have a descending ROR if you are targeting specific periods of time for each phase with target temperatures.
Now, to better answer your question about stability and maintaining, my solution was to chart out my entire roast starting with my phase percentages based on the coffee I wanted to roast. Then I decided a total roast time. From there, I was able to calculate my temperature goals and broke down my temps into 30 second intervals. I did this entire process in a video using the hive called "Taking Control of your Roast" as seen here:
th-cam.com/video/shnQf3fsoxg/w-d-xo.html
I talk about charting the times and temps and you see me follow that during the roast. I highly recommend you take a look at that video if you have not already seen it.
Last, you mentioned using artisan. I use artisan for my drum roaster. If you have the hive version with the data then you will be reading the bean temp. There is a lot going on when roasting with the hive if you follow the example I shared about charting out your roast. I think it is easier to pay attention to my temperature change which will walk me right to my target temperature for that phase, BUT the other option is to follow the line. You will have an easier time doing that IF you have a target time and temp to hear toward during each phase. That is my opinion and my recommendation. Doing this will help you have a more stable descending ROR. It won't be perfect. Your dealing with such a small mass of beans over a flame that there will be some variation. Honestly, after a little practice you won't notice this because the coffee is going to roast wonderfully consistent and taste great.
Let me know if I need to be more specific or if you have any follow up on this "G". Enjoy the HIVE. It is a great roaster!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thank you so much for your very thoughtful response. I will take a look at your guide and keep learning.
great video! One question: Is it a goal to have the drying phase last a specific amount of time? For example, do you want the drying phase to last 5 minutes (or longer or shorter)? You mentioned that if your temp is too hot, you can scorch the outside of the beans leaving the inside less dry or less roasted. So it seems like a lower temp is preferable up to a point. As you mentioned, you don't want the temp too low or the roast takes too long to complete.
Hello Pima, thanks for the encouragement. First, I'm curious what type of roaster you are using. This could alter my answer. For now, I will assume it is a drum roaster.
Yes, the dry phase is a time where the beans are absorbing heat. Too much heat and you get roasting defects. Too little heat and you do not have enough momentum and your roast times are long, giving you a boring flat cup. Imagine a roller coaster. It starts by getting pulled up the tracks to the first tall hill. This is the dry phase. If you don't have enough heat, the ride will go down the first hill and not have enough momentum to make it up the next hill on it's own. That is the roast from dry end to first crack. So, if you have too high a hill (too much heat) you will go so fast through the browning phase (yellow to first crack) that you don't allow enough time for reactions to take place for flavor development. Too slow and you bake them all out.
Finding the right charge temperature takes trial and error. Your roaster might not be capable of getting to dry end in 5 minutes. You will have to figure that out. What type of roaster do you have and what roast level do you like?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab thanks for that very detailed reply! I am doing air roasting with a popcorn popper. I can slow the roast at any point by turning it off for a few seconds, stir, then back on. I also slow it by using slightly smaller quantities than its 1/2 cup normal qty (counter intuitive) and by using an extension cord (which is a plus because that way I can roast outside and let the chaff blow off into the breeze). So with an air roaster, would I be aiming for 5 minutes to get to dry end? In the past dry end is coming in around 3 minutes, first crack at 6 or so, and ending the roast around 8.
forgot to answer your Q re roast level: I would say I'm aiming for City+ to Full City.
No, Air roasters will roast in shorter period of time. The heat transfer from hot air is more efficient than a metal drum during the dry phase. You should experiment with total roast time and see what gives you the best results for the type of coffee and roast level you want. I would still try and balance your profile with the 50/30/20 phase percentages if possible and then take it from there. It seems like you were pretty close with your times but most successful times seem to be between 6-7 minutes on a popper.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab thank you again for the quick reply and for the reminder about balancing the phases into a 50/30/20 ratio. The challenge has been getting the dry phase up to 50% of total time, but I should be able to slow it down a bit and end up with 3 1/2 to 4 minutes.
What's your drying phase timed for natural Brazil on your machine?
Hi Steve, in general, I am for about a 4;30 dry phase for most of my dry process coffees. I am trying to go for the lighter side of medium to highlight the fruit and acidity.
Hi Mike. Thank you for your great video. I new in coffee home roaster. I roast coffee bean with modified SR540 (heater and fan can be run independent) . I tried to roast Robusta coffee bean (Vietnam bean) and I did not get crack 1. I tried to roast that bean with pan, crack 1 after 3 minutes and very loud. So I think when I roast with SR540 I had lost crack 1. I want to asked you how coffee without crack 1? lost aroma? lost sweet or something? thank Mike!
I have never roasted robusta coffee Ngo. It is strange you can get crack on frying pan but not with sr540. Because there is no aroma it appears your temperatures were not hot enough. You have modified roaster to control heat and fan separate. What is hottest temperature you can reach with fan at 4 and heat at 9? Also temperature with fan at 9 temp at 9? Also you could have lower voltage that is causing these difficulties.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Hi Mike, thank you for your respond. I only get very loud crack with frying pan in below 3 minutes. I tried with another longer roast Robusta with frying pan, about 9 minutes, no FC happened. So I think Robusta need a very big of RoR for FC. With lower RoR Robusta will slowly cracks and no FC appear. My modified SR540 can reach 230 degrees C or more in 5 minutes or less depend fan. It directly runs with 230V voltage.
Your roaster has plenty of power Ngo. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with Robusta beans. I am sorry I can't be more helpful. Are you part of the facebook group for the Fresh Roast coffee roasters? They may be able to offer some insight.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thank you, Sir. Robusta is not so good quality. I want to study roast coffee so I buy Robusta because of it is cheap. Also I hear that I can hold dry phase long as I want without affect to aroma. What do you think Mike?
The dry phase is an overlooked phase but I think it is the most important phase. With most roasters, the dry phase helps us get our coffee to a point where the complex flavors begin to form. If we apply too much heat during the dry phase, we risk roasting defects. If we push the coffee with too much heat and we get to the end of dry, we may have too much energy/momentum and we move too quickly through the browning phase. I would suggest you watch the entire series I have in my "essential coffee roasting" playlist as this will help present my understanding of coffee roasting. Aroma is important, but not so much during the dry phase other than confirming that the moisture is leaving the bean and we are moving towards the end of dry.
Thank you for clearing up the beginning and end of the dry phase. I use the FR540 and the dry phase seems to move pretty quickly even with high fan, low heat settings. I still struggle a bit finding that perfect color change signaling the end of this event but I think you have cleared that up for me. How about decafe, which does not typically yellow and most are rather brown to begin with.
Glad it was helpful Gary. Check out my "3 tips for roasting decaf" video here th-cam.com/video/hFUntgND070/w-d-xo.html
I talk about color, smell and other helpful tips regarding roasting decaf coffee. Thanks for your question and for watching my videos!
Hi Mike! I’ve been home toasting for going on 12 years, first on an Nesco, then upgraded to a Behmor about 8 years ago. I had settled on a method that gave me pretty consistent results (half pound batches roasted on 1 lb setting in manual). I thank you for your scientific and insightful approach as I have spent time studying your method after having that “Aha!” moment. My question is simply this: If I can manage to preheat my Behmor properly, can I successfully roast a full one pound batch rather than having to roast two successive half pound batches? Most of my coffees are Central American and Ethiopian as I like being on the Sweet Maria’s subscription where they send me 4 lbs per month and I don’t get to choose the coffee.
Hi Stacy, thanks for watching and your comment. It all comes down to the total roast time. A larger batch size will lengthen your total roast time and ultimately the flavor of the coffee. It may not be a bad thing but the only way to know for sure is to try. My guess is your total roast time will lengthen by 2-4 minutes.
All of this hinges on how you are currently roasting. Are you using a behmor “p” profile or are you manually roasting? How long are your roasts? What roast level are you going to?
I have been roasting with a Behmor for about five years now. I regularly do 1 lb roasts with good consistent results. So yes, it is possible.
Great video Mike, my honker must be defective, because l cant smell anything. 👃
Did you have covid?
Hi Shane. Thanks for watching. You detect no aromas during the dry phase? Sorry about that. When do you begin to smell aromas?
Did you have any success with the dark roasts?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab l rarely smell anything, some times l can pick up a wiff of something sometimes
@@slpardee10 not yet
@@shanewilson2152 That's good. Just wondering if covid was the reason for your not being able to smell things.
Many hints, but I am still not consistant in nailing dry end- beans do behave very differently. Is there a minimum temperature one should reach in minute 1,2,3 ?
Temperatures will differ for every roaster. They will also vary with different coffee. On my roaster the dry phase usually occurs between 325 - 335 f. Here are the last 5 roast dry end temps:
Sumatra 334
El Salvador 331
Hondouran decaf 330
Kenyan Nyeri 334
Pink Colombian 331
In°C it seems to be rather high -anyway is dry end really very important? I know, it is the point where to reduce heat and increase air,
but is'nt it enough to reach dry end = about 330F = 165C in time to fit a declining RoR and a good percentage of overall roast time?
Hi Mike. Thank you for making these videos. I've been roasting for several years on a Behmor. I just upgraded to a Buckeye BC-2 drum roaster. I have a couple of questions for you. When you charge your beens I notice you turn off the heat for about a minutes. Your temperature drops to about 260deg. When I attempt this my bean temperature tanks. Is your roasting drum double walled? Mine isn't. Could this be the reason? I have to keep the heat on to prevent my temperature from dropping into the mid 100's. Second question. You mention environmental temperature but don't discuss it in detail. Is the ET a nice to know temperature or is it more important than it seems?
Hi Gracie, great question. Think of ET as how fast you are driving and think of BT as you gas petal. Im driving faster than I should when I charge my roaster so I let off the gas petal and coast down to the speed limit. That is the picture of charging your roaster at the charge temp you want but your TT is 40 degrees higher than your BT. That is one method I use to keep my BT lower to avoid roasting defects without giving away all of my BT while I coast.
Another method is to have both BT and ET at about the same temp and charge with fuel on. All dry phase rules still apply related to roasting defects and your ability to get your coffee to dry end by your target time.
ET is really interesting. I have used it to roast without paying attention to the ror. Imagine having your ET line horizontally flat at about 10 degrees above your drop temp. Try that sometime. Say your drop temp is 410. Keep your ET at 420 during the entire roast. Maybe lower it as you enter development so your ET line and BT line touch at drop. That’s an interesting roast.
My turning point on my Kaleido is CONSISTENTLY faster than your profile and my coffee comes out tasting smokey and bitter. No idea what's going wrong
Sounds like you are roasting too hot and too fast. Which Kaleido model do you have? Let me know and I can make some suggestions.
Share your desired roast level and how much coffee you are trying to roast per batch.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I have the M2 Sniper
I make primarily espresso drinks so something full city but I'm open to experimenting. Just trying to get something consistent at first
Consider a charge weight of 300 grams and a charge temperature of of 170c. When the beans go into the roaster set your sV to 220 and your Power to 75%. Your air should be set at 30 and leave it there for most of the roast.
Now, watch artisan and the predicted time to dry. As you get closer to the 4:30 mark you will notice your ROR go down. This is normal. Leave your power at 75%. Begin to watch the bean color and when there is no green left in the bean mark dry.
Now, you mentioned you are getting smokey and bitter tastes. This is because your air was low and/or your roaster was too hot and you took the beans too far into the roast. You don't need to go to 2nd crack for Espresso. What you want is good development. So, watch your ET temperature during the dry phase and when it reaches 215, begin to lower your power. Start with 60% and see if that flattens the ET so it is not increasing.
Assuming you got to dry around 4:30 - 5 Minutes your next target is first crack. manage your heat so you reach first cack at about 8:30 which should be at a temperature around 185c. At the point of First Crack, increase your fan to 40 and manage your power so your ROR doesn't crash or flick up. You want a ROR of about 10 as you enter FC and a ROR of about 4 or 5 when you drop. Your drop temp should be about 202c with a development time of about 1:45 - 2:00 minutes.
Give that a try and see how that helps with the smokey bitter taste. Your total roast time should be about 10:30 - 11:00 or so. If you find your roast is still going too fast, then manage your heat with lower settings during the roast.
Let me know what happens.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab No1...Artisan won't connect. No clue why. I have the dual but it disconnects from artisan any time I start it. No2. So when I set the charge temp...it's the BT that my Kaleido sets the temp to...not the ET. And the BT is 15 degrees warmer than ET at the time of charge, this is consistent. So is the ET meant to be 170 at the time of charge or BT? No3 the advise I've been given around the community is the opposite...that my roast is taking too long and that's why I'm getting burnt notes. I was told to make the roast go shorter. I'm also not sure how my ET is meant to reach 215 but the roast takes over 8 minutes...I'm bringing my ET down when it reaches 180 and still finishing at 8 minutes.
taking the roast off the heat...
Yep, got it
Not one word about the actual, or, even range of, temperature. 😞
Paul, please see my previous comments I replied to you. Thanks.
I know we all have different personalities, Mike, and I want you to know that I have over 50 years of teaching experience. It's "plane-as-day" that you have an enormous amount of knowledge on this subject. However, as I mentioned before, I wish you would get to the point much sooner. Maybe something like this: "the dry phase is a very important part of the roast. So, the temperate (range) you're shooting for should be around (blank) for around (blank) minutes."
I suspect you will eventually tell me, nonetheless, it becomes a little difficult listening to you go on about the most little things first. Would you please try to get the chase a little sooner?
Thanks for your time and knowledge.
Kind regards,
Paul
Paul, thank you for your commitment to teaching. That is wonderful. I really do appreciate your suggestions and I know I could be much more concise.
I realize you want a number or range for temps but as I have mentioned in an earlier message temperatures are not something easily shared between your device, environment, coffee, roast style, probe placement and more. The better way to get to your perfect answer is to determine how long it takes to get to dry. If your target dry time to get to dry end is 5 minutes then your charge temperature and the amount of power needed will be adjusted accordingly to hit that 5 minute mark. There are considerations while trying to achieve this including your roasters power capabilities, the coffee density and ultimately what your goal is for the profile. Are you roasting a Brazilian natural or an Ethiopian washed. These two coffees will require different charge temperatures, maybe even different phase times. I hope that response provides more information about how difficult it is to pick name a temperature. Honestly my dry end temp will even differ from one roast to the next depending on how hard i am pushing my roast with heat.
With regards to the way I present, I am always open to criticism and I have taken your comments to heart. Thank you. It is challenging to be concise when it comes to roasting. I have had people ask me to elaborate more when I make my points. They want to know why I am doing that thing. Through that explanation there are other points they pick up and learn. More importantly, because my audience has a wide variety of roasting experience, devices, and environments, I am sometimes not able to make brief points. What one person find boring or even wandering, others find valuable. I was putting chapters in my videos. This allows people to skip around and just capture the main points. Lately I have been so busy with work (my real job) I'm having difficulty creating new content and doing all of the backend details TH-cam wants to list my videos.
The comments are appreciated. Thank you.