Any home coffee roasters out there?

[B.Finnigan]

I have been roasting my own coffee for three years now. I thought I would let everyone know how easy it is and how much money you can save. Up here in Washington State coffee is not a drink, it is a religion. At first I used a small electric roaster that I bought for $150 but it only roasted about 8 oz. It was also noisy and the smell was pretty intense and acrid.

Then two years ago Santa got me a stainless steel gas BBQ with an electric rotisery. That started the voices and visions in my head. I built a small 6"x6" stainless drum with a hatch and a window with a chaff screen. I made it to slide right onto the skewer and secured it with two thumb screws so it can still be used for BBQing. In about 25-30 minutes I can get two pounds of fresh roastd coffee.

Most of the green coffee beans cost around $2.50-$4.00 a Lbs.(24 lbs bags) and they have at least a two year shelf life if not roasted. Now I have the freshest and best tasting coffee and most of all I can roast it exactly the way I want it. So if you are tired of paying $8-15 a Lbs for gourmet coffee that has been sitting around for weeks possibly you should look inot home raosting. Better coffee for less money. Around here I use it as currency and trade it for almost anything I need.

Roaster pic.
http://groups.msn.com/Brentscustomkn...to&PhotoID=111

Green coffee beans and home roasting supplies source.
http://www.coffeeproject.com/

[Darren Ellis]

Hi Brent,

Yep, been doing it for years myself! Have had the opportunity to turn a few other bladesmiths on to home roasting when I bring coffee to hammer-ins (Batson's, Harleys, Claiborne's, etc...) ...got Billy-Bob Sowell, Mike Alexander, and Jim Prill hooked on it, and a few others who I can't remember at the moment.

I started with a Hearthware Gourmet, then moved to a Precision, and now have an I-Roast. Here's another place to get supplies from...the guy who runs this place (Tom) is top notch:

http://www.sweetmarias.com

I especially like his site, his attention to detail in orders and in coffee selection, as well as his extensive cupping notes on-line.



-Darren

[Darren Ellis]

....also, if you're into home roasting, you're probably familiar with vacuum coffee brewers...if not, I've got a little info on my personal web pages:

http://www.DarrenEllis.com

...most of that site is out of date... I've got a collection of around 150 vacuum coffee brewers dating from the mid 1800s to the 1970s that I'm going to put up for sale soon if you know anyone who's interested...



-Darren

[B.Finnigan]

Thanks for posting the website. I wanted at least a two pound roasting capacity machine but the least expensive one was $7000! That is why I set out to build my own. The total cost was around $4 for some SS pop rivets and a couple hinges. The rest of it was just SS scrap waiting to be turned into something. I found out that the electric roasters don't roast outside very well if the temp is below 70 ish. With my coffee-que it does not matter how cold it is.

Until now I did not know anyone else that raosted. If they only knew what they were missing. Anytime we have guests over I never tell them the coffee is home roasted. I wait until they try it and completely flip over the taste.

It's good to see at least one other roaster out there!