How To

How to Roast Coffee Beans

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By eHow Contributing Writer
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While many people grind their own coffee beans, real purists actually roast coffee beans. Although it may be rare to find such die-hards, they do exist and enjoy the freshest coffee possible. The reason many people do not like the flavor of coffee is that it is bitter, but coffee is not supposed to be a bitter drink. If you roast coffee beans, you can discover what coffee is really meant to taste like and enjoy an authentic coffee sensation day in and day out.

Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Air Popper
  • Green coffee beans
  • Sieve or Colander
  1. Step 1

    Turn on the air popper and let it heat up. Find an air popper that heats from the sides and not from the bottom to reduce fire risk.

  2. Step 2

    Pour the green coffee beans into the popper until they stop swirling. They will begin swirling again in a few minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Be prepared to stand back and avoid flying chaff.

  4. Step 4

    Wait for the first crackling noise. When you here the second crackling noise, you will need to roast the coffee beans for another one to three minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Check the color of the beans. They should be getting darker gradually.

  6. Step 6

    Put the beans in the sieve and rinse them from the chaff. Take out the burnt beans.

  7. Step 7

    Store the beans in an airtight container to preserve freshness.

Tips & Warnings
  • Store green coffee beans for up to a year. Roasted coffee beans start to lose their freshness after a few days.
  • Avoid coffee beans flying from the popper, because it may cause burns.

Comments  

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on 1/31/2009 You can also roast coffee beans in the oven, on the stovetop with a skillet, or with a specialized home roasting machine. After roasting, for best results the beans should "rest" for 6-12 hours before being consumed. Also- definitely don't "rinse" the beans in water to remove the chaff! Instead, just gently blow the chaff away.

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on 10/27/2007 wow when you hear the second crack wait a 1-3 min. thats bull ****, any time past first crack is good, though very few, and i mean very few stop before first crack is done, thats an extremely bright roast, more sour and grassy. Trust me, after the first crack has cleared, it is delicous, best for tasting the differences between coffees. Also if you roast much into the second crack, i am talking like more than 10 secs, then you will start to shorten the life of you popper, the longer the roast the shorter the life, though if you stop once the coffee reaches the 2nd crack or before, very little damadge occurs.

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