How to Roast Your Own Coffee - With a Popcorn Popper

I love coffee…but with the cost of everything sky-rocketing these days, I needed to find a cheaper way to get my fix! Not only did I find a cheaper way, I found a better way! I roast my coffee at home – in a popcorn popper – and it is truly the freshest, best tasting coffee I have ever had. I will never go back to buying beans at the store again. And it is really very easy.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A Hot Air Popcorn Popper. Look for one that vents the hot air in from the sides – NOT the bottom!
• Green Coffee Beans. There are lots of sources online for green beans – a quick search for ‘green coffee beans’ will pull up dozens of results.
• A Large Bowl. This will go under the popcorn popper spout to catch the coffee chaff. Chaff is a thin paper-like skin that detaches from the bean during roasting.
• A Couple of Wire Strainers or Colanders. I personally use wire ‘strainer’ type colanders with a bit larger screen, but any type of heat resistant colander or strainer will work just fine.
• A Pot Holder or Oven Mitt. You’ll need this when you lift the lid on the popper to check on the coffee. An oven mitt works best.
• A Shallow Baking Pan. I use a shallow baking dish to spread out my roasted beans to ‘rest’ before storing.
• A Well Ventilated Work Area. The beans tend to smoke a bit when roasting. I use my stove top, and turn the fan vent on high, and this usually works fine. But be prepared to open a window or door – jus

1. Okay, so you have everything you need in hand, and you’ve found a good area to work in, so let’s get started!
   You’ll want to heat up the popcorn ‘chamber’ before adding the beans. Just turn it on and let it run for a few minutes before adding the beans.
   While the popper is heating up, measure out your beans. You can roast about ½ cup (4 ounces) give or take – depending on your popper.

2. Once the popper is heated, turn it off, and add the beans to the popcorn chamber. Replace the top part of the popper unit and turn it back on. Make sure the bowl is positioned under the popcorn spout.
   Just a side note here – the bowl will catch a lot of the chaff, but it still has a tendency to blow around a bit. So expect to have to clean up when you’re all done.

3. Listen for the beans to reach the ‘first crack’. This sounds much like popcorn popping. In my popper, this takes about 6-7 minutes. This is where you’ll start to notice the chaff starting to blow out. This is about half way the roasting process!

4. 
   Roasting Chart

   Now you’ll want to listen carefully for the ‘second crack’. This is a distinctively different sound than the ‘first crack’. The ‘second crack’ sounds much more like a crackling – a lot like puffed rice cereal. At this point, you’ll want to check on your beans.
   Using the oven mitt or pot holder, lift off the top of the popcorn popper (they get really hot!), and check the color of the beans. This step is all a matter of preference. If you prefer a really dark roast, you’ll probably want the beans to roast for a few more minutes and reach a deep brown color. If you prefer a lighter roast, then less, more like milk chocolate color. Use the chart as an example. Keep in mind that the beans continue to roast – and therefore darken - after you remove them from the popper.

5. Once the beans have reached a roast (color) just a bit lighter than the desired final roast, turn off the popper and pour the beans into one of the strainers. I stack the other strainer on top and shake the beans, but if you only have one strainer, you can shake or stir the beans. The idea is to cool them, and stop the roasting process – so the more air you get flowing around them, the faster they will cool down. I finish my beans by shaking them in a colander to shake out the chaff.
   Just a quick note on chaff –shake these over the sink or trash – or you’ll get chaff everywhere!

6. Once I have shaken out the chaff, I spread my beans out in a shallow baking pan to ‘rest’ before storing. You really want your beans to ‘rest’ for at least 4-6 and up to 24 hours before brewing to allow the beans to reach their maximum flavor. After 24 hours you will want to store your beans in an air-tight container to retain maximum freshness and flavor. Just remember, that peak flavor is obtained by using fresh roasted beans – the longer the beans sit (Even in a closed, air-tight container) the more flavor is lost.

7. Enjoy!

Tips & Warnings

• If you like coffee ‘blends’, which are a mix of beans to achieve different flavors, do this after roasting. All coffee beans have different roasting times to achieve peak flavor –mixing in the roasting process is a sure fire way to ensure some of your beans are not roasted to the level you prefer.
• NEVER, EVER walk away from the beans while roasting. Chaff can start a fire – you need to watch closely.