How to Dry Coffee Beans
Unless you've lived or traveled in a country where coffee grows, you probably don't know how the beans are harvested, dried and roasted. Coffee beans are the seeds of a fruit that looks like a cherry. Coffee beans contain up to 60 percent of moisture and must dry to prevent the growth of fungi and bacteria. Coffee growers use special equipment to expedite the drying process, but if you are growing coffee plants at home, you can dry the beans without heavy machinery. Methods of drying the beans may vary slightly in different countries. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Large open area with brick or cement floor
- Rake
- Large tables (optional)
Instructions
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Method One: Drying Whole Fruit
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Pick ripe coffee cherries, sort them and remove overripe and damaged fruits as well as dirt, soil, twigs and leaves.
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Spread out the coffee cherries on the ground in the sun. The layer should not be thick. You can cover it with plastic at night for protection from rain.
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Rake the fruit every 30 to 40 minutes to ensure even drying. The drying process may take up to 14 days to reach the 12 percent moisture maximum. This process is important because it determines the final quality of the beans. If they are too dry, they will break. If they are not dry enough, they will start fermenting and growing mold.
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Hull the dried coffee cherries and sort the beans. They will be green in color but will change to dark brown during the roasting process. Never store coffee beans in burlap sacks as they can pick up the distinct burlap smell and flavor. Store them in cotton sacks or silos instead.
Method Two: Removing Pulp Before Drying
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Harvest the fruit and sort them removing overripe and damaged coffee cherries, leaves and dirt.
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Wash coffee fruit and leave in water to ferment for up to 36 hours. The fermenting process makes removing the pulp easier. Check the coffee cherries after 24 hours to see if the skin and pulp come off. Avoid leaving the fruit in water for longer than 36 hours because the beans can acquire a sour flavor. Remove the pulp and rinse the beans in clean water.
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Spread the beans on the floor in the sun to dry. The layer should be 2 to 10 centimeters high. You can pile the beans in rows with open ground between them. At this stage the beans contain 50 to 60 percent moisture.
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Rake the beans frequently, about every 30 to 40 minutes, to allow them to dry evenly. If you piled the beans in rows, rake them over to the dry ground to let the sun dry the previous spot. The beans dry faster and are less likely to grow mold. It will take approximately 6 to 7 days for the coffee beans to reach the desired moisture level of 11 to 12 percent. To expedite the process, place the coffee beans on large tables. The dry, warm air flowing upward from the ground will speed up the drying.
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Collect dry beans into storage containers or sacks.
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Tips & Warnings
Outside drying method is only appropriate for warm and dry climates. Humidity will cause mold and fermentation.
References
- Photo Credit coffee beans image by Broken_Perfection from Fotolia.com
