PaulHilgeman Senior Member Joined: 22 Jul 2003 Posts: 28 Location: Chicago Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Baby Millennium Grinder: Solis Maestro
Posted Mon Jan 10, 2005, 7:10am Subject: First Try with Poppery II
I bought some Green beans at a place in chicago called the Coffee and Tea exchange. I am not sure if they were any good, but I have some Sweet Maria's arriving on wednesday along with a thermometer that may tell me more about what is going on.
I roasted for about 20 minutes when I finally gave up. They turned out a shade lighter than my Black Cat espresso blend that I was comparing to. However, I never got any smoke, or any cracks at all. Not that I heard at least, maybe it was because it took so long. The temperature in the garage was about 40 degrees F. I didnt hear the thermostat kicking in until about 13 minutes into the roasting process, so I dont think it was a lack of heat problem. I was expecting it to take about 10 with the colder ambient temp, but I let one batch go to about 24 minutes, and got nearly identical results.
Has anyone had similar experiences? Was it just crummy ethiopian beans? I guess I will rule out the beans on wednesday.
Posted Mon Jan 10, 2005, 12:23pm Subject: Re: First Try with Poppery II
I have a Poppery II and it usually roasts a half of cup of green beans, in my kitchen, in under 12 minutes, being somewhere in the second crack when I stop the process. Roasting with the window open in Winter (as it's called here in Seattle) takes more time than it did last August.
There are some things that do affect the time it takes to roast: - ambient temperature. 40 degrees would slow things down compared to 60F. - voltage. Is your garage voltage down from the household current? - tilting the roaster. More tilt usually means more time. - amount of beans. A half-cup takes longer than 2/3 cup (assuming your PII can handle that much) - bean quality. Everything I've bought has roasted okay, some slower than others. - popper condition. Is your PII in good shape?
Posted Mon Jan 10, 2005, 3:06pm Subject: Re: First Try with Poppery II
Why does a half cup take longer than 2/3 of a cup? I was doing 4oz, so 1/2 cup.
I wondered about this too, until I tried it. Apparently using less beans means more room for the hot air to escape and less thermal mass in the beans.
So, you want to put more beans in your PII, but not so many that they stop rotating in the chamber. Have a spoon ready to remove a few after you give the machine a minute to get the beans moving.
My guess is that the low temp and (suspect) beans might together be the reason for the long roast time.
Other roasters have put their machines in boxes to control the air temp a little better to heat up the ambient air around the roaster. Someone should post a reply with their method.
The PII is a great machine. Soon you'll be roasting with GREAT results.
PaulHilgeman Senior Member Joined: 22 Jul 2003 Posts: 28 Location: Chicago Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Baby Millennium Grinder: Solis Maestro
Posted Mon Jan 10, 2005, 4:21pm Subject: Re: First Try with Poppery II
Thanks alot for the advice.
I am sure when I get my Monkey Blend and try it with 5 and 6 ounces I will get better results. The roast was not bad, a little thin, and more of a coffee roast, not an espresso roast. I tried it in my gaggia baby and got mega crema, probably 4/5 crema at the end of the pull, not bad at all, but the flavor was lacking, and I had to grind pretty fine and tamp hard to even reach a 20 second pull.
Posted Tue Jan 11, 2005, 12:45pm Subject: Re: First Try with Poppery II
I also have a Poppery II, it was unseasonably cold here in Houston, 50 ambient, and I could not get to second crack on SM donkey decaf. I have roasted this to french ( by accident ) before in the popper.
let it warm up to 70 got just what I wanted with SM ethopian decaf then decaf MM
tom_b Senior Member Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Posts: 537 Location: Maui, Hawaii
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia/PID Grinder: Nuova Simonelli MCF Roaster: USPS/Popper
Posted Tue Jan 11, 2005, 1:16pm Subject: Re: First Try with Poppery II
You roast time is too long, and indicates that the thermostat is opening, and you're probably not getting up to 440-450F, but instead hovering at 400. You should open it up and silver solder or otherwise close the t-stat - search around for a how to. 5 oz is doable on a P2 if you stir almost constantly, otherwise the roast will be very uneven. A thermometer would be good too, you could try sears for a $30 multimeter with k thermocouple or one of the many other vendors. Getting a thermocouple into the bean mass will make roasting much easier. Once you've closed the t-stat you may find you have the opposite problem - roasts are too fast. If you cut the white wire running out of the roast chamber and put a switch on it (no liability assumed, I am no electrician), you can slow the roast briefly at multiple points between 400-440 (my preferred end of roast point around early 2nd crack). tom:)
Skioutwest Senior Member Joined: 8 Dec 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Upper Gwynedd, PA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Isomac Relax Grinder: Rancilio Rocky Drip: Cappresso CoffeeTec Roaster: SC/GG and a WB Poppery II
Posted Tue Jan 11, 2005, 7:09pm Subject: Re: First Try with Poppery II
Paul:
I just tried my first roast ever with a Poppery II. I had similiar results. I roasted for 11 minutes and never heard any cracks. Nor did I see smoke. I do smell the roast though.
My ambient temp is 62 deg in my basement.
Is there a way you can tell if you hit 1st or 2nd crack? Anything visual?
Skioutwest Senior Member Joined: 8 Dec 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Upper Gwynedd, PA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Isomac Relax Grinder: Rancilio Rocky Drip: Cappresso CoffeeTec Roaster: SC/GG and a WB Poppery II
Posted Tue Jan 11, 2005, 7:55pm Subject: Re: First Try with Poppery II
I just tried again with more beans. The first roast I used a bit less than 1/2 cup. This time, I kept adding beans until the "spinning" of the beans slowed down considerably. I ended up using about 3/4 cup. Instead of spinning, I noticed the beans dancing up and down. I definitly heard 1st crack, a popping sound, around 4.5 minutes in. at about 14 minutes, I began to heard a sizzling, so I stopped the roast. I went upstairs to get another colander and I heard 2nd cracking while the beans were still in the popper.
Remember my basement has an ambient temp of 62 deg. I think I am getting the hang of this now.
Posted Tue Jan 11, 2005, 8:19pm Subject: Re: First Try with Poppery II
I had the same problem with my Toastmaster popper in colder weather. The solution was putting the popper in a box. This causes the hot air from the popper to be recycled and greatly increases the temperatures attained. For example, outside the box, I roasted for 15 minutes and the beans never reached the first crack. Inside the box, it heated almost too fast. I reached 485f after 4 minutes!
I have inserted a Candy thermometer into the popper as described elsewhere on the site. It is absolutely remarkable how consistent I can roast. For a Vienna roast I heat until 460 f and everytime the same roast level is achieved. Increase by 10 degrees and slightly darker, decrease br 10 degrees, slightly lighter. With this method I have roasted 10 batches to exactly the same degree without watching the time at all. Very reliable.
Toastmaster popper $14 at target, Pyrex Candy thermometer from Bed, Bath and Beyond for $7.99. Really cheap for the consistency.
Now to figure out how to extend the roast time---> bigger box??
I would try this before you fiddle with the thermostat or run around the house trying different outlets, but YMMV.
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