Chris_S Senior Member Joined: 26 Dec 2007 Posts: 24 Location: Nebraska Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: rancilio silvia, moka Grinder: rocky Vac Pot: no Drip: aeropress and press pot Roaster: hottop & poppery II
Posted Thu Mar 27, 2008, 10:38am Subject: 2nd time roasting what do you think (see pic)
I decided I wanted to roast and bought some green beans while thinking I would be able to find a poppery II. Never found a Poppery around town and decided to buy one online through ebay. I was so excited to roast I tried the skillet first. Wow I never knew beans would pop that loud.
I didn't end up with a very good roast and I couldn't quite discribe the taste. It might of been a taste coming off the skillet or more of a roast flavor or something, but it wasn't that good in my opinion. Where I had to shake the heavy skillet I couldn't really measure temperature or time so I just based it off of look. They looked dark and a small bit of oil was showing so i stoped. it only took like around 4 minutes I think.
I just got the Poppery II and decided to roast a larger batch of about 135 g. because i heard that it would roast faster with larger batches. Well... I run the thing for 20 minutes after letting it warm a little and decided it wasn't going to get any darker. I also didn't know if i heard any cracking (except for a few on top but nothing even close to the skillet). I don't know if all the cracking takes place at the bottom where i can't hear it or if it didn't get hot enough. I measure the temp from time to time and only got it up to around 400. Here is a pic of the roasted beans with the Poppery. I hope you can see it well enough. I almost think it looks a little lighter then the picture shows.
Posted Thu Mar 27, 2008, 12:04pm Subject: Re: 2nd time roasting what do you think (see pic)
Did you say you roasted the beans for 20min and still ended up with a light/med roast?
The roast looks o.k. but that doesn't mean it didn't stall. The Poppery, I imagine, is pretty loud so might you not have heard the cracks.
If the roast tastes grassy it could have stalled. I think the Poppery has a thermal limit and doesn't go beyond a certain temperature. Probably why you didn't get beyond 400F. It needs to be by-passed, from what I've read, to be used as a roaster.
From my experience and reading all roasters are a bit different but 1st crack usually starts anywhere between 390F and 405F. If the heating ramp continues up any time after 410F after about 2-4min rest from 1st crack should be the start of 2nd crack. Faster you ramp up from 1st faster 2nd crack will happen.
Again, from what I've read and from experience 1st crack at around 9 min with a rest of about 4 min to 2nd generally produces very good roasts. It might be harder to control your profile with a fast roaster like a fluid bed corn popper but I believe you can get pretty good control with a variac or a dimmer/transformer connected in.
These look like some good links on Poppery modifications for home roasting.
lschwarcz Senior Member Joined: 1 Sep 2006 Posts: 68 Location: Campbell, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Krups Espresso Novo (964) Grinder: Rancilio Rocky Drip: Chemex, Press Pot &... Roaster: Poppery II
Posted Thu Mar 27, 2008, 12:29pm Subject: Re: 2nd time roasting what do you think (see pic)
Chris_S Said:
I decided I wanted to roast and bought some green beans while thinking I would be able to find a poppery II. Never found a Poppery around town and decided to buy one online through ebay. I was so excited to roast I tried the skillet first. Wow I never knew beans would pop that loud.
I didn't end up with a very good roast and I couldn't quite discribe the taste. It might of been a taste coming off the skillet or more of a roast flavor or something, but it wasn't that good in my opinion. Where I had to shake the heavy skillet I couldn't really measure temperature or time so I just based it off of look. They looked dark and a small bit of oil was showing so i stoped. it only took like around 4 minutes I think.
I just got the Poppery II and decided to roast a larger batch of about 135 g. because i heard that it would roast faster with larger batches. Well... I run the thing for 20 minutes after letting it warm a little and decided it wasn't going to get any darker. I also didn't know if i heard any cracking (except for a few on top but nothing even close to the skillet). I don't know if all the cracking takes place at the bottom where i can't hear it or if it didn't get hot enough. I measure the temp from time to time and only got it up to around 400. Here is a pic of the roasted beans with the Poppery. I hope you can see it well enough. I almost think it looks a little lighter then the picture shows.
I've never roasted a batch that large on my Poppery II. I use about 96 g. batches. I roast in my garage with the air temp in the low to mid-60's. I first have it plugged into a 25', 16 gauge extension cord (lower voltage to start off at a lower temp). I let that run and after about 6 or 7 minutes it'll stall at about 425 degrees. I then swap to a shorter extension cord and it'll run faster and hotter which will bring it up to about 450 degrees in another minute or two. For me first crack is usually around 400 degrees and if I let it run it seems that second crack will hit at about 450+ degrees.
If you're letting it run for 20 minutes and don't hear 1st crack, you may have too low of line voltage. Two things you should get are Kill-A-Watt and a Cooper 550 degree Large Thermometer . The Kill-A-Watt to check your line voltage and the thermometer to monitor your bean temp.
If the air temp is also very low, that could cause issues. Search this board for tips on roasting in cooler weather (like putting your popper in a box).
Chris_S Senior Member Joined: 26 Dec 2007 Posts: 24 Location: Nebraska Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: rancilio silvia, moka Grinder: rocky Vac Pot: no Drip: aeropress and press pot Roaster: hottop & poppery II
Posted Thu Mar 27, 2008, 1:10pm Subject: Re: 2nd time roasting what do you think (see pic)
I have a CDN Digital 570 F for a thermometer. I'm guessing the problem I have is that I didn't bypass the thermostat. I just pulled it out of the box and measured about 3/4 cup and had a few beens left and measured it all on the gram scale, which was about 135 g. Then decided as long as it was turning that I would be ok. I was shaking it a little just to help agitate, but when i used the thermometer I don't think it hit 400 once.
I'm a little concerned about just bypassing the thermostat. With this site mrgnomer posted there is a dimer switch mentioned. I don't know if this is a must have to do thing or kind of optional, but I'd like to get it running at a roastable temp so I can start playing and enjoying all this great coffee I read about.
lschwarcz Senior Member Joined: 1 Sep 2006 Posts: 68 Location: Campbell, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Krups Espresso Novo (964) Grinder: Rancilio Rocky Drip: Chemex, Press Pot &... Roaster: Poppery II
Posted Fri Mar 28, 2008, 6:03am Subject: Re: 2nd time roasting what do you think (see pic)
Chris_S Said:
I have a CDN Digital 570 F for a thermometer. I'm guessing the problem I have is that I didn't bypass the thermostat. I just pulled it out of the box and measured about 3/4 cup and had a few beens left and measured it all on the gram scale, which was about 135 g. Then decided as long as it was turning that I would be ok. I was shaking it a little just to help agitate, but when i used the thermometer I don't think it hit 400 once.
I'm a little concerned about just bypassing the thermostat. With this site mrgnomer posted there is a dimer switch mentioned. I don't know if this is a must have to do thing or kind of optional, but I'd like to get it running at a roastable temp so I can start playing and enjoying all this great coffee I read about.
If your line voltage is OK, then I would guess that you don't absolutely have to bypass the thermostat. I didn't bypass mine and I don't have the dimmer switch mod either and my batches seem to be roasting OK. But, to be fair, I bought mine used and it is possible that the previous owner bypassed the thermostat already (Hmmm, maybe I should check on that???).
Chris_S Senior Member Joined: 26 Dec 2007 Posts: 24 Location: Nebraska Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: rancilio silvia, moka Grinder: rocky Vac Pot: no Drip: aeropress and press pot Roaster: hottop & poppery II
Posted Fri Mar 28, 2008, 9:07am Subject: Re: 2nd time roasting what do you think (see pic)
I don't exactly know how used mine is, but to me the motor doesn't sound as smooth as the new one my parents have. I wonder if maybe the thermostat would weaken in time also, causing it not to heat up as much as it should. I will probably bypass the thermostat and try a small batch. If you check to see if yours is bypassed get back to me. I'm kind of curious. thanks
Chris_S Senior Member Joined: 26 Dec 2007 Posts: 24 Location: Nebraska Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: rancilio silvia, moka Grinder: rocky Vac Pot: no Drip: aeropress and press pot Roaster: hottop & poppery II
Posted Sat Mar 29, 2008, 1:50pm Subject: Re: 2nd time roasting what do you think (see pic)
Just if anyone would like to know. I ended up bypassing the thermostat and trying 70g of coffee (about 1/2 cup). not being very proficient yet with all of this I started my timer late and forgot to look at it when i finished. I'm not impressed with the thermometer that i bought. I think the temp is off. Anyways, I believe I started first crack around 4 minutes (I think my thermometer read around 400f) and second crack around 5 minutes. Much faster then 20 minutes and no crack. I'm not familiar with my color names for the coffee yet and need to find a chart, but I basically stopped the roast right after I heard, what i think was second crack, and it was getting a little oil shine on a few beans.
I'm guessing my thermostat is just weak and wasn't letting it heat up enough. Now it is basically over heating causing those little round pits to pop off the bean. I'll probably end up moding it with an on/off switch for the heater and a dimmer control for the fan. If anyone has any other suggestions please post.
My first 2 roasts where with a columbia supremo. and this last one was with a sumatra. I don't know if the origin matters so much, but thats what i used.
Posted Sun Mar 30, 2008, 7:28am Subject: Re: 2nd time roasting what do you think (see pic)
Good to hear you've got the popper roasting at higher temps. 4 min to first is fast from what I know. When the beans are roasted that fast commonly what happens is divots.
Blowing hot air around the beans with a fluid bed roaster like a popper really makes them roast fast. You would get better results, I think, with the mods that allow you to control the heater coil output through a voltage regulator. From my experience it's true that heating coils are really sensitive to voltage output. From what I read a dimmer switch is an inexpensive way of regulating voltage but if you start wanting to control the temperature rate increase more exactly to target specifc roasting profiles a variac is recommended.
Posted Sun Mar 30, 2008, 8:17am Subject: Re: 2nd time roasting what do you think (see pic)
Roses by anyother name. The pictoral guide is a more reliable standard, I agree. Names are names and can be relative. Early on I felt the names from cinnamon to french, vienna... are as arbitrary as something more simple like light, med and dark. I personally preferr to describe my roasts as light, med and dark.
In describing the roast it helps more, I think, to say at what point you stopped it. Light to medium would be anything that was stopped just after 1st to touching 2nd crack. Dark would be anything into rolling second crack and beyond. Typically dark roasts will show oil right away. The oil might return into the bean right after cooling depending on how far into 2nd crack you went but it usually comes out again after a rest. Light roasts and most med remain dry and don't show oils. It all depends on whether you went into 2nd crack and for how long.
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