Posted Sun Oct 31, 2004, 6:20am Subject: Need BBQ Roasting Advice
I very much want to experiment in gas grill roasting. I want some suggestions on making or buying (can't find any online) some tumble baskets for roasting. I refuse to spend the money on a Buzzroaster or RK Drum. I am sure they are nice but I am hoping to construct a smokey monstrosity for $50 or less.
I need tips, ideas, and specs for a simple yet effective drum tumbler. I would like to be able to turn the drum by hand at first (I know that sounds crazy). I am also curious if I could get decent results with roasting with the lid open. I was hoping to be able to visually watch the roast. I want to roast 1/2 to 1 full pound at a time.
Perhaps I should just use a cast iron skillet on the grate? Or should I assemble a tumbling basket? Basically I want to roast 1/2 to 1 pound of coffee and I have my gas grill to do it with. Help me out here. I also have a heated garage with ventilation (box fan and window) and a lawn shed (with electricity) with the same. So I am not extremely worried about smoke and in the garage I have the ability to control room temperature.
I really like what sumocomputers did here. Any tips or suggestions? I do not want to spend a lot of money or built an extremely complex drum either. I plan to use the fan under the beans method to pull cool air down through the beans.
Is there a big learning curve to bbq roasting? I have been using my FR+ and am familiar with the roast cycle. I can reach first crack in that at 2 minutes and second crack at 5. I do not want to ruin a lot of coffee trying get the hang of bbq grilling. But no guts, no glory...
Posted Sun Oct 31, 2004, 8:32am Subject: Re: Need BBQ Roasting Advice
TimEggers Said:
I very much want to experiment in gas grill roasting. I want some suggestions on making or buying (can't find any online) some tumble baskets for roasting. I refuse to spend the money on a Buzzroaster or RK Drum. I am sure they are nice but I am hoping to construct a smokey monstrosity for $50 or less.
I need tips, ideas, and specs for a simple yet effective drum tumbler. I would like to be able to turn the drum by hand at first (I know that sounds crazy). I am also curious if I could get decent results with roasting with the lid open. I was hoping to be able to visually watch the roast. I want to roast 1/2 to 1 full pound at a time.
Perhaps I should just use a cast iron skillet on the grate? Or should I assemble a tumbling basket? Basically I want to roast 1/2 to 1 pound of coffee and I have my gas grill to do it with. Help me out here. I also have a heated garage with ventilation (box fan and window) and a lawn shed (with electricity) with the same. So I am not extremely worried about smoke and in the garage I have the ability to control room temperature.
I really like what sumocomputers did here. Any tips or suggestions? I do not want to spend a lot of money or built an extremely complex drum either. I plan to use the fan under the beans method to pull cool air down through the beans.
Is there a big learning curve to bbq roasting? I have been using my FR+ and am familiar with the roast cycle. I can reach first crack in that at 2 minutes and second crack at 5. I do not want to ruin a lot of coffee trying get the hang of bbq grilling. But no guts, no glory...
Here is a page with plenty of ideas similiar to some that you mention. It even shows someone roasting with a cast iron skillet. (Not a highly recommended method but it is possible). I went from the Heat Gun / Dog bowl method, to a Buzzroaster. In my experience you can not roast with the lid open on the grill. It will not be hot enough. There is not much learning curve from hg/db to bbq but the hg/db method is a great way to learn. You can see each stage, smell the smoke, everything is right in front. I don't get anywhere near 2 minute first crack, and I'm not sure I would want to do that. I get a 10-11 1st crack and 13-15 second crack with the bbq grill. As far as cooling beans I use a a homemade turbo bean cooler using my house vaccuum. Here are instructions.
Rawman the Expobarbarian.. AKA the Original Jon R.
Many people believe that ideal roasting profiles have first crack after 6 minutes (minimum) and second crack some time later. It's not a race. Taking just a few extra minutes allows the beans to achieve a much more uniform temperature (in general the internal bean temperature lags the external temperature).
While YMMV, it's certainly worthwhile to play around with it and check out the different results in your cup from different roasting profiles.
Posted Sun Oct 31, 2004, 1:57pm Subject: Re: Need BBQ Roasting Advice
TimEggers Said:
I very much want to experiment in gas grill roasting. I want some suggestions on making or buying (can't find any online) some tumble baskets for roasting. I refuse to spend the money on a Buzzroaster or RK Drum. I am sure they are nice but I am hoping to construct a smokey monstrosity for $50 or less.
I need tips, ideas, and specs for a simple yet effective drum tumbler. I would like to be able to turn the drum by hand at first (I know that sounds crazy). I am also curious if I could get decent results with roasting with the lid open. I was hoping to be able to visually watch the roast. I want to roast 1/2 to 1 full pound at a time.
Perhaps I should just use a cast iron skillet on the grate? Or should I assemble a tumbling basket? Basically I want to roast 1/2 to 1 pound of coffee and I have my gas grill to do it with. Help me out here. I also have a heated garage with ventilation (box fan and window) and a lawn shed (with electricity) with the same. So I am not extremely worried about smoke and in the garage I have the ability to control room temperature.
I really like what sumocomputers did here. Any tips or suggestions? I do not want to spend a lot of money or built an extremely complex drum either. I plan to use the fan under the beans method to pull cool air down through the beans.
Is there a big learning curve to bbq roasting? I have been using my FR+ and am familiar with the roast cycle. I can reach first crack in that at 2 minutes and second crack at 5. I do not want to ruin a lot of coffee trying get the hang of bbq grilling. But no guts, no glory...
Not to disagree with JonR about being a "Tall Order" but...
Think of this - I spent $30+ on the rotesserie motor/spit and $20 for the entire George Foreman grill, from which I extracted the precious booty. Since you want to turn by hand, I think you can make something for around $20-30 total. My idea is this:
For the drum there are a couple of options, one of which are several mesh pencil cases from Office Depot or Staples. They could be stacked end to end so you could roast different varieties in each "mini-drum" or many of the same variety. Alternately, you could get some fine mesh chicken wire and fabricate your own cylinder. This would get you to your 1/2-1 pound desired batch size.
For the spit, you could get a stainless steel rod from home depot and a larger wooden dowel for the handle. Setup two little brackets that the rod rests on and you are set.
I think $20-30 is actually generous. With a few tools, some additional cheap hardware and bailing wire, and some ingenuity, you can make the above work. Then later you might get fancier.
I just put together a Sunpentown convection oven (SO-2000) and a Stir Crazy. I modified the Stir Crazy, and I can say there are certain things I like about this method better than the BBQ. You can see the beans the whole time, hear the cracks easier, and have better control over the temp. The downside is the batch size. However, 1/2 pound is not a problem for the Stir Crazy method, and I have hear of some doing as much as 1 1/2 pounds, although I wouldn't attempt it myself. The whole setup cost me about $80.
Posted Sun Oct 31, 2004, 8:09pm Subject: Re: Need BBQ Roasting Advice
I know I can do it cheap. I already have a good deal of hardware. I am going to try taking a coffee can and cutting the top and bottom of the can off. So it looks like a shallow dish (have the bottom and then about half inch of the can cylinder coming off of those).
I am then going to take some screen material and make a cylinder out of it. I will slip that over the cylinder part of the cap ends and secure with two pipe clamps. Use a couple of wing nuts to secure one end to the threaded rod spit (this will give me the grip I need to turn the drum yet be able to loosen the pipe clamp on the other end to remove the can lid and dump the beans out. I will build it and show you guys...
I already have the rod from my bird feeder supplies and have a lot of nuts. I bet I can make a rig for less than 20$.
Will I be able to roast with the lid open or not? I am going to do some temperature tests and see what I can get for temperature. What are good roast temperature profiles?
Posted Sun Oct 31, 2004, 9:05pm Subject: Re: Need BBQ Roasting Advice
Sounds like an interesting plan. Again I suggest you keep the top closed. When I lift the lid to check on the beans I see the temp drop a bit. With top open I can't see how it would be hot enough.. For a profile, I start around 500 degrees measured close to my drum with a thermocouple. I put in the beans and drum (no preheating on the drum). When I hear rolling 1st crack I turn the heat way down and let it coast into 2nd. One suggestion is to keep a roasting log, Another great suggestion by Larry (ljguitar) is to plan to scorch your first batch, way beyond what you could use. Keep a good record of what stages are hit when. Then from that you can build your own profile.
Rawman the Expobarbarian.. AKA the Original Jon R.
Posted Sun Oct 31, 2004, 10:15pm Subject: Re: Need BBQ Roasting Advice
TimEggers Said:
I know I can do it cheap. I already have a good deal of hardware. I am going to try taking a coffee can and cutting the top and bottom of the can off. So it looks like a shallow dish (have the bottom and then about half inch of the can cylinder coming off of those).
I am then going to take some screen material and make a cylinder out of it. I will slip that over the cylinder part of the cap ends and secure with two pipe clamps. Use a couple of wing nuts to secure one end to the threaded rod spit (this will give me the grip I need to turn the drum yet be able to loosen the pipe clamp on the other end to remove the can lid and dump the beans out. I will build it and show you guys...
I already have the rod from my bird feeder supplies and have a lot of nuts. I bet I can make a rig for less than 20$.
Will I be able to roast with the lid open or not? I am going to do some temperature tests and see what I can get for temperature. What are good roast temperature profiles?
When I lift the lid temps can drop up to 100 degrees (from about say 500 to 400), so depending on your BBQ, I doubt it. Remember too, that with the lid closed, you are getting convection heating. Once you open the lid, that is virtually eliminated. As far as profiles, I have seen SO MANY, that I sort of gave up, and now I go by first and second cracks. The rest is instinct. Study the SM roast page, and try to roast to the level Tom recommends for each bean. Here is the SM page that has helped me immensely:
It sounds like your intentions are like mine - I intend to do cheap, and I succeed. But then it ultimately takes me on a very educational (and expensive) path. You have been warned. You will end up with at least 3 ways to roast, and probably have 100 pounds of green cpffee at any given time.
Posted Mon Nov 1, 2004, 7:48pm Subject: Re: Need BBQ Roasting Advice
What if I constructed a drum that was semi open? Perhaps a screen with fewer holes. That would in theory increase the temperature inside the drum would it not?
I wonder if I could raise the drum internal temperature to compensate for the loss of temperature with the lid open. Think about it, a semi open drum near the flame element or heat source. The semi closed drum would be more like a solid drum and promote a convection-heating environment inside the drum itself. Although I will need to keep it just open enough to get rid of chaff.
To provide contrast imagine putting a screen drum and a solid drum in a grill. I hypothesize that the internal temperature will be higher in the solid drum than the screened drum. Perhaps I can simply make a fairly solid drum to achieve needed bean temperatures even with he grill open but have it open enough to be able monitor the beans visually.
This stubborn mule is determined to roast successfully with the lid open! I will take pictures of my rig once I can get it to work. I will include roast profiles too...
Posted Tue Nov 2, 2004, 6:47am Subject: Re: Need BBQ Roasting Advice
ChrisatCafeGreenBean Said:
When I lift the lid temps can drop up to 100 degrees (from about say 500 to 400), so depending on your BBQ, I doubt it. Remember too, that with the lid closed, you are getting convection heating. Once you open the lid, that is virtually eliminated. As far as profiles, I have seen SO MANY, that I sort of gave up, and now I go by first and second cracks. The rest is instinct. Study the SM roast page, and try to roast to the level Tom recommends for each bean. Here is the SM page that has helped me immensely:
I think it will be tough to roast on an open grill. When I preheat my grill to around 500 degrees; when I open the lid to insert drum (about 20 seconds) my temperatures drop about 80 degrees.
If you can get your drum closer to the flames you might have a chance.
Ed Needham built a one pound bbq roaster for under $50. Drum Roaster
Posted Tue Nov 2, 2004, 9:15am Subject: Re: Need BBQ Roasting Advice
TimEggers Said:
What if I constructed a drum that was semi open? Perhaps a screen with fewer holes. That would in theory increase the temperature inside the drum would it not?
I wonder if I could raise the drum internal temperature to compensate for the loss of temperature with the lid open. Think about it, a semi open drum near the flame element or heat source. The semi closed drum would be more like a solid drum and promote a convection-heating environment inside the drum itself. Although I will need to keep it just open enough to get rid of chaff.
To provide contrast imagine putting a screen drum and a solid drum in a grill. I hypothesize that the internal temperature will be higher in the solid drum than the screened drum. Perhaps I can simply make a fairly solid drum to achieve needed bean temperatures even with he grill open but have it open enough to be able monitor the beans visually.
This stubborn mule is determined to roast successfully with the lid open! I will take pictures of my rig once I can get it to work. I will include roast profiles too...
And why do you want to roast with the lid open? I just want to know the reasoning behind it.
I had the same idea - I wanted to be able to see and hear the beans. But even if your idea works, the solid drum will not allow you to see or hear the beans any better IMO.
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