electricbuckwheat Senior Member Joined: 11 Nov 2004 Posts: 23 Location: Nashville, Tn USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Elektra A3 Grinder: La Cimbali Jr. Grinder and... Vac Pot: Bodum Santos Drip: Melitta Clarity Roaster: RK Drum
Posted Fri Dec 3, 2004, 2:27pm Subject: I-roast and first crack
My wife and I are new roasters and have just completed our 6th roast over a period of 4 days. The first 3 were truly learning experiences and are candidates the "how many things can one person do wrong at once" award. We are now able to achieve a better result but have a couple of questions:
We both can not hear either first crack or second crack due to the volume of the fan in the I-Roast. How are other users who are experiencing this difficulty determining the degree of roast? SO far, we have just been estimating by color.
Even though we are achieving what appears to be a Full City+ roast, the result tastes fairly weak. I did a head-to-head comparison with some Starbucks Sumatra and our roasted Sumatra Mandheling. The beans appear to have a similar degree of roast but the Starbucks is much more robust. BTW, I am not a Starbucks fan and have had far better coffees than they provide! Also, we have been allowing the beans to age 12 -24 hours before sampling.
Any thoughts on either issue would be greatly appreciated,
DEchelbarger Senior Member Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 416 Location: Negaunee, MI Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Solis SL-70 Grinder: Macap M 4, Rocky,... Vac Pot: Bodum Santos, Nicro Drip: pour over, Chemex, FR Press,... Roaster: RK Drum, I-roast, manual...
Posted Fri Dec 3, 2004, 2:48pm Subject: Re: I-roast and first crack
I can hear both cracks very well if I put my ear near the top vent, even when there is a vent pipe, I can hear it. It may take time for you to recognize it, but it is audible. You might also put a towel under the unit, that seems to make it a bit quieter.
As for the second issue of "robust," depends on what that means, if you are looking for more of carbon hit, go darker. Although one of the fun things about roasting is trying lighter roast levels. Many of us only experience darker roasts and while it may take a while, once you start tasting other elements in your coffee besides carbon -- a door opens.
Posted Fri Dec 3, 2004, 8:28pm Subject: Re: I-roast and first crack
It takes awhile for your ear to "tune in" to the cracks over the noise of the fan and the beans hitting the side of the chamber. Sit in front of 3-4 roasts all the way though and your ear will naturally train to the subtleties of the sound. First crack is a "pop", second is a "crackle". You can also help pinpoint first crack by noticing the beans expanding, they split open and more chaff comes out when they hit first crack.
As far as getting a good roast, Dechelbarg has the right idea there, it just takes awhile to find the sweet spot. BTW a more "robust" flavor often comes with a longer rest, like 48-72 hours. I am doing an experiment right now where I roasted some beans and froze half after 12 hours of degassing, and aged the other half for 72 hours. Since the freezing stops aging and changes little otherwise, I can pretty much directly see the results of aging the coffee. It is surprising how much the coffee changes. The un-aged coffee has more delicate flavors, but the aged coffee has a lot more body.
Posted Fri Dec 3, 2004, 8:51pm Subject: Re: I-roast and first crack
Charles,
Dechelbarg had a good suggestion in regards to the towel under the unit. I also find that helps muffle some of the motor noise allowing me to hear the cracks a little better.
I also found that by watching the temperature (A Thermocouple Thermometer is much better than the built in guessometer) I was able to anticipate when I SHOULD begin to hear the crack. Tom has some inexpensive meters over at Sweet Marias.
Posted Sat Dec 4, 2004, 9:07am Subject: Re: I-roast and first crack
I have a Hearthware Precision for two years now..It took a while till i could hear second crack (most of the time)..so give it time and play with solutions like the towel idea or where you place the roaster, your ear, etc.
It may be obious, but compare the color of your ground beans to those of *$. Your profile may be giving you beans dark on the outside and less so on the inside.
electricbuckwheat Senior Member Joined: 11 Nov 2004 Posts: 23 Location: Nashville, Tn USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Elektra A3 Grinder: La Cimbali Jr. Grinder and... Vac Pot: Bodum Santos Drip: Melitta Clarity Roaster: RK Drum
Posted Sat Dec 4, 2004, 2:57pm Subject: Re: I-roast and first crack
Thanks for your thoughts, Myron.
I did check the color and there was a difference. So, even though the outside color is similar, maybe my profile is roasting too quickly. Will try a slower profile and report.
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