The unique aroma of coffee develops during the roasting phase, but while green coffee is preserved for a long time, once roasted it maintains the best of its qualities for a short period.
The unground roasted coffee beans lose their aroma after a week. Even the grinding must be carried out immediately before use.
But for many people it is unclear on how to roast coffee beans at home. Hence, we’ve created a step by step guide for you.
Roasting coffee at home allows you to taste different varieties or blends, in particular, those that normal consumers do not have available because they are difficult to find, even in the best bars.
It also represents a journey into the fascinating world of coffee, to the exotic countries where it grows and is produced, and allows serving something unique to family and friends.
Roasting coffee at home is simple and suitable for everyone
The roasting of the coffee allows obtaining herbaceous, acid and dry flavors or soft, round, full-bodied and sweet and sour. Visually, roasted coffee beans can vary from light brown with a dry surface to dark brown with an oily surface to black with a fat appearance.
Traditionally, the level of roasting varies according to the color, from the lightest English and American style to the European ones: French and Italian.
It is difficult to establish the level of roasting suitable for each type of coffee: the best and most fascinating thing to do is to try different styles and choose the one you prefer.
The Stages of Coffee Roasting
A crucial quarter of an hour: the decisive time during which the approximately 800 substances that make up the heritage of taste and aromas of the blend are formed.
During the delicate roasting phase, a metamorphosis takes place in the green beans: they change color, decrease in weight, increase in volume, lose humidity and above all acquire aroma.
Some initial characteristics disappear or decrease and other new ones emerge.
Roasting Stages
During this process, coffee undergoes important physical and chemical transformations:
- After the first few minutes, the beans give off a light herbaceous aroma. The color gradually changes from gray-green to golden brown and delicious caramel and coffee fragrance pervades the air.
- When the beans turn brown and begin to crackle, while the coffee aroma intensifies more and more, the pyrolysis is completed (internal transformation of the beans); at the same time, the volume increases. From this moment the roasting must be continued until the desired color of the beans is obtained.
- As soon as the beans reach the desired color, it is necessary to cool them by spreading them on a tray (if a roasting machine is used, this will provide for a cooling phase). The cooling phase should be accelerated by blowing on the grains to remove the peel; an alternative method of cooling them is to spray a small amount of water on them. It is very important to cool the beans because the internal heat would continue to toast them.
- The coffee reaches its maximum aroma 1 or 2 days after roasting but is delicious even after only 4 hours.
Coffee Roasting Profiles
Higher or more moderate initial temperature, slow roasting to preserve some aromas or quick roasting to enhance the body of the coffee .. what are the roasting profiles in coffee roasting?
Roasting profiles are control systems that allow you to manage the roasting process in terms of temperature and time, and which vary according to the types of coffee treated and the type of extraction for which the coffee will be destined.
Coffee is a natural product of which there are different species, various qualities, and origins.
Subjected to the toasting heat treatment, it reacts differently according to the specific organoleptic, structural and moisture content characteristics.
A few examples?
Robusta coffees need more energy and longer roasting times, although a very long roasting is never desirable because it cooks coffee more than roasting it.
For Filter coffee, Syphon, Aeropress and French Press you need a light, lightly roasted coffee for a short time, in order to give the bean a slight fragrance, rich in acid notes, and a low specific weight, ideal for this type of extraction.
For Moka and Espresso, you will need a darker roasting, so that the beans take on a high body and a slight concentration of aromas
How To Roast Coffee Beans at Home
The simplest approach is to pour the green coffee beans into a large saucepan, turn on the gas and stir until they turn brown.
This is the most ancient and traditional method of roasting, still used in many non-industrialized countries, although it does not ensure a homogeneous result.
Coffee Roasting With a Saucepan
Leave the beans at a temperature between 220-250 ° C. If the surrounding air moves quickly lower the temperature, if it is static raise it.
Move the beans, or the air around them, to prevent them from burning or not toasting evenly.
Stop roasting at the right time and immediately cool the beans
Coffee Roasting With an Oven
Gas Oven
- Preheat to around 482°F (250°C).
- Distribute the green coffee beans on the plate in a single layer, avoiding overlapping.
- Place the plate in the center of the oven.
- After 8 minutes the beans begin to crackle.
- Depending on the desired color, wait 4 more minutes, then remove the plaque and cool the beans.
Total Toasting Time: 11-13 minutes.
Electric Oven
- Preheat to about 392°F (200°C).
- Distribute the green coffee beans on the plate in a single layer, avoiding overlapping.
- Place the plate in the center of the oven. After 4 minutes the beans begin to crackle. Depending on the desired color, wait another 2 minutes, then remove the plaque and cool the beans.
Total Toasting Time: 5-7 minutes.
Coffee Roasting With a Popcorn Machine
- Heat the fresh coffee beans in a Popcorn machine so that the skin that wraps the bean slowly turns from light green to yellow, taking on various brownish shades up to dark brown.
- As with popcorn, the coffee also swells when roasted, therefore doubling its volume. When the coffee begins to emit steam and crackle like Popcorn, it is a sign that the actual roasting begins, approximately after 3 minutes. At this point we can decide the level of roasting, so we continue to work the coffee until it reaches a browning that we consider more suitable, according to taste. Never fill the Popcorn machine beyond half its level.
- Once roasted, we put the coffee beans in a container and let them cool to room temperature, after which we go and arrange them on a tray and after checking that all the beans are perfect, cover with clear film and let it rest in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
Keeping Your Roasted Coffee Fresh
Preserving the aromas and profiles of the coffee beans you’ve just roasted is essential to ensure you have a perfect cup every time!
We recommend putting the coffee beans in well-sealed bags, better if they are vacuum sealed, and let them rest in the refrigerator for at least a week before using the coffee.
Once ground, you are ready to prepare your coffee and enjoy its intense and enveloping flavor.
There is nothing more satisfying than savoring a cup of coffee prepared with beans that we have roasted ourselves.
The home roasted beans are fresher and give a complexity of flavor that is rarely found in store bought ones.
