Home Roasting

Home Roasting Coffee in a Popcorn Popper

Roasting Coffee with a Air Popcorn Popper

Roasting your own coffee at home doesn't have to be a big, expensive deal. The great news is that you can pick up an Air Popcorn Popper for $~25 or less and re purpose it to roast coffee! It's best if you find one that is at least 1000 WATTS. You don't need to do any fancy modifications (although a quick web search will show that TONS of modifications are possible if you're really into DIY'ing) and it's super quick. In about 5 minutes of minimal effort, you'll have fresh roasted coffee. Let's get into the nitty gritty.

Your Popcorn Popper

Any popcorn popper with a metal popping chamber and leuvered air vents on the side of the chamber (rather than venting straight into the very bottom) will be needed for roasting coffee. 

What You'll Need

·      Your Popcorn Popper 

·      Green coffee - 3 to 4 ounces is best. We had the most even results at 3 ounces. You can also try 1/4 to 1/3 cup if you don't have a scale.

·      Metal Colanders or metal bowls for cooling.  Cooling is best when you swirl the finished beans in a circular motion, Make sure to not swirl them out, what a dissapointment that is to need to hunt & pick these tiny things from the nooks & crannies

Plug it in and turn it on

The roasting part is simple. Plug your popcorn popper in and turn it on. Drop your coffee beans in. It's important to roast outdoors. There is a chaff (skin) on the beans that will separate when the beans heat up and end up blowing chaff everywhere, I recommend NOT using the plastic attachment, as it will get very hot, most likely deform, and you do not want to touch it while or following your roasting process.

Drying Phase

Popcorn poppers roast very quickly, so within a minute, you'll already be in the mid 200's (degrees Fahrenheit). The beans will be very light brown and emitting a sweet smell. This is the sugars within the beans burning off.  Ohh, it smells soooo good!  Keep in mind, during this inital startup process, ensure that the beans are circulating within the chamber, so not to burn and also produces an even roast.

First Crack (1C)

Around 2.5 to 3 minutes in, you'll begin hearing pops  (like popcorn) of the first crack. This is the bean expanding . The beans will be more "coffee" brown and the smell will actually smell like coffee! You'll might also start to see some smoke being releaed and the beans  looking a bit darker.  First crack is often times considered a very light roast. Varies on the variety of bean that is being roasted and the age of the crop.

 The beans will turn color very quickly.  You'll need to keep a good eye on them from this point on to arrive at your desired roast level

Second Crack (2C)

Another minute or so, you'll begin hearing a more faint ticking sound of second crack. At this point you'll also begin to see significantly more color change.

This part gets interesting.  Some dump the beans just after 2'd crack.  30 seconds or so into second crack, you'll have a city roast level,   A little longer towards the end of 2'd crack and you have yourself a solif medium to full-city.  This is the time where I believe the coffee will taste the best.

The longer you wait to dump, you'll be into French Roasts & Vienna Roasts which are far darker and some consider carcinigenic - so watch closely!  Always remember that the beans will continue to roast just a bit longer once you finish, so quick cooling is important. 

Cooling quick and simple

The quickest and simplest way to cool your fresh roasted coffee is to gently pour it back and forth between two metal colanders or bowls. If there's even the slightest breeze, any remaining chaff will float away as well. Continue pouring the coffee back and forth until it's cool enough to handle easily. Store in an airtight container away from sunlight and moisture, preferably in a bag or jar with a one way valve to allow your coffee to de-gas. Be sure to wait 24 – 36  hours before grinding and brewing for optimal results!  72 hours is industry standard.

Digging in a little Deeper

Roasting in a popcorn popper is quick, easy and best of all, super inexpensive. We really liked how simple and plug and play this method is and anyone can do it.

Should you decide to roast more often or larger amounts of beans at one time, we can help you to choose a model of coffee roaster, that is designed to roast coffee and in some cases, can be no larger than a standard home blender, i.e..  Freshroast SR800, or you can scale up to models that are counter top size, as in a Sonofresco or HopTop or others..

We are happy to sell green coffee beans for your enjoyment.  These beans are cheaper than our roasted products and we'll guide you through the process or provide you a 1 on 1 class for a small fee.

We hope you enjoy Coffee Roasting as much as we do.