No tips or advice, just my coffee superstitions:

1. I don't spend time removing chaff. Chaff do not effect taste.

2. I don't use hot air roaster. Hot air cooks away aroma.

3. Coffee is good for health.

dcarch

Lars, Annie's given you some great advice.

It's important to try to get the beans to move using the fan around so you won't have burnt ones on the bottom - as they roast, they get lighter and move around with the air more easily.

You might need to hold your head/ear very close to listen for the first 'crack'. Some beans barely make a sound. And by first crack, that does not mean the very first crackle/pop. It means the first series of first cracks : ) The Burman's video is a good example of the sound. Some our louder, some... barely audible. We prefer ours roasted a bit past the first crack. But never, ever to the point oil accumulates on the beans, even after roasting.

DH does also use the high setting, but he starts our Low, slowing bringing the beans' temperature up, then High.

DH also sometimes uses a flashlight (in the garage) so he can see the color of the beans. Some just don't give an audible crack, but most do.

As Annie says, it's a learning process, and you'll find your preferences. Best advice is to try different roasting techniques, different beans, different roasts, and enjoy!

ps: so that you understand, chaff doesn't affect flavor, but there isn't much in the roasted beans anyway... but do clean the chaff from the roaster each time : )

We have several different types of green beans already: two different types of Guatemalan, one from Kenya, Ethiopia, and Papua New Guinea. The 1/2 pound from New Guinea is peaberry, and so it might be the best. The company sent us three and a half pounds of beans for free, and I added another two pounds of Guatemalan, as I remember that being good when roasted light.

I'm wondering how to best store the green beans. They came in plastic bags that have a few tiny holes in them, and so I guess they do not need to be in an airtight container. I put the plastic bags in a box, which is in the garage right now with the roaster. I think we'll roast in the garage for now, due to the smell. There's no heat in the garage, and so the temperature is a bit cool at 66° this morning. We put recessed LED cam lights in the ceiling, and so we can see pretty well in there. We'll probably store the beans in the house in the summer or during warm weather, although the garage does not get all that hot.

One thing we did not know was how to get the chaff out of the roaster. First we tried to shake it out of the top, and then I figured out that the top is in two parts and can be separated to remove the chaff, but this is not in the instructions or in the video.

Kevin brewed his first coffee this morning, and I do like the way it came out. So whatever he did worked, but I think next time we'll turn the fan on high, as we had it on medium speed before. I do think this is going to make the best coffee, but I still won't be drinking much of it.

Lars, I've really been enjoying that Papua New Guinea lately - medium roast, not quite to 2nd crack, but everyone's taste is different. It is has a low acid, and delightful flavor.

I bought a small synthetic painters brush, about 1/2" wide, to brush the chaff from the screen. We just hold it over the waste basket while brushing. It is hard to get out.

We keep the green unroasted beans in those bags with the holes, but put them in large tupperware containers as well, to keep them fresh. The roasted beans are put in glass Ball jars and labeled with the name of the bean and the date they were roasted. DH used to write if the beans were roasted to 2nd crack, just before 2nd, or just after 1rst, but now he doesn't as he mostly goes by memory.

Like Annie, I love the smell of beans roasting, but many don't. DH sure doesn't, yet he likes the scent of the unroasted green beans, which I don't care for.

Sounds like you and Kevin have a good set-up for your roasting. Our first roast wasn't very good as I recall... we never heard the crack and it came out far too light a roast, making us both a bit sick to our tummies. The 2nd roast was too dark, very oily from the get-go so it tasted bitter and acidic to my tongue. The 3rd was the charm, and I've been spoiled since : ) Tell Kevin he did a fine job to do so well with his very first roast!! Even a little very good coffee is better than a potful of bad, ha ha!

BTW, often, when we are very low, almost out, we'll mix the jars of beans for a couple cups - it's not bad at all ever, and often people will find one blend they love and continue mixing.

Someone gave Kevin some coffee from a shop in Redondo Beach (which now has a location in Culver City), which he says is very good. They mark on the bag the date the coffee is roasted, which in this case was Dec 10, and the coffee is from Columbia. It is a medium roast, and I thought Kevin might want to mix this with some coffee that he roasts himself. He might also want to experiment with making blends of the green coffees he has.

Lars, I also use a brush to get the chaff out of the basket, mine is just a handled soft brush used for washing dishes. It stays in the box with the roaster and so I always have it.

As 2many says, you'll find what you like best. We also mix the end of a roast with the beginning of the next and I've mixed a few, trying to find a perfect blend of the attributes of each bean. I still like the single origin Costa Rican best so far.

Green beans are good for months, and I just keep mine in the cabinet in the entryway, along with the roaster, because that's what's convenient for me.

Merry Christmas.

Annie