Home Coffee Roasting Guides (Discontinued Roasters)
The FreshRoast Plus “8” Green Coffee Roaster : (Discontinued)
The roaster has three parts, the chaff collector on top, the roasting chamber, and the heated base.
Start with two heaping scoops of coffee from the scoop the roaster came with. (about 3.5 ounces total)
Remove the chaff collector, add the coffee to the roasting chamber, and put the chaff collector back on.
Set the timer for 4-7 minutes. The timer also adds a two-minute cool down period. Advance the timer to cool when your desired roast has been achieved. If you want to stop the roast at any time, just advance the timer to cool. Don’t turn it to off, as the roaster is quite hot and needs the two minutes of cooling before being handled.
After the timer shuts off, remove the chaff collector, (be careful – as the roaster is still pretty warm) lift out the roast chamber by its handle, and dump the beans.
You should dump the freshly roasted beans in a glass or ceramic bowl and let them set up for a day or two before putting them in an air tight container. I like to store the setup roasted beans in a small canning jar.
The only cleaning necessary is to dump out the chaff from the chaff collector and wipe the collector out, I use a small basting brush to clean it. Yields about 12 cups per batch.
Hearthware I-Roast 2 (Discontinued)
Put the roast chamber onto the base. Push down and twist to make sure you get a solid fit. Add two scoops of coffee or 5.3 ounces. Assemble the chaff collector base on top of the roast chamber and make sure you get a solid fit than add the top. I generally use pre-set two, but one works well for smaller batches or darker roasts.. Make sure to watch the roast and hit the cool button when you have reached your desired roast. Keep a log of the roasting times to make your own roasting profiles. Save them to the machine for easy use. If your having trouble getting a dark roast, try increasing your batch size slightly.
Caffe Rosto (No U.S.A. distributor) (Discontinued)
Remove the glass top and add a level scoop , (1 cup) of coffee. Set the timer to 7 the first time to see how it roasts. With a fluid bed roaster, like the Caffe Rosto, the more coffee you roast, the hotter it gets. I find a heaping cup is the most you should roast. When done, remove the chaff collector and dump the beans into a canning jar or cool and keep in a zip lock bag. Vacuum or brush out the chaff collector and the area under the chaff collector. Yields about 15- 20 cups of coffee per batch.
The Bravi: (Discontinued)
An electric, radiant heat drum roaster. If you are a serious coffee drinker and consume at least a half-pound of coffee per week, this may be the way to go. The Bravi is relatively quiet, very easy to use, and roasts 8 ounces, by weight, of coffee per batch.
I find it best to weigh out the 8 ounces, otherwise the results will be inconsistent. This automatic roaster is more sensitive to batch size. If your a dark roast fan you may want to try cutting back your batch size a little.
Basic Instructions:
You set the degree of roast, and about 20-25 minutes later, it is done! You will want a vacuum around to clean up the chaff after each batch and a quick wipe down with a damp sponge or rag.
Drawbacks include the inability to watch the roasts develop, (you have to roast by ear and nose), and the need to vent. All the home roasters put out some smoke and it is recommended to roast under a stove top vent, or where you can open some windows, but the Bravi is roasting more coffee at a time and you will want some kind of stove top or Jennair venting. An alternative is to roast in the garage.
The main advantage of the Bravi is that professional coffee roasters pay 3-5 thousand dollars for a small drum roaster that roasts 1/2- 2 pounds, making the Bravi, at under $400, a terrific bargain.
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