Thursday, November 29, 2007

Updated: DreamRoast - Home Coffee Roasting Roaster



A few updates, Added a custom rim for the Turbo Oven top to sit in using bands of aluminum and a ring of high temp. food safe silicone tubing for a gasket. The convection top is a stock Galloping Gourmet Turbo Oven. The heating element and the convection fan have been wired directly to the toggle switches marked "F" and "H" on the front of the turbo oven top. The heater line goes down through my controls and variac. The left thermocouple reads bean temp. and the right measures air temp. as it hits the beans. The bean bats in the roasting pot are variable speed from 0-240 rpm. I cut the roasting pot down to 4"deep. I can easily roast between 1/2lb and 3lbs with an almost infinite amount of possible roast profiles. The whole roaster tip dumps into the cooling drawer that cools with a fan pulling air through the beans. Most of the chaff ends up in the chaff canister.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

DreamRoast Coffee Roaster


roaster
A) Variable speed convection fan 0-5600rpm
B) High/Low range convection fan toggle
C) Main heater On/Off toggle
D) Beanbats speed control
E) Chaff canister
F) Roasting pot
G) Boost heater control
H) Main heater and fan
I) Tilt dump
J) Bean temp. thermocouple
K) Air temp.
L) Volt/Watt digital display "Kill A Watt" meter
M) Variac 0-140v for main heater
N) Timer
O) PID
P) Cooling drawer- removable cooling tray
Q) Base with Beanbat speed control gearhead motor 0-330rpm
R) Dumping handle in back

Saturday, September 29, 2007

First Look-1930s Reneka Type 50 espresso/coffee machine rebuild







Yes this thing makes coffee. Built in the 1930s in France. It's about 48"x 24" in size and is made to be wall mounted. One of the first commercial automatic coffee machines! I will be rebuilding this creature over the winter. More posts to come.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

"Fresh" Roasted Coffee Beans

"Fresh brewed coffee" is a commonly used and understood term. We have all experienced the results of a pot of brewed coffee that has been on the warmer too long. But what about "fresh" roasted coffee. As with all natural foods, roasted coffee beans spoil with time. It is the spoiling of the oils in the beans that most effect the flavor of the brew. The oils with time and exposure to oxygen become rancid. Before coffee beans are roasted(known as green coffee beans) the oils in the beans are naturally protected(won't get into the science of it in this post) for up to a year with proper storage. But once roasted the oils become extremely vulnerable to deterioration. The fresh flavors only last for about 10 to 20 days!!! After that the stale tastes begin to show up. Think of the difference in the taste of "fresh milk" compared to what it tastes like just as it turns a little sour a couple days after the "use by" date. It is the most protected secret in the coffee industry. Yes!!! that means you have been drinking stale/rancid coffee for years and probably weren't even aware of it. You have probably never experienced the sweet and incredible flavors in fresh coffee. The good thing is you now know better. And yes you can buy "fresh" roasted coffee or even learn to roast your own as many homeroasters now do. Some local roasters or coffee shops will sell you fresh roasted beans and will indicate the date roasted(if they can't tell you the roast date don't buy them. Or there are a number of online roasters that can have fresh beans on your doorstep within 3 days of roasting giving you a couple weeks to truly enjoy. Always grind just before brewing(ground coffee becomes stale much faster). And store your beans in a airtight container or in a one way valve coffee bag in a cool dry place. The fridge or freezer is not recommended(future post). Warning! once you've experienced fresh roasted coffee you will not want to drink anything but.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

"DreamRoast" New Homebuilt Coffee Roaster for Roasting Beans



This is my newest 1kg electric coffee roaster.
Click on the title of this post to link to more pics and descriptions

Monday, May 21, 2007

Jacu


Jacu coffee
Please don't ask me to explain more.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Colombian Micro-Lot Super Vacuumed Packed Green Coffee For Roasting


This superb Colombian was super vacuum packed in country in 5 kg wafers. Due to recent port delays with warm and humid conditions a few of the best coffee buyers in the US started having their micro-lots shipped this way to ensure freshness and quality. This lot was grown by Reynel Perez -Finca La Circasia Farm, Planadas, Tolima Colombia. The Farm elevation is about 5,500 ft. in the south central part of Colombia. This coffee lot of less than 1000 lbs was recently purchased by Paradise Roasters of MN and scored 96points!!!! in a recent Coffeereview.com cupping.
Click on the title of this post to read the full review of this exceptional coffee.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Coffee Bean Pictorial Roaster Roasting

1 Dried whole cherry
2 Bean with hull-parchment
3 Hull-parchment
4 De-hulled green bean with
silver skin
5 Polished green bean
6 Roasted Bean

Monday, January 15, 2007

Storing Green Coffee Beans for roasting roaster

I use wide mouth canning jars and a Foodsaver vacuum packer to store and keep the green beans fresh. Qt jars hold 1 1/2 pounds of green beans. When packed the jars are labeled and dated. The jars are then stored in a cool dark place. I use a dead freezer. Keeps a good stable environment. For small amounts a dead mini-fridge would work well too.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

HV's pages..." Incredible Coffee Directory"!!!

Directory of All things coffee worldwide. Over 1300 Listings! *Click on title above to go to site and Directory* Thanks Robert (from the Netherlands) for the use of your list.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

BM/TO Coffee Roasting Roaster


BM/TO Roaster
Roaster Tips To Dump Beans into Cooling Tray
Chaff Canister
Aroma Vent
Bean Temp Probe
Fan Powered Cooling Box
Sliding and Removable Cooling Tray
Turbo/Convection Oven Heater
Modified Bread Machine
Microwave cart
Roasts 1/2-2 pounds green beans
13-16 min average roast time

Cooling Box, Fan and Tray

Fan pulls air through beans. Slide shelf out to fill and in to cool. (roaster and top board removed to take pic).