Coffee Roasting Basics: Using an Electric Popcorn Popper

Electric popcorn poppers are the best way to get started roasting your own coffee. They are inexpensive, small and do an amazing job. Essentially, all you need to do is pour in some green coffee, watch it spin around until it turns dark brown and, bam!, you just roasted coffee...BUT, there are a few hints you should know that will give you better results right off the bat.

Your batch size is determined by the strength of your popper's fan. Turn on your popper. Pour green coffee into it and note when the fan is no longer able to move the coffee beans. Pour out all the coffee. Weigh it or measure it by volume and this will be your normal batch size.

In the beginning of your roast, shake the popper ever few seconds to agitate the beans so the ones on the bottom don't burn. After a minute or so of doing this, you'll notice the beans changing color and beginning to move on their own.

There should be a good amount of chaff flying around at this point. Use the included plastic hood/butter tray to divert the chaff into your kitchen sink or a pot with a little water on the bottom. Roast under your stove's hood vent or near a window to reduce smoke accumulation in your kitchen. Roasting outside on a warm day is good if you don't want to deal with smoke or chaff in your house.

Listen for 1st crack. It's hard to miss and sounds like twigs snapping. Yes, there is a 2nd crack that happens around a minute after 1st crack is done but we only recommend roasting this dark if you know for sure that super dark coffee is the only kind of coffee you will drink. Aside from a handful of coffees, we think coffee roasted into 2nd crack can taste a bit charcoal-ish.

After 1st crack is done, pour your roasted coffee into a metal colander, pie pan, cookie tray or anything that can help conduct heat away from your coffee. With a little experience, you should experiment with roasting lighter or darker but for now, stopping right after 1st crack will give you a nice light/medium roast.

After your coffee has cooled to about room temp, store it in a ball jar, tupperware, zipper bag or anything that will keep it away from light, moisture and oxygen. If roasting larger batches that you won't drink after about a week, consider a storage container made for coffee.

After about 12 hours of rest, your coffee will be ready to grind and drink. Yes, you can grind, brew and drink coffee straight out of the roaster and it will taste pretty good but waiting 12 hours will give your noticeable improvement in flavor.

Have fun and enjoy drinking delicious coffee!
Recorded from a Facebook Live live stream on 9/6/2019.

More info on popper roasting
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