Why roast coffee yourself - and how do you do it?
There are at least four good reasons why you need to roast your own coffee:
- you choose your own raw material and are therefore in control over, what aromas and flavors that must be prevalent in your coffee.
- you do not have to pay for the major coffee companies' branding, production costs and profits.
- you decide how much coffee should be roasted - whether you prefer coffee lightly roasted, medium roasted, or completely dark roast. < / li>
- Last - but maybe most importantly: you ensure that the coffee is always freshly roasted. This is essential since roasted coffee - as opposed to raw, green beans - quickly loses its aromas after roasting. The best coffee is roasted within 14 days when brewed.
How to roast your own coffee?
The good thing is that everyone can roast your own coffee . In fact, it is possible to roast ones own coffee, without having to acquire new equipment at all. You can roast coffee in the oven or even in a frying pan! And it doesn't take a lot of time - typically between 10 and 15 minutes. However, if you get into home roasting, most people likely prefer to buy a dedicated home roaster - a small domestic appliance which can be left on the kitchen table or in the garage when you need it (and these are generally available for 2000-5000 kroner. )
When the coffee beans are exposed to heat, they begin to develop. You can see visually that the beans change color: from the greenish color, they change to yellow and then turns into brown and eventually become black. You can also follow the roasting development with the sense of smell: the beginning of roasting the beans will make a grassy scent, then the smell of baked bread to eventually deliver a more pungent smell of roasted / burnt bread. A while into the roasting process, the progress can even be heard: the beans release 2 "cracks", a muffled popping sound. The sound produced by the coffee beans inner swell 'blow' the shell of the coffee bean - a little like popcorn. At the first crack the roast process can be stopped if you want a very light roast coffee (where many of the more volatile and fresh flavors are still present), or roasting may continue for another crack or beyond (where the heavier, sweeter aromas remain).
It may take some effort to become good at roasting ones own coffee to suit your exact preferences. But when you find the recipe, providing fresh and home-roasted coffee makes for a great coffee experience.