The Absolute BEST TEACHER ON KZread, class act!!! Thank you, much appreciation for all your videos

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Wow, thank you John. I’m glad my videos have been helpful for you. Thanks for watching and your encouraging words.

@johnlarrivee3665

10 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab yes Sir you are very deserving of those words, you are so helpful and obviously care about your subscribers, you answer us back, that’s pretty freakin cool to be honest!!! Thanks again

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Thank you John.

I like the progression you're using on your last two videos. From bare bones to slightly more data-driven, but always stressing what's going on with the roast and why you're doing what you're doing. I assume you're going to be continuing with more advanced roasters as this series goes on. It's so important to be aware of what's going on, before getting hung up on 'exact formulas'. Coffee is a living thing, subject to change, and everything isn't always going to go exactly according to a plan. Control as many parameters as possible, but be aware of how the roast is progressing to facilitate any on-the-fly changes that are needed. I've been using the timer you recommended for a while now, and it's been really proved useful. If the particular coffee is a 'keeper', I screenshot it after the fact to keep track of both roasting data, and also as a means to track individual coffee that I want to remember.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Hi J, yes, this is a “series” I am building which shows a progression of roasting basics using different types of roasters. I think I’m going to call it “the secret sauce of roasting coffee”. There is no secret but all of the basics are what allow us to roast great coffee. The Behmor will be next and we will move all the way to the drum roaster. I plan on using different roasters to highlight a specific feature. If you have any suggestions please share. The coffee timer I used in this video is a big help. My son has been working on a timer that includes all 3 phases and allows you to target 🎯 specific percentages within a total roast time you pre-determine. It still has a few bugs. Even the timer on a cell phone that has a lap counter can be used although it doesn’t calculate. Thanks for watching and sharing J. !

Another great video. I always come away with good info from your videos. I like that your channel is all inclusive, no matter what roaster people are using. You are definitely an evangelist for the coffee roasting hobby.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Thanks Jim. Yea, the biggest issue with focusing on a single roaster is the emphasis tends to be on replicating someone's recipe rather than learning how to roast. Using different roasting equipment teaches concepts we can all apply. Then, when we change the type of coffee we roast, the batch size or even the profile, we are already equipped and ready to roast. The person who follows recipes has to start all over and is lost. My goal is to empower people to learn, grow and experiment with roasting so they can craft great coffee! Thanks the encouraging words.

I got the watt meter with my Popper purchase. It's a game changer with this roaster.

@moorejl57

10 ай бұрын

I also use a watt meter with this roaster and I found that the temp control knob is not continuous, but jumps 100 to 150 watts. So this leads me not to mark the knob since it is too iffy and just look at the watts. I like roasting around 950 watts with 100g of beans, just like the recent Sweet Maria's video.

@whiskyjiggs6836

10 ай бұрын

Yes, just like in the SM video. Easy. Takes the guesswork out of the heat setting

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

I’ve got a watt meter as well although it still jumped around. I thought is was because my heat element was turning on and of or something. Does yours stay or move around?

@moorejl57

10 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab When I set it to 950 Watts (just past 12 O'clock) it will vary between about 930 to 960, which is due to line voltage variations. The jumping I was referring to was it jumps as I am turning the knob, maybe the next lowest setting is 780 Watts etc....

Excellent video Mike. I think this is the first time I’ve seen a complete roast on Sweet Maria’s Popper from charging to the end. It’s nice to see the things that are common to roasting, irrespective of the roasting device. And in this video you cover the most important “thing” which is heat control. While it is true that some equipment allows a lot of control of heating and other equipment allows no heat control, the idea of what is happening during can still lead to getting a better roast. When using the Behmor, I had to get creative in an attempt to control things that the machine didn’t directly “control” (e.g. pre-heat8ng). Thanks again!

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing Lou. Agree, heat management is a foundational skill all of us (coffee roasting people) need to learn and apply. I am making this a foundational series for my channel. Next video deals with temperatures and how they are references to help us understand what our senses are experiencing during our roast. Then after that we will get into charting our roasts.....

Thank you for a roast primer on less sophisticated roasters and for the app suggestion. Much appreciated!

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

You are welcome Suzanne. I'm glad my video was helpful. Thank you for the encouraging words. We will be building on the heat management concept in my next video. Stay tuned!

This is a GREAT video!! Many thanks. Lots of useful info here. First of all, the Timer App is a great find, something that should be useful/helpful for all home roasters! Also, your explanations of what you're doing and why as the roast was progressing were very helpful. For example, backing off on the heat during development phase and why you did that. Can't wait for my next roast to try this things. Thanks again. Enjoy the rest of the long weekend!

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful Pima! I try hard to explain my reasoning in my videos. The fresh roaster is a little more complex than the popper because you have to change fan settings during your roast. This influenced temperatures. In this video the fan was fixed. We will be talking about adding more variables in a future video. Have you watched the fresh roast playlist? Thanks for your comments, watching, and the encouraging words.

Thank you for the information.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching Saeed!

❤ thank you.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

6 ай бұрын

You are welcome. Are you a roaster, producer?

Do you think if you roasted exactly the same but dropped at 15 % you would have liked it more ? Great video

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Hi Ken. I’m not sure. I landed exactly where I wanted as far as roast level and moisture loss. I was happy with the color. The coffee was developed enough. So, I’m not sure 🤔. I wish I could compare it to a 13 and 15 percent

This video is like advanced course!!

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

I hope it was helpful for you. What are you roasting with?

@mrmoodiy

10 ай бұрын

I'm using stainless steel rotiserrie drum which I modded

I have an SR 540 and I almost exclusively roast and drink decaf and I almost never hear "first crack". Nowadays, I end up mostly going on the smell to control my roast. Not sure if I'm doing it right or not but I think I start off with a grassy smell. then a sweet smell, then a sour sweet smoky smell, and finally, a burnt sour smell. I've recently learned that I want to keep my roast going into the burnt sour smell for 60-90 seconds or else the coffee will be undercooked. I haven't tried taking it any further into the sour burnt smell but I'm sure further changes does happen. Not sure sure how this maps to the common understanding of coffee roasting but that's just the way I've found success. (If you're curious, I roast 140g of greens beans and I aim to get out 125g of roasted beans but now it looks like I should be aiming for 124g or 123g)

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

It is great you are using your senses. How much time are you roasting between the beginning of the roast and first crack? The weight loss you mentioned doesn’t seem to make sense. Your taking the coffee way past first crack so you can smell burned coffee and your weight loss is only 10%. Can you what your roasting times or phase times please.

@muggyate

10 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab I have no idea when first crack is because my beans never crack (decaf beans). I don't really use a timer either, only the on device timer and I think recently, I've been getting down to 9.4 - 8.4m out of the 20 starting min when I stop the roast. I also don't think the temps I have go that high. my infrared thermometer says the beans are at around 212°C. I think I probably don't really know what the smells I'm smelling so I might be calling it "burnt sour" but it's actually not burnt or anything. And since I don't ever hear "first crack" despite my beans temp being at 200 - 215 °C for well over a min by the time I stop roasting, I don't really know anything about the phases of the roast. Also, I don't have one of those extension tubes for my unit. If you're curious, here's how I do my roast. I start off with my green beans in the roasting chamber and I start the roast like that at 1 heat and 9 fan (same way you do I think). I then let it do that for around 4-5 minutes and I wait for the green to go away. then I raise the power 1 step at a time from power 1 all the way to power 9. after I bring the device to 9 fan and 9 heat, I often can't get to 200+ °C so I start lowering the fan. I find that lowering the fan by 1 step has roughly the same effect as increasing the heat by 2 steps so to mimic the heat change up to this point, I lower the fan by 1 and the heat by 1 too (fan 8 heat 8 at this point). depending on the day, my final adjustment I make is either to bring the heat to 9 again or to set the fan to 7 and heat to 8. this process can take 2-5 minutes. after that, the beans will get to 208-218°C 30s - 1m after the final adjustment. and after that, I just wait and smell the exhaust and wait for the "sour burnt" smell. once the smell becomes really noticeable, I let it go for 45-75s longer and then hit the play button again to stop the roast. Since I roast decaf, there's never any cracking sound, sometimes, I roast without the chaff collector so I can use an infrared laser thermometer to check temps (for some reason, decaf never has any chaff). Though lately, I think that I probably need to change how I roast since summer is ending and my room is getting cooler. Hopefully this helps. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing but the coffee I end up with is pretty interesting. My main reason for home roasting is mainly economical. Even if I'm doing it wrong it's, still better than the store bought stuff and much cheaper than the fancy roaster decaf coffees so I'm pretty happy with my results.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Something doesn't seem right Muggyate. You have a 10% moisture loss which very very light coffee. But the way you describe what is happening, you are roasting darker. Because you are not roasting on the extension tube, consider using the power of 3 on your green coffee at the beginning and a fan of 9. Then try to get the coffee to be full yellow or a little further by 4 minutes. Then, you will notice your coffee moving around more. This is because the beans weigh less because of the water evaporation. Now, turn your heat to 7 and leave it there. Slowly turn down your fan 1 number every minute. First crack should take place around 7-8 minutes. If you don't hear first crack, smell for the sour notes. Keep the beans moving but not flying high up in the air. About 2 minutes after the sour smell end the roast. See if that makes any difference.

@muggyate

10 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab I just tried this method. 140g in, 126g out. I stopped it when the on device timer was well into the 12 min remaining point (maybe I under cooked them >_

@muggyate

10 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab I just roasted some caffinated coffee and turns out, what I'm smelling as "burnt sour" is first crack, or actually, the smell just before first crack fully starts.

loved the video sir! I have been roasting with my Popper for a month now and I definitely have made some drinkable coffee but some have turned out bland. I have an Ethi Yirgacheffe that I am trying to increase the acidity and fruitiness of the coffee, I am def going to use these pointers from this video. Any other pointers to increase the acidity / electricity of the cup? thank you for your videos!

@VirtualCoffeeLab

8 ай бұрын

Hi Andrew. Thanks for watching. I think my comments at 20:56 are really important and you should consider a shorter total roast time. Maybe shoot for a total roast time of 8 or 9 minutes. So, in the case of more acid/fruit, you will want a 4 minute dry then hit first crack at 7 minutes and then drop the coffee at about 8 minutes. Try that and compare the cup compared to the 10 minute roast. REMEMBER, color is king. The ending temperature of your coffee in the popper will be determined by the total weight loss percentage AND the color. I reference the video "color is king" and it would be a good one for you to watch if you haven't already. If you do try the shorter roast, let me know your thoughts.

Can we suggest to the app developer to add a "Yellow" or "Dry" button and display % in each of the three phases (after hitting First Crack and Stop buttons, ie at the end of the roast)? That would eliminate you having to calculate % for the dry and browning phases.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

I don’t have any connection with the developer. You could try and contact them. My son is currently working on a timer that does phase percentages but is t ready to share yet.

Hey Mike, I hope you and your family are doing well. Every day i feel more healthy and i have fallen back into my routine from before my hospital stay. Currently I am not having too many issues that i cant handle because i have learned so much from your videos. The new gas camping stove has a wide heating area with no cold spots so maybe i am hitting the beans with a bit too much heat. Next batch ill try to drop the heat and extend the drying phase. Ill let you know if that doesn't work. I dont remember if i asked you about the Jleverespresso. I really like the unit and i am looking for other people's opinions on what they think from the videos. Maybe you could take a look. I have an beginners espresso appliance and may want a lever machine. I know that i should focus on a really good grinder first. That is about it. Thank you for everything. Have a wonderful rest of the week. 😊😊😊😊

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for your message. I'm glad you are feeling better. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the Jleverespresso. Sorry about that.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. I am using Gene Cafe to roast coffee. The challenge I have is that I can get the beans evenly roasted (I mean with the same level of color). Any feedback you could advise me to take into consideration please?

@VirtualCoffeeLab

5 ай бұрын

Hello Mohd, thank you for watching and being a subscriber. Depending on the type of coffee you are roasting there can be variations. This could be caused from the coffee process. Dry process coffee isn't sorted the same as a washed process coffee so there could be beans that are not as mature or defective. Coffee farms often sell their harvest to processors who mix the harvests from local farms. Sometimes the coffees may have different moisture levels etc... So, it could be the coffee. The other option could be your batch size, total roast time, or your roast level. How much coffee are you roasting per batch? How long is your total roast from charge to drop? What type of coffee are you roasting?

Hi Mike! Thanks so much for your videos!! I have a question, near the end of this video you say that you could roast a better tasting Costa Rican coffee on your drum roaster in comparison to the 'popper'. Could you explain what the drum roaster specifically does better with to result in a better tasting coffee? Thanks

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

I get more consistent results. The roast is more even, the profile is better including a better decline in my rate of rise and a much better ability to use my senses with the drum roaster to drop the coffee exactly at the right time (sight and smell).

Do you have a video on your thought process for making a roast plan? In this example 5mins of dry time, 3 mins of roast time before 1st crack and 2min development time. Are there specific formulas for what you want to pull out of a coffee? Sorry if there is a video out on it already but if you can point me in that direction i'd appreciate it. Thank you for all the work you put into your videos and sharing your knowledge with us.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

5 ай бұрын

Hello Christopher, thanks for watching and for being a subscriber! Yes, it is funny you ask. I'm working on a series focusing on the coffee roasting profile. I am in the final stages of my intro to the series and it should be out in a few days (I hope). It is difficult to have this conversation with so many different types of coffee roasting machines. An air roaster profile will look much different than a drum roaster profile. I decided to try and approach them together because the concepts are the same. I think it is helpful for everyone to understand how the roaster machine will influence how your profile will look. So, there will be an intro to the series and then some hands-on examples based on the coffee type, roast level, and machine type. Hopefully, this approach will work. I was watching someone roast coffee a few years ago. They were explaining what they were doing and it was very roaster specific. It was really helpful for me because I had the same roaster. Someone with a different roaster might have difficulty translating for their roaster, especially if it is an air roaster. Since seeing that, I've really tried to include information that is helpful for everyone. We will see what happens with this series. Fingers Crossed....... To answer your question about existing videos, yes, I do have quite a few. If you are roasting on a drum roaster, this video might be helpful kzread.info/dash/bejne/hIqfrbqHnrfRhto.html . I talk about Batch size, density, varietal, bean size, and more. Then I roast the coffee. I've even made this profile available to download here: www.buymeacoffee.com/virtualcoffeelab/extras I hope my reply was helpful. If you have a different type of roaster please let me know and I can direct you to a different video.

@ChristopherMichaelR

5 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thanks so much for the detailed response, i'm looking forward to your upcoming series and will check out those videos you linked. I have run through the gamut of roasting the past few years. Started with a popocorn popper, the hive, gene cafe, kaffelogic nano, now thinking about hopping into a drum roaster. I was thinking about the Kaleido M1 due to the amount of coffee I personally drink but was thinking about jumping to the M2 to share roasts. There is also another roaster from china gaining traction. The Skywalker roaster or ITOP 500. Same machine but different name. $400-$500 500g electric drum roaster and some people are modding it to be compatible with artisan. Still in the early stages of modding though but I think the machine has a lot of potential at its price point. It'll be interesting to see if anyone in America starts to distribute in the future. At the time I started roasting there weren't much resources on roasting. I'm happy that there are people out there like you who are willing to teach us your craft.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

5 ай бұрын

The M2 is a really nice roaster. I liked it so much I got the M10. I'm still trying to get comfortable using that machine. Yea, I have seem some of the Skywalker videos and conversations. There are a lot of roasters out there and that one seems pretty interesting. Are people buying them on Alibaba? There isn't a US seller?

Hi, what a great video. I recently started roasting using an air popcorn popper. What would consider the Best Buy of a low priced roaster a couple hundred for a roaster is way too much for me.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

The two options I would suggest would be the popper from sweet Maria’s for under 100 dollars or the Hive roaster which is not an air roaster and can be used over a camping stove or flame on a kitchen range and I would recommend the one that has the digital display temperatures.

@pjtherev

10 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab thanks. I ended up buying the Sweet Maria’s popper. I’m excited to try it out.

Loved the video and I will be referencing it later. I roast with a home made roaster (based on Larry Cotton's wobble roaster), and always used higher heat on initially and lowered when yellowing happens. I will have to try this approach. Question: how did you determine the times you are shooting for in terms of first crack and doneness? Also, I bookmarked the app. I always used the stop watch on my phone, with "laps" as the different stages and take pictures for later reference.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching. Depending on your coffee you will want to manage your heat differently during the dry phase. You didn't mention how dark you are roasting so everything I mention here is based on a "medium" roast level. To answer your question about first crack and doneness, the answer can vary based on the roasting method. Your method uses convection (the heat gun, hot air) and conduction (hot metal surface and bean to bean). So you are using both. Generally speaking, good coffee is roasted between 8-12 minutes in a drum roaster and 6-10 minutes on an air roaster. This is a really general statement AND is very subjective. So with that being said, I think a 8-9 minute roast might be an interesting start. If we use 9 minutes as our total roast time we could break your roast into 3 pieces. The dry phase would last about 4 minutes before you get to yellow. The browning phase would last about 3:45 till you hit first crack. The development phase would last about 1:45 before you drop the beans to cool them. So, that would put first crack around 7:45. I have no idea how fast or slow your roaster operates so I am just guessing. How does that fit with what you are experiencing? Are you happy with the result of your coffee? How much control do you have managing your heat without creating roasting defects.

@FER_R

10 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond! I do a lot of it by seat-of-the-pants or tips I picked up here and there and it is great to learn from someone that actually knows what they are doing. I am generally happy with the resulting coffee, but always wondered what if I can do something else to get different flavors or better results in general. I usually go for medium, as I have not had great success trying for light and end up with underdeveloped coffee. I am roasting one pound at a time (454 grams) and I usually do it as follows (I looked at a series of screenshots with times and I am listing an average): 1 - That first yellowing lasts about 7:30 to 8 minutes (2 of those I have it covered, don't ask me why, but again something I might have read somewhere) and I usually have it at full power. 2 - I figured out a way of lowering the heat, but it also technically lowers air flow, as I use a voltage controller and lower it to ~80 volts (normally does not read 120 but 100 here). This stage lasts usually 1:45 to 2:15 until first crack. 3 - After this I usually leave it for 1:30 to 2:00 depending on the look of it. Again, a lot of this was based on experimentation but not science. Now you made me wonder what would happen if I lower the temp in the beginning. It might slow down the whole thing, but maybe I am getting extra heat to begin with and I am rushing it. I appreciate any insight. And thanks again. @VirtualCoffeeLab

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

ok, this changes everything I said. So, you aren't using a variable temp heat gun. You are lowering voltage of both heat and stiring correct? 8 minutes to dry is too long based on my experience. You will need more heat or less coffee. I would say try 1/2 pound using your existing method for heat and see if you can dry that coffee in 4-5 minutes. If you give this a try you should see if roast faster. I want you to taste the difference and see if it is worth while to go any further. Charge weight (the amount of coffee you are roasting) has a huge impact on your roasting profile including total roast time. Don't worry about dry, try to get to first crack by 8 minutesl. once crack begins lower your heat a little, or better yet, move the gun away from the beans a litte bit but keep the stiring quickly. Let crack roll slowly and it should stop around the color you like and the time of around 9:45 to 10 minutes.

@FER_R

10 ай бұрын

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. Even though I have been roasting for a while, I never knew to shoot for a certain time, but always watched for color, hearing first crack, etc. Roasting 1 pound was always more of a convenience than anything else. I have to try to roast smaller doses and taste the difference as you mentioned. I will probably ditch the step of roasting the first two minutes covered as well. To be clear, the stirring is achieved by a very complicated piece of machinery: an electric screwdriver attached to the flour sifter which has the wobbler disk, all controlled by a potentiometer!! :-) So, I am able to keep at least those variables separate. And I keep the speed at the fastest I can without the beans flying all over the place. The separate voltage regulator controls the heat gun, hence controls both heat and airflow together. I wish I could post a pic to illustrate this more clearly. Thanks again. I will try these the next time I roast and will report back. @VirtualCoffeeLab

@FER_R

8 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab Sorry it took me so long to reply! I implemented your tips of reducing the amount and trying to shoot for those times and it was a game changer! The app is also super useful. I just roasted some wet process Kenyan and I ran some tests. I roasted 227gr in 3 different "settings" (I have it in quotations since I control the variables really): For the first one I did what I used to do, where I ran it at full power covered for 2 min, turn it down to 80% once dried and developed it to 17.5% past first crack. This was done surprisingly quick, hitting first crack at 5:21 and done at 6:35 min I figured this was too quick and tried it uncovered, same general settings, full power, lowering to 80% once dry and I hit first crack at 7:02, developed it to 17.5% past first crack and was done at 8:33. For the last one I went back to your notes above and tried to shoot for those numbers. So I started it at 80%, it was dry at around 6 min, hit first crack 8:09 and developed it to 17.5% for an overall time of 9:56. Almost to a T what you had described and the times you had estimated. I still have not tasted these yet, but by the looks and smells, the last one will be the winner. I will report back once I do taste them. Anyway, I wanted to document this for anyone reading comments and hopefully someone else learns as much from your videos as I have. I watch a lot of videos on KZread and I can honestly say you have helped me learn and demystify the roasting process. Thanks very much!

Are you able to create an 'index' listing type of coffee beans you roasted in each video? I bought some Guatemalan Huehue and can't remember in which of your videos you roasted that type of coffee so I'm going through your videos one by one checking if you had done so in that video.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Unfortunately I don't have an index. I used the Huehue on quite a few videos including the Behmor and the Fresh Roast. Each one of those roasters is a completely different experience. It's like going from a truck to a skateboard to a formula one car and a 4 door sedan. There is a learning curve for each one so you will need to practice and be patient. The Huehue is a great all around coffee. Where did you get it from? Have fun roasting with each of these machines and let me know your thoughts.

Just a comment on your heat control method. When roasting on larger capacity roasters (drum) at 0.5 Kg upward to 5Kg the quick change control of heat energy is difficult because of mass. Watching the ET energy rise and adjusting to more expecting a quick change in BT can be very problematic. Once the bulk mass absorbs heat in the Maillard going into development phase it becomes almost impossible to slow the train down quickly. By decreasing the rapid rise (dropping heat input) during the last phase can cause the exothermic bean process to collapse and stall the roast making a very "baked" profile. Once heat input set after dry phase starts to reflect in a too quick RoR for development it takes only a very, very small decrease in energy plus change in air flow to flatten the RoR slightly. Thus the tricky nature of roasting because you have to anticipate way in advance about the amount of heat stored in the mass of the roaster so you don't try to put on the breaks and stall the roast in development.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Joe, thanks for your comments. Are you roasting on a larger roaster? What size, model? I agree 100 percent with the “slowing the train”. This video series is an intro to basic roasting concepts. You are correct that when roasting larger batches of coffee and using a roaster that has a lot of heated metal creates an environment where heat adjustments have less impact on significant drops or increases. As you said, once the train starts (after yellow) it is best to have the train pointing in the right direction. As we progress in this series and get to the larger batches and we use logging software to display our rate of rise, we will talk more about the momentum and where the train can come off the tracks so to speak. With regards to these intro videos, I am trying to keep it general enough for most home roasting environments and equipment. Many of these people may not experience coasting their roast but they might experience the runaway roast. So we will definitely address these in light of exothermic reactions, conductive heat transfer and the importance of setting the roast up for success with a roasting plan/profile and target temperature. Great comments. I appreciate you sharing!

@joepangean6770

10 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab Roasting with Kaldi Fortis (600g) drum roaster over gas, using Artisan and twin exhaust fans in line. Always, always walking a fine line with heat input, heat contained, heat exhausted and smoothly transitioning from drying phase to development without baking or losing control. Thanks for the suggestions. I will watch for more profile control as you progress with roasters.

Do you have a suggestion for an easy to work with bean, with the popper in mind, for a beginner? Something that holds up to a variety of profiles and brew methods (espresso and pour over).

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

My favorite everyday bean is the Guatemala Huehue Tenengo. When you search, look for one that has some fruit notes like apples.

@kitcraft9516

10 ай бұрын

Thank you for always taking the time to respond to my questions, it means a lot! @@VirtualCoffeeLab

Would you be able to do a video on coffees roasting in an air fryer?

@pimacanyon6208

10 ай бұрын

interesting idea. have you tried it? Do you know of anyone who's roasted coffee in an air fryer. The critical factor is whether the heat of the air gets as hot in an air fryer as it does in a hot air popcorn popper. You'd need the air to get to at least 430F or so. Let us know if you try it and what kind of results you get. Hopefully Mike will chime in on this as well.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

It’s on my list for a future video but its not a priority. Sorry about that Josh. I don’t want to spend money for one. I don’t see myself using it much other than to make the videos.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Josh, go to my video "3 ways to roast sweet coffee" and look in the comments for a guy names @GotellJesusSaves . His name is Jason and he uses an air fryer. Read his responses in the video and he talks about how he air roasts

@joshwells3247

10 ай бұрын

@@VirtualCoffeeLab awesome thanks

Hi Mike, How do you decide on how long of a dry time you're shooting for?

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Hi Jeff. I consider the total roast time first. I base this on the type of coffee, process method, desired roast level, the profile itself and the capabilities of my roasting equipment. For this video, I intentionally used a longer roast time so we could talk about what was happening with my heat. The dry phase doesn’t affect taste much at all so the length if dry isn’t related to flavor. It has everything to do with setting the rest of your roast up for success. You want to reach the right momentum to move you through the rest of the roast. Too low of heat drags out the roast causing less complex and boring coffee while too high races you through the roast, sacrificing flavor development. So, 5 minutes in this video and 6 minutes in an upcoming video. Air roasters do well with shorter total roast times including the dry phase. I forget what you are roasting with. Please remind me of your roaster, roast level and coffee you are roasting?

@jefflucas6062

10 ай бұрын

​​@@VirtualCoffeeLabHi Mike, I just switched to an SR800 +extension tube from a flat bed roaster. Mostly using central and south American beans but do like Kenya for pour-overs. For daily coffee for the family I shoot for a full medium but try to slow development as long as possible (so far hard to do with the extention tube) . With the flat bed roaster my target was always 5 min dry, +4 FC, then drop based on color, smell, and if the smoke alarm was going off. Don't seem to have the hang of the air roaster yet to be consistent with the times. I guess my question really is how do I decide on total roast time for a specific coffee? For example Columbian heirloom bourbon ("chiroso") from SM shooting for city+ (~13.5% ML). It's a super sweet delight when I happen to get it right. What would your approach be? I've had 13.% be great, also had 13.% be just okay following the same plan used before. Thanks for posting all the great videos. They really do help us all making great coffee.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Are you using the Razzo extension tube? I have found it far too easy to apply too much heat during my roast with the SR540. I try and keep my power numbers as low as I can. One indicator that has helped me once I am at first crack is the pace of the cracking. If it is hard and fast I have way too much heat. I aim for a nice slow rolling crack. I find that my temps are lower doing that. I have heard the razzo extension tube really retains the heat. Has that been your experience?

@jefflucas6062

10 ай бұрын

​​@@VirtualCoffeeLabI have the fresh roast extension tube. I agree that there's a lot more heat, rolling through first crack at power 2 or even 1. Do you find some coffee roasts better without the extention tube? On the flat bed roaster I always had issues getting a strong first crack going and when I did blue smoke wasn't far behind. With the SR800 it's much easier to manage the heat and be consistent but I do kind of miss that extra burnt toast flavor that even light roasts would get from the flat bed. Lol Btw, thanks for the coffee timer app suggestion. It really helps hitting a specific development percent.

@VirtualCoffeeLab

10 ай бұрын

Jeff, the 800 has more coffee mass and when you get to first crack the coffee you should be feathering the heat. You may need to increase your air to help bring you down a little. I'm not talking about cooling the beans. Just slow down the rolling crack a little so it is not a fireworks session. You may want to practice knowing when crack is going to happen and then slow down the roast as you are coming into first crack. Sounds like you are coming in too hot and the extension tube holding all of that heat from the beans.