Roasting your own coffee beans - A Roasters Dilemma

[TootTootBeepBeep]

I love roasting my own coffee beans. I've done it for approximately 3 years using the  Behmor 1600. Recently my machine isn't working properly (bad circuit board, a common problem), it overheats and shuts off before completing a full roasting cycle and usually before i can get to first crack!

I ordered a replacement circuit board from Behmor, but am unable to detach some of the original circuits. Now i think I've properly ruined the machine in my attempts to remove the circuit head.

A new one cost $369 - much more than what i paid when i originally purchased (before my MMM days).
http://www.sweetmarias.com/store/roast-coffee/drum-roasters/behmor/behmor-1600-roaster-7207.html

I really don't want to buy a new one, i can't really fix my old one, so I want to know what other creative ways the MMM community uses to roast their coffee beans? Any suggestions for something i can build myself or purchase for less?

Coffee is my vice and my ritual. I don't go out for coffee because mine always tastes better. Store beans just aren't my thing, and if i go to a shop to buy freshly roasted beans it cost between $9-18 for a pound. I typically buy my green beans for ~$7 a pound. I usually roast a half pound a week, sometimes more for friends.

Thanks everyone!

[Luke Warm]

the heatgun-dog bowl method works but probably not as well as the behmor. it's more hands-on which to me makes up for any uneven roasting in the beans. 'look what i made!"

[Dr.Vibrissae]

I've read about using the old style, hot air popcorn poppers to roast coffee beans.  I bought ours for $5 from goodwill, but I have not yet tried roasting coffee in it.

[catccc]

DH uses an old west bend poppery 2 and it works well for small batches.

[TootTootBeepBeep]

Thanks everyone for the tips! I'm a little nervous about the heatgun method (sounds like it requires a lot of skill) so I snagged a West Bend Poppery 2 via ebay and i'm super excited to give a go. Thanks again!

Also - i did find a similar thread offering the West Bend Poppery 2 as well.
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/do-it-yourself-forum!/roasted-my-first-batch-of-coffee-beans!/msg455761/#msg455761

[TheMoneyBadger]

I've also been using the popcorn popper method to great results.  I'm not sure where you're located but the one challenge I've had is roasting in the winter.  It gets awfully cold around these parts and the popcorn popper has difficulty getting up to temp if I just leave it on the floor of the garage since it's sucking in really cold air.  One workaround is to put it in an open cardboard box to recirculate the air.  That works well but you want to be careful not to light the box on fire.

[TootTootBeepBeep]

Wow! Excellent advice. It is not terribly cold where I am, but certainly it is something I'll keep in mind.

Box on fire? Moneybadger don't care.

[MashedBanana]

Please let us know how it went OP! I've just bought my first bag of green beans and am waiting for them to arrive, it'll be my first go at home roasting

[shadowmoss]

When I was living in Honduras I would score green coffee beans for my friend who liked to roast her own (in a hot air popcorn popper).  One time I brought approx. 11lbs back.  I didn't declare them and when I got to the customs lady luckily she was getting ready to go on break.  She asked if I had any seeds, etc. and I nervously said 'well, a little coffee...' and she smiled and said that was ok.  Like I said, I didn't mention it was 11lbs of green beans.

[so.mpls]

I already mentioned this in another thread, so I hope I'm not being redundant, but the heat gun/bread machine method is a great way to overcome the problem of roasting in cold climates.  I switched when my Poppery II couldn't get the job done any more.

It's the same as the heat gun/dogbowl method, but you use a bread machine to stir the beans.  Eliminates the problem of uneven roasting.  All it takes is a heat gun and a bread machine, which are cheap and abundant at thrift shops.  You might have to re-do the wiring to get it to spin constantly (depends on the machine), but it's an easy diy.

I've been doing this for ~5 months now with great results. It's really easy to control, and being able to roast a pound at a time is so nice after a year and a half of doing <1/2 cup batches in the popper.

[slowplod]

I use a Turbo Crazy I built.  I think you can build one for <$100  http://biobug.org/coffee/turbo-crazy/

Works great - you can make up to 1LB of coffee.  I roast indoors, I really don't get very much smoke but I never roast above FC

[Luke Warm]

that's pretty neat. i've never seen one of those convection ovens before.

so at what point do you get fed up messing with all this stuff and buy an actual coffee roaster? my roasting is hit or miss with the dog bowl heat gun method. even if i dropped $100 on the turbo roaster, wouldn't it be better to get the actual coffee roaster for a few dollars more? just wondering...

[Wadiman]

TTBB -

From one addict to another - I feel your loss!

While I posted about the popcorn maker method recently - and am getting excellent results - it is a little tedious due to the small quantities you can roast at a time.

The bread-maker/heat-gun method may be worth exploring but I can see myself getting a Behmor at some stage for the convenience factor.  The payback will be a few years I think although it does open-up the possibility of a side-gig to sell to friends.

[slowplod]

that's pretty neat. i've never seen one of those convection ovens before.

so at what point do you get fed up messing with all this stuff and buy an actual coffee roaster? my roasting is hit or miss with the dog bowl heat gun method. even if i dropped $100 on the turbo roaster, wouldn't it be better to get the actual coffee roaster for a few dollars more? just wondering...

For me, the $260 extra was significant - if you annualized that cost over a single year, with a Turbo Crazy, your weekly cost is $8 (1 lb green, plus $2 for the TC expense).  Annualizing the cost of the Behmor it costs you $13 a week.  At $13 for 12 oz of roasted coffee, you get really close to the cost of some of the better roasters.

It takes about 1 hour to build, and then you're all set.  I am really happy with the turbo crazy results.  It's easy to control the roast temperature and time, so you can get consistently good results after a little experimentation

[rachael talcott]

I roast coffee in a heavy pot over a camping-style gas burner, stirring continuously. 

[TootTootBeepBeep]

Friends! Thank you again for all the wonderful suggestion! I'm checking in with an update. I purchased the popcorn popper via ebay as suggested and it has worked beautifully. I've completed 2 roasts and wanted to share the results:
 
1. Guatamalan bean - 4.0 oz (closer to 4.1) weighed. Roasted 4 min 30 sec, it just hit second crack. The roast coloring was very even. The overall results were good, however I had some trouble getting the beans too cool quickly. So I believe the cooking process continued a bit and they had a hint of burnt flavor. Note: 4 hour breathing period and 3 day rest.

2. Ethiopian yerga cheffe - 4.0 oz (closer to 3.9oz - this caused the beans to rotate more freely in the popper). Stopped the roast spot on 4 minutes (about 20 seconds into first crack) and quickly transferred to a colander to cool. The coloring actually wasn't terribly even (picture attached). However, HOLY DELICIOUS BATMAN!  I had already roasted 2.5 pounds of this exact bean using the behmore roaster and have never gotten the flavor profile to be this delicate or to actually taste like the bean flavor profile description. Note: allowed for 4 hour breathing period and a 3-4 day rest.

I really like the new meathod and am pleased with the results. I do miss the cooling option from the behmore... Shaking beans in a colander for 5-10 minutes is mind numbing. But I'm thrilled with results.

Thanks again everyone and happy roasting!

[Luke Warm]

excellent. i found an old toaster oven with a rotisserie. i built a drum and attached it to the rotisserie bar. i did one batch and it took forever to roast but it came out nice. i lined the inside of the oven with foil and covered the inside of the door with foil to help reflect some of the heat. it worked much quicker but the roast was uneven. still, it beats stirring and holding a heat gun.