For all the brisket and smoking fanatics that are here…anyone else into roasting their own coffee beans? I find it similarly satisfying if you haven't ventured into this hobby.

I have spent more than a few lunch breaks over the past couple of years looking at DIY coffee bean roasting.

I would love to hear about your setup, where you get your beans, challenges, and if its much better than getting coffee from a local roaster.

This definitely sounds like something both my coffee loving brain and my affinity of over-engineering my DIY hobbies. This post already has me thinking about building a PID roaster temperature controller with a small micro-controller, maybe even data logging, and text alerts when the roast is complete or there is a problem. See, I need to stop….

Add a Panametric moisture IQ so you can monitor humidity.

Ragoo, you really know how to tempt a guy.

The story to my wife would go something like: Its only ~ $2k for only the instrument (probe). I would build all the signal conditioning and write the code myself. That would save thousands. Savings like that does not come around every day.

Then the conversation would end with: So what if the break even point is 145 years, its roasted fresh... (lol).

Before I spent that, I would have to build myself a doghouse in the backyard.

Koko Chingo said:

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Ragoo, you really know how to tempt a guy.

The story to my wife would go something like: Its only ~ $2k for only the instrument (probe). I would build all the signal conditioning and write the code myself. That would save thousands. Savings like that does not come around every day.

Then the conversation would end with: So what if the break even point is 145 years, its roasted fresh... (lol).

Before I spent that, I would have to build myself a doghouse in the backyard.

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Use woman math for the wife conversation. Make up a ridiculous 6 figure number for how much all that self effort would cost and therefore be saved up front and thereby multiplying the return on the 2k investment by 100%, so actually making money in the end........ Then be sure to include a wet bar and AC in the doghouse.

Koko Chingo said:

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I have spent more than a few lunch breaks over the past couple of years looking at DIY coffee bean roasting.

I would love to hear about your setup, where you get your beans, challenges, and if its much better than getting coffee from a local roaster.

This definitely sounds like something both my coffee loving brain and my affinity of over-engineering my DIY hobbies. This post already has me thinking about building a PID roaster temperature controller with a small micro-controller, maybe even data logging, and text alerts when the roast is complete or there is a problem. See, I need to stop….

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I won't act to be an expert - I know enough to understand how complex roasting can be, similar to smoking meat. I haven't gone completely overboard, but I can see a day when I become more in tune with all the differences in various coffee beans from around the world.

I buy most of my beans through www.coffeebeancorral.com and I also bought my roaster through them, the SR540. I can't say the finished beans are better than a small local roaster, but there is something satisfying about finding that ideal roast preference. Definitely makes you detest other 'burnt' coffee found in most coffee shops.

An easy way to try out roasting is with a hand crank popcorn popper. You're just having to sit there and crank for awhile.

I use the "steak searer" on the gas grill as a heat source and a cast iron skillet to roast beans from Sweet Maria's. So so good.
You have to keep them moving w a wooden spatula and not over-fill the skillet.

The smoke is noxious. Bronchiolitis obliterans is real.
If you work it this way, I love the p100cartridge filters left over from pandemic days. Bonus is I look like Walter White cooking meth in my West Austin backyard lol.

Sweet Maria's is the way to go for sourcing green coffee beans. I started it with a small 1/4 lb roaster, you really want to get something that can roast at least 1/2 lb at a time. Right now, I would probably go with a Behmor roaster.

Nothing tastes better than fresh roasted coffee.

Behmor has some great looking stuff - a brew system with 1 degree temp control accuracy - that's nice.

I've been roasting my own coffee beans for going on 11 or 12 years now. I modified my drill press for turning the beans and use a Porter Cable heat gun with a stainless steel container. At one point I was all in with an Arduino and k-type thermocouples hooked up to a laptop to track and display the temps in real time. Kinda went overboard with the data and didn't see much use in as time went on and I learned what I needed to learn. Now I just go by 1st and 2nd crack and call it good enough.

The freshness can't be beat, and if you rig something up like I did, you can almost justify the cost savings. I buy 25lb bags from Copan Trade here in Tomball and the cost comes out to $4-5/lb. I'm typically roasting a full solo cups worth of beans each week. Just enough to satisfy the wife and my espresso shot habits for the week.