Choosing the right roaster for you can be tough: Here are some of the common questions we here and advice we give on home roasters!
Over the years we have received countless emails from folks who want to start home roasting and are not sure where to begin. We’ve also fielded countless messages from folks frustrated with their roaster. So we thought we would put forth some thoughts on both topics to help people choose a roaster that works for them.
There are many ways to roast coffee. The method you choose should be influenced by
- 1) How light or dark you want to roast
- 2) How much coffee you drink
- 3) How much money you want to spend
Q: Why would anyone want to roast their own coffee?
A: Freshness is a huge issue with store-bought coffee because the quality of the coffee declines quickly after roasting. After 5 days, the aromatics of the coffee are fading and after 10 days, there is a drop in overall cup quality. When you roast your own coffee, it’s always fresh. Lord knows how old the big-brand coffees sold in supermarkets actually is. Home roasting also lets you control the roast level, so you can customize the coffee to your liking, as well as choose from a vast array of green coffees. Unlike roasted coffee, green coffee
Green coffee refers to the processed seed of the coffee tree fruit. Coffee is a flowering shrub that produces fruit. The seeds of the fruit are processed, roasted,... is quite stable and will not have a drop-in cup quality for about 6 months up to 1 year from arrival date (every coffee we sell has an arrival date in the review). Home roasting is also often cheaper than buying roasted coffee: most of our coffees sell for under $7/pound.
Q: I do want to start home roasting. Do I buy a machine or is there another way? What is the best home roaster?
A: In general there is not one BEST machine or the BEST way to roast – only a lot of different options that you ought to consider before picking one that seems to fit. There are many ways to roast coffee, from home appliances made specifically for this purpose to simple pan roasting. Most methods are simple and the results are excellent!
The fundamental choice in home roasting is between manual and more automated methods. In both cases the most important thing is to look at the roast itself, and that process is illustrated in our page Using Sight to Determine Degree of RoastDegree of Roast simply means the roast level of a coffee, how dark it has been roasted.: Degree of Roast simply means the roast level of a coffee,.... Timing, settings and temperature readings are signposts along the way but the most important thing is to watch the coffee itself and develop a sense of where the roast is by color, smell, sound and, most importantly, how the roast tastes after it’s done. Even the fanciest, most expensive roaster in the world won’t help if you do not know how to judge the coffee itself. Roasting, like cooking, is both a science and an art, and developing a feel for the process is key.
Manual home roast methods using an oven, stovetop popper, skillet or wok (even a heat gun and a dog bowl) are just that – manual. You control the temperature, time and movement of the beans entirely by hand. These all result in a slower, more full-bodied roast but can be very uneven. Roast times will be in the range of 10 to 20 minutes and you can roast up to a full pound, although a half-pound batch is easier to keep moving.
Q: I think I want a machine – what should I consider?
A: The main considerations when choosing any roaster are how dark you want to roast, how much coffee you generally drink and how much you want to spend. Some roasters work better than others at a dark roast level. If you like your beans dark and oily, consider an air roaster or Gene Café.
Batch size can range from about 4 ounces up to 16 ounces, depending on the machine. 4 ounces of green coffee gives you about 5.25 scoops of ground coffee – that is just over 26 ounces to 42 ounces brewed coffeeBrewed Coffee refers to all coffee preparations produced by adding non-pressurized water to coffee grounds. Contrasted with espresso coffee, which is produced under pressure, brewed coffee is primarily... depending on how strong you like your coffee. A HottopA home drum roaster with a 9oz capacity, adjustable heat and airflow profiling, and an external cooling tray.: A home drum roaster with a 9oz capacity, adjustable heat... or Gene Café gives you twice as much – 10.5 scoops of coffee – about 52 to 84 ounces of brewed coffee. A BehmorA popular electric drum roaster designed for home use, with variable batch sizes (from 1/4 pound to 1 pound) and a smoke-reduction system. It has been modified and... 1600AB can produce 1/4, 1/2 or full 1-pound light roasts.
Ideally, you want to get a machine that roasts no more than 3 days supply of coffee – unless your schedule is such that you must roast less often. You can use a home roaster more than once a day generally, but that’s not recommended. Home machines are not production roasters and using them to crank out more coffee than they are designed for will not only void the warranty but also burn out the machine quickly.
Q: What is the difference between air roasters and drum roasters?
A: The smaller home roasters, such as the Fresh Roast units, are primarily based on the air popcorn popper design. (You can even repurpose a hot air popcorn popper for roasting!) These machines are fluid bed roasters, which use hot air to roast and move the coffee. The ideal time range for an air roast is 8 to 12 minutes. A too-fast roast can underdevelop some of the coffee’s flavors, while an overly long roast will dull the flavor. Air roasts tend to develop the brightnessA euphemistic term we use often to describe acidity in coffee. A bright coffee has more high, acidic notes. : A euphemistic term to describe acidity in coffee.... of a coffee; drum roasts tend to develop the bodyAssociated with and sensed by mouthfeel, body is sense of weight and thickness of the brew, caused by the percentage of soluble solids in the cup, including all... more.
The larger machines like the Behmor 1600AB, Hottop and Gene Café are drum roasters, which means they use a rotating drum to move the beans around. This gives a slower roast, in the range of 14 to 20 minutes. You can use the compare feature in the shopping cart to look at the details on each model.
Q: I want to roast outside – will this affect the roaster and the roast times?
A: Ambient air temperature will affect how hot the machine gets so, if you roast outdoors, the air temperature may affect your roast times. A very low ambient temperatureThe temperature in a given room or space: This term is used to describe the overall temperature in a given environment, and is an important variable in coffee... will require the machine to work harder to reach roasting temperatures. As a result, the roast times might be longer than ideal and may cause the roaster to burn out faster than usual.
Another key factor that impacts every machine is line voltage, which can vary 105v to 125v from house to house and can even fluctuate on the same outlet, depending on what else is on that circuit.
Q: How long will a home roaster last?
In our experience, all the small roasters generally last an average of two years. They’ll last longer if you use the machine less, roast lighter and clean the unit regularly; shorter if you use the machine heavily, roast very dark (the coffee oils tend to build up and clog the machines) and don’t keep the screens clean. Drum roasters can last longer because parts are available; you can replace a heating element or fan, for example, when that part goes bad.
I generally consider the issue of durability in terms of the value you receive from the machine – both tangibly in terms of the cost of green coffee vs. roasted coffee, and intangibly in terms of how much you enjoy it, share coffee with friends, etc. If durability is paramount, use a cast-iron skillet.
All the machines have design issues that can creep up and lead either to excessive maintenance or inconsistency and early failure. We don’t want to over-represent possible problems, but it is safe to say that none of the machines are 100% perfect.
More details on the pros and cons of each machine are detailed in the product page and tip sheet for each roaster – remember, ALL OF THE MACHINES have pros and cons. Again, based on our experience, some roasting methods are a better fit for some folks than others.
Q: Do I need a more complicated (more expensive) machine?
A: “Need” is a funny term. As previously stated, in choosing any roaster the main issues are how dark you like your coffee, how much coffee you generally drink and how much you want to spend. It is also good to know how you typically approach projects, whether you like a more simple and intuitive approach or prefer a machine with more bells and whistles and things to play with.
The simplest machines are fine and do a good job. The Fresh Roast can roast very fast and is affordable for most folks, a good entry-level machine. The SR540 is small enough for home roasters who don’t need that much coffee and the SR800 is the perfect upgrade for people who can only roast once or twice a week. Both models also allow for easy profiling, with control overheat and airflow. The Gene Café is very intuitive and easy to use but has limited profiling ability. Some first-time roasters want to dive right in and get a big machine, like a Hottop, which always seems risky to us since the large batch size also means that if you misjudge a roast, you have wasted a lot of coffee. But spending money on a smaller machine first only to find it too small can also be expensive.
The more expensive drum roasters, Behmor, Hottop, and Aillio, tend to have larger batch sizes and additional built-in features. The Hottop has a programmable control board, which gives you an incredible amount of control over the roast and allows you to use roast profiling software like Artisan. More and more machines are allowing some programming of the roast since it is best to tailor the roast to the beans when possible – and it also allows you to compensate for low or high voltage and low or high ambient temperature.
Q: Is there much smoke when roasting? I live in a small apartment, what roaster should I choose?
A: There is always smoke when roasting; less if you roast small batches to a light or medium roast, more with larger batches and/or a darker roast. If you don’t have much ventilation where you plan to roast, your options are somewhat limited. You can roast near your stove’s hood fan if you have one, or near an open window with a fan to blow out the smoke.
Some machines have ways to deal with smoke. The Behmor 1600AB has a catalytic converter to help with smoke reduction and thus has very little visible smoke (unless you are roasting a large batch or roasting very dark). The Gene Café has an exit air pipe on which you can fit a length of clothes dryer hosing to direct smoke out a door or window.
Q: How long does it take to roast coffee?
A: Air roasts ideally take 8 to 12 minutes and drum roasts about 14 to 20 minutes.
Q: I’m afraid of screwing up and/or burning down my house.
A: Brave the smoke! Fire is a risk with any type of cooking – and with coffee, there is a risk that the chaffChaff is paper-like skin that comes off the coffee in the roasting process. Chaff from roasting is part of the innermost skin (the silverskin) of the coffee fruit... will ignite. If you have ever read the warnings that come on a toaster, the warnings on home roasters are the same. You NEVER want to leave a roaster unattended!
Q: Should everybody home roast?
A: In our opinion, no. Home roasting is fun and easy and takes very little time or effort, but it needs to be something you are willing to do and will enjoy doing each week. So start small! We try to discourage newcomers from buying an expensive Aillio Bullet R1 or such when they haven’t even tried home roasting yet. You can get a few pounds of green coffee and just get a feel for it by using something you have around the house like a hot air popcorn popper or a skillet. There will be smoke and a bit of mess as the chaff is loosened from the beans during roasting, so be prepared.
Q: I have a good local roaster near me, and buy fresh coffee each week. Will home roasting be better?
A: If you like the roasted coffee you get, that’s great. Support your local roaster! Many people don’t have this option, or they simply don’t like the style of roasts available in their area. Remember that home roasting is essentially an “adventure in flavors” in which you find the coffees, the degree of roast, and the technique you like. If that character already exists in what you’re buying, why home roast? If you are not happy with what you can find, or want a bit more varietyA botanical variety is a rank in the taxonomic hierarchy below the rank of species and subspecies and above the rank of form (form / variety / subspecies... – that is a great reason to home roast.
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25 Responses
it would be good if you translated this metric
1) How light or dark you want to roast
2) How much coffee you drink
3) How much money you want to spend.
into a coffee roaster.
i.e. mine is
1) dark oily (i think)
2)~150g , 1/3 lb
3) ….
I have been using GeneCaffe 101 for 10 years, on average once or twice a week. GeneCaffe still works perfectly. Only once, at the very beginning, I burned coffee, maybe because I am the only operator of this device at home. After every two firings, I remove all the chaff from the collector and rinse it with hot water once a month. I smoke it next to the window and take the smoke outside using a plastic pipe with a matching diameter. I usually roast 250 g of Full City+ coffee, for espresso. Recently I have also been using GeneCaffe (Bean Cooler CBC-101), it is very effective in cooling, but it leaves chaff in the coffee.
sounds like a great method…
Hello,
You are listed as the distributor for Aillio Bullet roasters. Is v this still the case? Are the Bullet v2 roasters available for shipping?
Thank you,
Jason
Yes it is. We are a distributor for the Bullet.
I’ve had a GeneCafe drum roaster for 9 years. I failed to insert the drum all the way in the first week and ripped a piece of plastic (trim). I cut the torn piece, no effect on performance, and I’ve used it to roast 2 lbs of coffee per week (4 batches) ever since. I’ve had 30-40 chaff fires, and replaced 3-4 chaff plate bumpers.
I live 5 blocks from both peets and starbucks; where coffee is $15-$20 per pound. Green Coffee loses 30% by weight, so I end up drinking coffee at $10/lb. 100lbs per year for 9 years is 900 lbs of coffee, saving at least $5/lb means I’ve saved $4500 and I get the coffee I want. Bonus: I only have to babysit the roast for the last 2 minutes, so if I’m roasting coffee for the holidays, it’s waaaay easier than using the stove.
I’ve used the Nesco for a little over a year now and it has made very drinkable coffee. It has already begun to make disturbing noises like the fan speeding up and slowing down,so I don’t expect it to last much longer. This is at low use and light roasts. So durability of the cheapest roasters is definitely a factor.
I’ve gone through two Fresh Roast roasters in 15 yrs. As the last one was beginning to fade, I found an almost new SR-500 in thrift store marked as a coffee grinder for $12.00!!! I kindly refrained from making them feel like dummies, and went home with my score. It had been a while since I heard second crack. This machine produces incredibly even roast at nine minutes high temp. I am starting a new adventure with a better machine and will try different temps and diff tiomes to see what it can do. I will post my results when finished. Home roasting is the way to go.
re how long roaster last:
I am not sure when I bought my Fresh Roaster from you, but it was at least 10 years ago. I roast beans on average once a week (three scoops at a time). The only problem I have had was when I dropped and broke the glass container. Other than looking a little aged, it still works just fine.
I have on of the original Behmor 1600’s and I’ve been using it for over 12 years now, roasting at least 2 lbs. a week! I’ve replaced the exhaust fan and smoke suppression after burner, once each. Although there have been a couple of small chaff fires, they’ve been contained to the roasting chamber. Since it’s beginning to show some age, with “burn marks” on the circuit board,among other things, I’m thinking of replacing it with either a new Behmor or a Gen Cafe.
With the reliability and great customer service of the Behmor, I’m reluctant to move to Gene Cafe. But I’m ready for more control of the roasting process and the new safety feature on the Behmor sounds incredibly annoying.
Any thoughts?
If you are happy with Behmor, you should definitely stick with them. The latest model is really good and there’s an upgrade panel you can purchase that beeps to help avoid error7 issues.
Thanks for all of the Sweet Maria comments on roasting, as well as the additional customer comments. This is a comment I posted on another site about my experience with the new Fresh Roast SR800: “I have found this SR800 to be far more complicated and time intensive than my previous three Fresh Roast roasters. Having to monitor so constantly takes more time and attention and results seem less predictable than with the smaller SR models. Has anyone else experienced these challenges? I bought this one hoping that it would last longer than the other models of the Fresh Roast, but am frustrated with having to watch it constantly.” I am now thinking I should have invested in the Gene Cafe, as I like to roast for friends for holidays and other special occasions, as well as roast for my own use. I know that had I read the site’s recommendations I would have gone to the more expensive and durable Gene Cafe to avoid the situations I’ve experienced, as my previous Fresh Roast smaller models generally lasted about two or so years after rather frequent use.
I have a Fresh Roast purchased in about 1994 or 5 and have used it regularly ever since. Two years for the life of a roaster doesn’t seem right. I would like a new (and bigger) one but just can’t seem to make the leap. BTW, it did need a few new chambers and a top assembly or two (or three) but otherwise – no issues.
Do you have any tips for roasting peaberry beans? I have attempted several times to roast in the air popper and results have been poor. Typically the outside seems to burn while the bean hasn’t cracked. Any insights would be appreciated.
Adjusting the weight of the batch you are trying to roast can help a lot. + or – 10 grams can help the coffee roast a lot more evenly. It depends a lot on how the green coffee is moving in the roast chamber when you first turn it on. If it is spinning slowly, and speeds up in the first minute, thats good. If it is static, not moving at all when you turn on the machine, thats not good and can result in the kind of roast you describe. On Peaberry, I normally would say “add a bit more to the batch” because they tended to move easier than a flat bean. But in the Popper roaster, I just did a roast where the opposite was true, To get the coffee rotating I needed to remove around 10 grams!
I chose Fresh Roast (FR) not because I wanted it but as a new hobbyist I didn’t want to spend $$$$ on a high end roaster. I quickly realized that FR is unpredictable and difficult to control for repeatable results. Roasting coffee is 100% science before you pour green beans in roast chamber, but once you hit start button, it’s 100% art. Based on my experience, I’d recommend Not to purchase Fresh Roast unless you are ready to invest considerable amount of time doing research and experimentation. But what I’d recommend anyone is to purchase Scott Rao’s Prodigal coffee. Train your nose and tastebuds with properly roasted coffee. Use that experience when you are roasting your own coffee.
Sounds like good advise. There are ways to gain greater control of air roasters, but some things, like ambient temperature, are tough to control. better voltage / wattage control helps a lot. Using a wattmeter at the minimum is a good practice. And using coffee batch weight as a variable is important too. A scale is a must!
I am currently roasting in a VKP popcorn popper on my gas stove for around 6 months and am consistently producing even roasts. It really is a great way to start roasting coffee at home as it’s a great learning tool that forces you to use your senses. I’m at the point where I would like to get a dedicated roaster. I just wish there was a way to try multiple roasters before buying one. I know that is not practical, though. One idea to help home roasters is for Sweet Maria’s to offer a roasted coffee sample pack featuring samples of the same coffee roasted using the major home roasters. Just a thought.
Hi Todd, I really like that idea in theory. I think the biggest hurdle would be how to manage something like that so that the roasts are fresh on delivery. We are more than happy to help guide you to the right roaster though! Just let me know if that would be helpful and we’ll get you in touch with someone here directly. I love your comments on the popper, btw. Both stove top and air poppers are incredibly useful when learning to roast for the reasons you stated, and many people stick with them for good.
-Dan
Thanks for your comments Dan. Sample roasts would certainly be hard to pull off to make it practical for sure. Also, it’s hard to factor in the human element in roasting. My biggest point of curiosity is are there big flavor differences in, say, a full city coffee roasted on a Fresh Roast vs the same coffee roasted on a Behmor? Will both of these taste different than what I am able to produce on my current setup? Or should I just keep doing what I am doing and focus more on a future capacity upgrade (such as a Quest M6) as I get more requests for my coffee? Then we are talking a pretty significant price jump in an upgrade but I suspect those roasters will also last much longer. So many factors to consider. Have you all had many customers take the leap from a stovetop VKP to a Quest? I would imagine, in theory, there are some similarities between the two, where training the senses on a VKP could be an advantage moving up to a Quest. Thoughts?
Good questions Todd. There are differences, for sure. While I love a whirley pop, they handle nothing like a Quest. With an amp dial, it’s way easier to log heat adjustments on a Quest, and having the drum rotating on its side, rather than horizontal on a burner, keeps the coffee from long contact with the hot drum during roasting. But like you point out, the popper is a great learning tool that primes you for making any of these jumps. It will just require learning to use whatever interface and roaster type you settle on.
I’ve been home roasting for over 20 years. I started with the air roasters. They are a good less expensive machine option. However they are very loud and the heating elements would burn out like clock work at about the two year point. I finally bought the Gene Cafe and have been very happy with it. I used the original one for about ten years and bought a second one during COVID because I was afraid my original one might burn out and I wouldn’t be able to get parts. Both still work great. I roast a half pound batch three times a week. I roast under our stove vent hood and the machine is very quiet allowing you to hear first crack very easily. Most of my roasts are in the City+ to Full City range and take anywhere from 14 -17 minutes depending on the coffee and then another 12 minutes to cool down. I then dump into a stainless steel colander to finish cooling. The machine is simple to use in that you just set temp and time and can adjust those during the roast. I usually set max temp 482 and 16 minutes until I start hearing first crack and then adjust temp down to 450. In adjusting I set 465 initially and watch the temp come down into the 440s and start back up before setting 450. This is because the temp overshoots too far. I then watch the roast and adjust the time accordingly allowing for a coast into the roast I like. The newer Gene does have an attendant alarm at 390 and 445 degrees to make sure you are still watching it. I clean the chaff collector each time and soak the parts a couple times a year. Great machine and you can get replacement parts if needed.
Thanks a lot for sharing your vast experience…
In reading the different posts involving the Fresh Roast(I have the 540) I see consistently that the roasts are in the 8-12 minute range. I find after 8 minutes, I am firmly in the FC+ range, with 2nd crack going full tilt. My average for medium roasts is about 6.5-7 minutes. I generally start with speed on 9 and power on 7, at the 2-3 minute mark, when I see that the beans have gotten cinnamon-colored, I go to 8 and 8. At the 4 minute mark power goes to nine, speed to seven and then I wait for the crack to start. In general, it seems 1st crack seems to slow down at about 6 to 6.5 minutes. Am I missing out on flavor due to too fast of a roast? How should I slow it down if so? I am not unhappy with my results, but always looking to improve. I usually roast 115-120 gm batches
22 minutes in a 540 does seem very long. 8 seems more in the range we see. Anyway, the main two variables, I would look at is ambient temperature, specially, with all the warm temperatures around the country now, as well as your voltage. Those are really good to factor in to roast time, especially with an air toaster. Do you use a watt meter? It’s great for seeing your line voltage before you start your roast and then what it drops to When the machines in operation. But noting the wattage level Helps a lot as well. We see nearly 6 V difference between morning and afternoon on some days here, which means quite a difference in the roast. The wattmeter will also show you that if you use a good quality, eon cord, or choose an outlet further away from your fuse box, you can slow down the roast.