Here's the deal. I found it incredibly easy to roast coffee in my patented, El Cheepo, $3.99 thrift store popcorn air popper. A mere 1000 watts, just took it apart (easy) and used a screwdriver to open up the air slots for good flow (and rotation/agitation of the beans). After that it was just turn it on, pour in just short of a half cup of beans (until they were barely rotating) then listen, watch, smell and observe. First (loud) cracks in about 3 to 4 or so minutes, second (light clicks) in about 6 minutes. Do three roasts, one light (just after first crack) called City roast, one to just before second crack (Full City roast, the beans take on a nice chocolate sheen), and one final batch well into second crack (Full City+). Blend the three and you get all the possible flavors, smooth and complex.
So what about the Whirly-Pop? First let's take a look...
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It's a lightweight aluminum pot, with a dual-hinged cover. The whole cover and handle snaps off. One side of the cover clips on, the other side opens freely. There are air vents in the cover to release roasting gases. You hold the pot still by the wooden handle, and crank at a good pace with the other hand. Some roaster drill a small hole in the clipped cover for a cheeeep oven thermometer and try to regulate the temperature (to roughly 400 degrees or a bit less).
Next...
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The crank turns a steel shaft to turn two plastic gears, which then rotates a stainless rod at the bottom, which is designed to rotate the popcorn or coffee beans (to prevent burning and for an even roast). This wonderful device can be had for about $25 or less. It's made of aluminum, very light weight, plastic gears, wooden handle and crank - carries a 25 year warrantee. Your first impression is cheeeeeeeep. Surprisingly in practive it seems quite sturdy - truth is it is designed to move popcorn kernels (or in our case, coffee beans) which is really light duty, so the constructin is just fine.
I'd also bought a cheeeeeeeep hot plate for $8.95, and modified it for roasting, also easy and this time by disassembling it, and taking the cheesy little thermostat out of the circuit, then cutting the power cord and making a power control with a 600 watt light dimmer mounted in a standard electric switch box. In this way you can control the temperature exactly (with the dimmer) and without temperature variations.
FYI, coffee roasting makes smoke and chaff so roasting outside is a good idea. With the air popper this is easy - turn on, pour in beans, sit down and watch and stop the roast when desired. Unfortunately weather wasn't cooperative, so I had to take the Whirley-Pop inside...
The Capn Invades the House!
Actually going inside is possible, but only if you have a nice oven hood with a good fan. Although the Whirley does not blow chaff all over the place like the air popper, it DOES create a goodly amount of roasting gases and for a dark roast, some light smoke. Our gas stove is perfect for controlling temperature and we thought the fan would work. Would it?
Yes.
First roast: I set the gas midway at "5", tossed in a cup of bean and started cranking. It took a good ten minutes to reach first crack - in that time I checked frequently by stopping the cranking, taking a look and continuing. Much vapor was released, particularly with half the cover open. At first crack things started happening fast, with a goodly amount of smoke so I turned down the heat and headed for what I thought was second crack. At this point I realized the back door was locked, and I needed to stop the roast and get out of the house immediately to pour off the still roasting beans (releasing a great deal of smoke).
I yelled out for Sue Sea, who quickly unlocked the door and grabbed a collander as I headed out quickly to avoid setting off all the smoke alarms. A real circus! The result: a dark roast with a number of clearly burnt beans (no doubt due to my frequents stop 'n checks. These burnt beans were excluded from the roast and honestly, not bad.
But I wasn't satisfied with what was at best, an uneven roast. So...
Roast #2: More confident that things could work indoors, I now made sure the back door was unlocked, and my colanders placed outside ready for my anticipated quick exit. I went whole hog, dumped in two cups of beans and set the burner at "3" and started cranking. And cranking. And cranking. At point I realized that more heat might be required so I edged it up to "4" and finally "5" until first crack, then turned it back down a bit (at the smoky stage). This time when I checked I kept cranking as I lifted the Whirley off the stove, took a very quick look then back on. The result - totally even roast, no singed or burnt beans.
And a goodly amount of coffee in a single roast. Nice.
Bottom Line
Here's my impressions for a household of two (we both drink about 2 cups every morning). I honestly believe the air popper method has merit in that three half cup roasts really provides enough coffee for three or four days, plus allows me to blend a light, medium and dark roast for some real complexity. The Whirley will accomodate that and more in a single roast - but - it's a single roast. To do small batches in a Whirley just doesn't make sense. The air popper is plug and play, no muss, no fuss.
On the other hand using the Whirley is more hands on and good excercise for the still active masturbators out there. You know who you are, lol...
