Cranky Dept: A Whirly-Pop Roast

Coffee, cigars and rum go togther like priests and choirboys. Indeed the brothers are known to have a tipple now and then. Oh and some rum, cigars and Belgian beer as well, lol...
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Capn Jimbo
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Cranky Dept: A Whirly-Pop Roast

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Keep turning that thing...


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...

Image. . .Image

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...

Image. . .Image

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...
sleepy
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Post by sleepy »

Great report Capn! ...and excellent hack on the hot plate! I look forward to your thoughts on the flavors you got from the two methods. I've used both conduction (my BBQ drum roster) and convection (an iRoast air popper), but never at the same time. My sense is that at comparable roasts, the convection roast is great for bringing out the depth and body of coffee, at the cost of some of the high tones, while the air roast is very good at retaining the brighter notes and acidity.

As you start exploring different origins, you may find that different beans come out more to your liking with one method vs. the other.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

We'll keep your application on file...


To be fair, other than enjoying the terrific, fresh flavors and aromas that we get by roasting our own it'll be awhile before we can comment with confidence. Because we weren't really of a mind to compare, we weren't atttentive to any differences, but we will be now and will let you know.

Sue Sea in particular has a truly professional palate and can remember aromas and tastes from years ago. What I'll do is set up a real comparison, do two roasts to City+ or bit more each way, then do two side-by-side brews and see what happens.


About the Hot Plate Hack...

For those who haven't taken the plunge, we can honestly say that all it takes is an order of good green beans (works out to about $7/pound delivered) and a super cheeep used air popcorn popper (ours was $3.99 at the thrift store, or garage sale) and you too can easily roast a small batch in 8 minutes. The difference from any commercial coffee or coffee shop is notable. And the amazing aromas of fresh roasted coffees will fill your home, and read my lips - it's so easy!

Now for those who want to use a Whirley outside, here's the hotplaste hack.

I got the cheapest hotplate possible - $8.95 at Brandsmart - because I really don't care about the controls which will be disabled anyway. They come apart easily and all you do is to take the thermostate (which is attached to the control knob) out of the circuit, by simply moving the connector that goes to the switch, directly to the heating element.

This is literally a five minute project. Literally. The plate will now be "on", at full heat, the moment you plug it in. Next piece is to control the heat exactly (unlike the former built-in thermostat, which fluctuates). Again, easy.

Go to Home Despot and buy two things: an ordinary light dimmer switch (the kind with a knob), a plastic wall plate cover, and a plastic (not metal) switchbox. The dimmer will now control on/off and can be turned up or down for more or less power/heat. The switchbox must be plastic because you will touching it, and you don't want any accidental shorts.

All you do is to take the cord from the hot plate, separate the two wires in the middle and cut one of them (either one). The cord is now looped into the switch box, and dimmer now connects the cut wire and is now in the circuit (the dimmers usually include plastic wire nuts to make the connection). The ground wire will not be needed and can be cut off. Now just attached the dimmer to the box, and the wall plate over the dimmer, knob on the outside. Now you can turn the hotplate on/off and control the temperature all with the dimmer switch...

Trust me, this is WAY easier than the explantion - I'll post a picture soon which is muchm much easier to understand...
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