Blog

First, we preheat the roasting chamber to 420F. The fan is on a lower setting with heat gradually increasing every minute or so. Once this is reached, we pour our desired amount of green beans into the chamber (we typically roast in 2 to 3lb batches). Then, we turn up the air flow so that the beans are producing somewhat of a fountain effect (called loft) and have the heat at the highest setting if using the maximum amount of beans for the chamber.

Now comes the waiting and watching. The first stage is the drying stage. This is where the green beans lose most of their moisture, usually around 3 minutes. About 3-5 minutes later comes what is called First Crack, which for most beans occurs when they reach around 400 degrees. This is when enough moisture comes out of the beans in the form of steam that they “crack” open, which makes a loud popping sound. This stage lasts about 1.5 minutes. The final stage is the second crack, this will typically come around 8 minutes into the roast. The second crack has a much softer sound. At the beginning of the second crack is when our coffee is poured into the cooling tray. This rapidly cools the beans, so they do not continue to roast after they are “dropped” from the roaster.