Roasting Coffee Beans at Java Junky

How Coffee Beans Are Roasted

In order to be able to consume coffee beans, first the beans must be roasted. Before they are roasted, coffee beans are green and small. By roasting them, they expand and, during this process, the color, smell, and taste of the coffee beans change. After roasting, the coffee beans can quickly lose their freshness so the roasting process is normally done soon before they are meant to be consumed.

The process of roasting coffee beans begins by sorting the beans out from the other debris that might get mixed in with them during the picking and opening process. This can either be done by hand or with a machine called a hopper. The beans can then be put into the roaster.

Roasters are usually metal drums that are positioned horizontally. They then rotate, circulating the beans over a heat source below the drum. This heat source can be anything from natural gas to petroleum gas, to wood. Roasters normally run on temperatures upwards of 400 degrees, though different varieties of beans differ on their ideal roasting temperature. They are roasted for up to thirty minutes.

The different levels of roast - from light roast to double roast - depend on how long and how hot the beans are roasted. For the light roast, the beans are only roasted long enough for them to pop and expand in size once. To roast the beans to the darkest level, double roast, they must be cooked longer and hotter, until they begin to smoke and carbonize.

After the beans are roasted, they are air-cooled. Coffee beans that are roasted release a lot of carbon dioxide while they are cooling, so they must be left out to cool before they are packaged. Once they are cooled completely, then they can be packaged - light-resistant bags are best.

Some people prefer to roast and grind their own coffee at home. For hundreds of years, people have been doing this, by using fire coals or iron pans, or by improvising and using a regular cooking oven or popcorn popper. In fact, before the 1900s, commercial coffee roasting companies did not exist and everyone who wanted to enjoy a cup of coffee at home had to roast their own beans.

Roasted coffee beans stay fresh for about a month as long as they are not ground. Ground coffee beans should be used immediately to avoid losing freshness.

Poll: If you put a bag of ...?
Starbuck'sTM french roast coffee beans in your checked in luggage, what will happen to it on your trans-contintental 12-hour flight, averaging 38,000ft high? 1. The beans will be frozen solid forever. 2. Underpants gnomes grind the beans and re-secure the packaging. 3. FBI/CIA/TSA will steal it. 4. The beans will morph into a mini-Wolfie. 5. Nothing. Nothing at all. 6. The beans double in size, thus causing the bag to burst and scatter themselves thought your undies, gifts, clothes, etc.. 7. You get cappucinno. With foam. 8. ? Penetrator you are usually spot on but this time you're just close. To the right answer that is. hippiechick time means nothing to me. Hope this clarifies my situation for you! PD#1G, I really don't know how Wolfie keeps getting into my Q's. It's not me and it's quite annoying. Besides you know that dogs actually clean themselves. Down there. With their tongues. gross!

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Which makes a better cup of coffee, Tim Hortons or Starbucks?
I'm in a heated argument with my friend, who thinks that the double-roasted coffee beans that make an overpriced, burnt-tasting and well OVERRATED cup of coffee, that takes 5 minutes to make is somehow better than a cheap but awesome cup of Tim Hortons coffee. He says Tim Hortons coffee tastes like hot water with a hint of coffee flavor to suggest some coffee may have been in the pot at one time. Who's right?

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Is 107 volts for an apartment?
I am living in a studio apartment in Chicago. Utilities are included with the rent. When I turn everything off, I get 109 volts out of the socket. I am trying to roast coffee beans and my machine won't get hot enough. with my computer and a few lights on I get 107 volts. Is 107 volts abnormal? Is my apartment complex breaking any kind of building code or city electricity requirements?

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