Got up early this morning to give it another kick at the can. Here are the details:
- 1/2 cup of beans again
- Right around 4:10 I heard a "first crack". Not sure if this is the so called first crack they talk about on the instructions. It was just a few cracks and was not constant. I heard a few and then a few more at around 5:20. After 5:40 or so it was more constant. At this point I am unsure if this is the actual first crack or if I went into second crack.
- While all this is going on I am getting a burning smell similar to burnt popcorn
- I was using the ipod again as the stopwatch. I shut the whole thing down at 7 minutes this time and the beans are darker than last night though they are still not anywhere near a full city or dark roast... somewhere around a medium I think. According to sweet maria's "Total time for a lighter roast should be around 4 minutes, full city roast around 5, and darker roasts closer to 6.5 minutes. Roasts develop quickly, so be vigilant." ... I wonder if she means 4,5, and 6.5 minutes after first crack? More testing needed to be done for me to figure this out.
- I have another set of pictures to compare the roast color. I'll also grind/brew and give taste results. This batch has much more promise than the first. I believe that the outside temperature last night was the issue.
2 comments:
definitely NOT 4-6 minutes after 1st crack - that would be very burned by all standards. those roast times are very rough estimates. depending on the coffee you roast, air poppers have the problem of blurring 1st crack and second crack together. The smell you describe and the rapid snapping sound is indicative of 2nd crack. poppers are great, but they do roast fast, and make it harder to determine the exact degree of roast. experience tasting your results will help a lot. -tom at www.sweetmarias.com
Hey Tom,
Just saw that you commented. Thanks so much for the feedback. I'm still plugging away at it. I just went to Green Beanery since its local and I need excuses to go into the city, and picked up some beans. Just tried 2 more roasts and eager to get going with this. Hoping to order from you one day also or stop by if ever I am in that neck of the woods again.
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