It's definitely a combination of things. The edge that professional roasting equipment provides is mostly in giving you the ability to easily replicate results once you achieve something you like. Depending on how high tech the roaster is you have a lot more info about whats happening inside the machine than most home roasters dream of. I have an older machine(that I am hoping to replace soonish) and that gives me the temp in the drum, time layout, oxygen levels, and lets me regulate the valve which controls temp in real time. The one i am looking at getting has three thermocuples that read in real time, the amount of off gassing with the bean, the moisture content, and alerts on first/second crack, plus all the other stuff I mentioned. Roasting is a crazy mash up of science and art. I still think the best coffee I have ever had was hand roasted in an open heat source mesh drum. It was probably a little bit of a placebo though as it was just a kind of special experience at the time.
I toyed with the idea of dong a fancy PID popper setup way back when. A number of guys on CoffeeGeek at the time actually went to that effort, and even went so far as to create custom control software too. But along the lines of the "art" side of coffee roasting, I decided not to do it. Weird, given I'm an aerospace engineer, and usually go to the far science/engineering side of these things. But I actually enjoy the organic feel of roasting by my senses, with a simple analog thermometer (calibrated by a SLE thermocouple every so often) to guide my final temps. I feel like I've gotten pretty good at it after more than 15 years, and can get pretty repeatable results given the same lot of coffee roasted at different times.
It makes perfect sense that you’d like the art side of it given your profession I think. It’s the part that I really enjoy as well. I went into mental health after gaining my degrees in psychology and philosophy, then started working on a masters(which I’ll finish soon), but it’s such a structured environment that when I wasn’t working I was doing something with coffee. The opportunity to make more money and run a business presented itself so I left the field I got my degree in and am much happier; although more stressed out because I care about it a lot haha.
The ladies of the house especially liked this brew after dinner tonight. They didn't even drown it with fru fru creamers
BFC19 by Y'shua posted Dec 21, 2019 at 1:26 PM Just got my package in the mail, such a great gift! EDIT: I have come to be aware that this is related to a different set of circumstances than my SS gift, the two just happened to had similar windows for arrival, sorry for any confusion.
Thanks SpyderPhreak! I could not be happier with secret Santa. I can’t wait to try out your home roast selection. Super excited about tomorrow morning now. The Manix 2 is awesome and even has the fancy maxamet steel. Everything thing is awesome and thoughtful, thanks again!
I am glad we had so many people participate in the secret Santa. I hope you all stick around for the next one. I don’t need a holiday to swap! If anyone ever wants to do some exchanging send me a PM!
Dang, lots of Spyders in this year's swap! Glad you like it, and received the stuff safely! However, there should have been a box for you from Amazon too... Look in the garage (?), or wherever the "preferred safe place" that Amazon delivers to at that address. I can send a photo of the delivery if you don't find it. Please let me know!
We had several amazon packages as usual so I did not hurry to open those. I have been wanting to try the clever coffee dripper And it has been in my amazon cart a few times. Thanks
There is a small learning curve with the CD. Don’t try to make large amounts of coffee at first. And make sure the cup you are using fits under the prongs!!
