Oven Roasting:

Want to start roasting your own coffee beans at home? Not quite ready to invest in a home roasting machine (the preferred method for evenness of roast and cup quality)? Well, oven roasting might be a good option to try things out. Most people already have everything required to get started in their kitchen.

What you will need:

Green coffee beans (from The Green Roaster of course! – we love our green coffee beans and know their origin and quality which really does matter in the cup), an oven (gas ovens are better for evenness of roast), a cookie sheet (a perforated pan works best), a metal colander, a wooden spoon and an oven mitt.

Instructions:

Click on image to enlarge.

	Place rack in middle position of oven and preheat to 500 degrees F. Spread enough green coffee evenly to make one layer deep on the cookie sheet.
	Fire the cookie sheet in the oven and you are roasting!
	You will have to watch and listen to the roast carefully to avoid burning the coffee. In about 4-6 minutes (depending on your oven) you will notice some cracking sounds, the “first crack”, along with the smell of some smoke. The roast progresses very quickly from this point, so watch carefully.
	In another 2-3 minutes from “first crack” the coffee should be darkening in colour.
	When the desired degree of roast is reached, quickly remove the cookie sheet from the oven and dump the coffee into the metal colander. It is important at this point to speed up the cooling process or the coffee will continue to roast darker - so stir the beans with the wooden spoon. The chaff that has separated from the beans during roasting can be removed by gently tossing the beans in the colander (take them outside or do over the sink to avoid making a mess).
	Once cool, pour the beans into a canning jar with lid and allow the beans to “rest” 4-24 hours for peak flavour. During this period the coffee releases carbon dioxide, so some pressure may build under the lid (don’t tighten too much for the first 12 hours to allow CO2 to vent). You can now grind and enjoy home roasted coffee that is truly fresh and wonderful! ( see coffee storage for more information)
	This is what happens when a bean goes to second crack. Small pieces of the bean can crack off. This indicates a very dark roast, we suggest you stop before this point (difficult to accomplish with this uneven oven roasting method)