Nesco roaster

[jesuisyann]

Hi,

Does anyone have experience with the little Nesco that looks like a Poppery.

My experience is with a stovetop popcorn maker and a Poppery I found at Goodwill last week. Unfortunately I mostly get grassy coffee either way.  It appears modding the Poppery makes it more useful but I came across this little Nesco and I am wondering if it will make me become the roaster I have always wanted to be.

Should I splurge? It looks like the perfect size.   

[Ascholten]

A popcorn popper roaster from my experiences is almost always going to give grassy / underdeveloped beans because you can't really control the temp that well.  It roasts them too fast,  ie 3 minutes or so.

If you can mod it to stretch out the roast time you might do better.  Sometimes playing with the amount of beans you are roasting can help with this.

As far as becoming a great coffee roaster, you have to learn the machine you are using, and don't use cheap crap.  ie No you will NOT get good espresso using a whirly bird grinder, no you will NOT get super roasts from a popcorn popper etc.  However on that, people who mod them, or use things they have more control of, even the heat gun dog bowl, can get decent roasts.

I can give you a 5000 dollar machine and you can make garbage, or I can give you a 50 dollar machine and you can make great coffee.  Learning your machine is the key.

Aaron

[jesuisyann]

Okay after a few throwaway batches I'm finally getting away from grassy coffee. I'll take your advice and just keep working with the Poppery and save up for a more pro setup once I get a good hang on this and good flavors.

[Ascholten]

Typically from what  I have seen from little guys like that.  I cut my teeth on an I Roast, is if you can get a roast in the 7 minute to 8 minute range it's a good spot.  Less time than that and you risk grassy, which you can sometimes rest out a bit but may also mute some of the good flavors in the wait.   Too long and you risk deep second crack and burning most the flavors off.

If You can adjust the temperatures that will give you some play room.
WHen I had my I roast, and I have NO IDEA if this translates over to that one at all but here goes.  Id do first stage 3 minutes at 375 Degrees, second would be 3 minutes at 400 Degrees and finish it off, generally by site / smell / hearing crack stop at 425 to 430 degrees. typically 2 minutes or so i'd take.
If you are roasting a lower coffee or more delicate like a kona you'd want to lower the second temp say 5 or 10 degrees and this helps smooth out the drying and holds it right at the cusp of crack so when you boost the temp it goes right into first and you can guide it from there.

Good luck and let us know how it's turning out for you.
Aaron