Roasting
Masterclass
Milan
June, 2022
RDK curves
Tuning Your Machine
• Drum RPM
• Air ow
• Gas Pressure
• Batch size
• Probes & Locations
TUNING COMES FIRST!
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Drum rpm
1kg: 70-75
5kg: 60-70
12kg: 52-56
15kg: 50-54
30kg: 46-50
60kg: 40-44
*Batch size does not
a ect optimal RPM*
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Gas
• Use maximum pressure
recommended for your burner
• Flame >90% blue
• Burner tuning
Air ow
• Removes cha & smoke
• Provides convection
• Too li le >> smokey co ee
• Too much >> need more gas
> ho er drum >> more conduction
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DAMPER
Damper
• Less versatile than vsd fan
• Smaller air ow range
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VSD fan
Air manometer
“Expresso”
damper
E ects of air ow changes
• Increasing air when gas is high
temporarily accelerates the BTROR
and ETROR
• Higher air ow early usually yields a
slower roast
• Increasing air ow can mitigate a
crash, but only in *some* machines.
(Don’t try in Diedrich IR machines.)
• Increasing air ow when the gas is o
or on the lowest se ing (depending
on burner) can help mitigate a ick
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Probe placement
Ensure mixing vanes will not hit probes
BT
Probes:
Best Practices
• +/-3mm, ungrounded, J or K
• Probe tip 3-5cm from faceplate
• Probe tip 3-5 cm from drum
Warmup Procedure
1. Bring machine up to BT of charge temp +20°C (+40°F) using high gas.
2. Idle at charge +20°C (+40°F) for 20-45 minutes depending on machine
size (add 5-20 min on colder days).
3. Lower gas so BT drops to charge +5°C (+10°F) in approx 5-10 min.
4. Idle at charge +5°C (+10°F) for 10 minutes
5. Perform “half BBP”
6. Charge
If your warmup is successful, the rst batch will behave like every other batch.
These numbers are starting points; they will not work for all machines
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WARMUP:
Pid-assisted warmup (Giesen)
WARMUP:
Manual warmup
Consider using artisan’s PID instead
WARMUP:
The most common warmup error
First batch: low turn, slow curve=
warmup either not hot enough or not
long enough
WARMUP: HEAT SINK EFFECT
Warmup idling temperature must exceed charge temperature
Planning a Roast Day
1. Tally roasted co ee needs (lbs or kg)
2. Calculate green needs by dividing roasted needs
by yield (see below)
3. Weigh out 10-20 batches during warmup
4. Smaller batches before larger batches
5. Lighter batches before darker batches
6. Roast no more than two batch sizes
Roasted needs / yield = green needs
Eg: if weight loss is 14%, yield is 1-.14=.86
If need 10 kg roasted @14%WL: 10kg / .86 = 11.63kg green
Round green needs up to multiple of standard batch size
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/ / BATCH S I ZIN G
Planning a roast day:
Batch order
Plan batches of a given size in this order:
• Smaller, lighter natural beans
• Smaller, lighter washed beans
• Larger, ligher natural beans
• Larger, lighter washed beans
• Darker roasts (in same order as above)
This order improves thermal consistency at
charge and simpli es any small BBP adjustments
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Realistic maximum
batch size
Max = one pound of co ee per 5,000 BTU/hr
(1 kg per 11,606 kJ/hr) of rated power output.
Max is usually 50% –80% of stated capacity
This applies to single-pass roasters only
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Roast Time
• 8:30—13:00 is reasonable in classic drums
• Roast time depends on batch size & burner power
• Air roasters can roast faster and ho er than
classic drums without bean damage
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Charge Temperature Batch size Charge temp
500g—1kg 360°F –380°F (180°C – 195°C)
Charge temperature is important but is a
superficial indicator.
5kg—7kg 370°F –390°F (190°C – 200°C)
The BBP and its resulting thermal energy is
more important.
12kg—15kg 390°F –410°F (200°C – 210°C)
Use higher CTs when soaking
22kg—30kg 400°F –420°F (205°C – 215°C)
When to drop a batch
Triangulate:
1. Color
2. Crack timing
3. BT
4. Ignore DTR
Between Batch Protocol
1. Turn o gas
2. Drop batch
3. 3:30—4:30 down to bo oming temp
4. Bo om at charge minus 20-50f (10-25C)*
5. Low gas up to charge in 60—90 seconds
• Use transitional BBP when changing batch
sizes
• *These numbers are only examples
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BBP
• Bo oming temperature
is always the same
• Time to bo om will vary
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An e ective BBP
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Loring BBP:
One cycle
Loring BBP:
Two cycles
Poor
repeatability
Gas management
Start high and turn down
• Orange = drum roaster gas
• Red = air roaster gas
20% DTR
Charge 420, gas 25%
The soak
DO NOT
change gas
FC +/- 45 secs
• Best if cooling between
batches is di cult
• Be er for smaller machines
• Requires ho er BBP/charge
80%
60%
25% 50%
40% 30% 15%
5%
*Your settings may vary!! This is just a suggested starting point*
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Fahrenheit Celsius
Charge 400, gas 80% Charge 200, gas 80%
Gas 60@300 Gas 60@150
Gas 50@320 Gas 50@160
Typical gas pa ern Gas 40@340 Gas 40@170
in a drum roaster Gas 30@355 Gas 30@180
*NOT LITERAL SUGGESTIONS Gas 20@365 Gas 20@185
FC 375 FC 190
Gas 12@12%DTR Gas 12@12%DTR
Gas 8@ 14%DTR Gas 8@ 14%DTR
Gas 4@ 16%DTR Gas 4@ 16%DTR
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Roast Defects
Underdeveloped Roasty Baked
Green Tarry Hollow
Vegetal Charred Cardboard
Sharp Smokey Less sweet
The
unmanaged
roast
baked
This is >80% of roasts,
and used to be 99% of all
of roasts
roasty
Machine management
Adjust BBP & charge per
batch size only
Bean management
Larger bean = more gas
Adjust gas per bean size,
moisture, processing
Use same air ow for all beans
of a given batch size
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ETROR
trough = FC
First Crack moisture-release curve
0% DTR 12% DTR 14% DTR 16% DTR
High risk of crashing: Lower gas to prevent
*do not lower gas!* flick after 16% DTR
Dropping gas after
rst crack
Works with 90% of co ees,
rarely with Ethiopians
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How to dip
1. Note time of crash
2. Note BT≅ 40s before crash
3. Plan to dip @ that BT
4. Dip 50% for 20s
5. Return to pre-dip gas %
gas dip se ings
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Rwanda: with the “gas dip”
Please only dip if:
• The co ee crashes hard
• The ROR is not at or rising
before the crash
**The dip should be the last
resort, used for less than 5%
of co ees**
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Green buying
• It’s be er to run out than to buy too much
• Buy fresh, focus on fewer co ees
• Rarely (never?) buy green that’s on sale
• Avoid wet-hulled co ees
• Warehouse samples > pre-ship samples
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Buying strategy for beginners
• Cup before buying; don’t allow importers
to choose co ees for you
• Cup with more experienced pros
whenever possible
• Use fewer suppliers at rst to save on
shipping costs.
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Quality green buying
• Moisture content 8%—12%
• Water activity 0.53—0.59
• Roast Within 3-6 months of
harvest / processing
• Stored carefully
• No signs of age/ fade
Green storage
• Colder is be er
• Always charge with green at same temp
• Warm to room temp for 3+ days if
stored cold
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Plastic protects beans and
slows the aging process
Sample roasting
Consistency is paramount
How to cup
• 17:1 water:grounds
• Water just o boil
• Weigh water as you pour
• Break + clean crust at 4:00
• Slurp and spit at >11:00
• Taste again when cooled
• Consistency > e ciency
• QC by cupping, not percolation
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Roast consistency
• Green temp
• Warmup, BBP
• Only one batch size
• Ambient temp
• Data quality
Roasting several
di erent batch sizes
makes consistent
roasting nearly
impossible
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Best Practices
• Consistent green temp
• Warmup and BBP for replication
• Appropriate batch size
• Only one batch size per session
• Avoid dropping gas within 45s of FC
• Drop gas at 12%/14%/16%DTR
• Prioritize smooth ROR
• Aim for 9—12 min roasts
(faster is ok for small batch sizes)
Thank you.
