Roaster School - Season 2 - Episode 2: The First Part of the Roast

[@mohammeds5605]

Honestly guys I have no idea how to thank you enough for this extremely informative episodes and so are the other episodes. From here Saudi Arabia I thank you so much, this is much much appreciated

[@the_original_mathwiz]

This is a very good video that covers a lot of particulars of the "roast". Well done guys.

[@shannoncampbell]

Thank you for making these videos, they are indispensable.

[@kylegibbard]

Derek's passion for roasting is infectious. Thanks for the video.

[@jollydodger]

Thanks so much guys....you have been a saving grace for myself and my partner in our endeavours to tread the path of coffee roasting....we live in the tropics (Penang) and it has been a huge learning curve for us....but so much fun....cheers.

[@shawncarr5854]

Guys thanks for the tip on airflow in regards to roaster warmup. I used this method last night and found it so useful in achieving stability in the charge temp. good stuff!

[@newrevivalist]

WOW, that was awesome! I’ve got over one page of notes. I even put quotes around some of the notes because you are both awesome at pointing out the ESSENTIAL without a lot of banter (BS). You’ve really done a great job of distilling. I’m becoming a master of the SR540! Dreaming of a full fledged machine, but my roasts are so amazing, and with documentation, I always know when a variation is going to taste roasts or off. So fascinating! And I’m so happy to have found you guys. This is better than Soos… oh ouch. Love him for “flavor” but very esoteric at times. And his coffee aspiration/slurp is really a hoot. When I try to sound like that i wind up coughing.

[@omaryousef7616]

Just received a Huky500 and these videos are indispensable to me, thank you so much!

[@tisharugg9074]

I love these videos. Thanks for making them.

[@Phloored]

As a guy on his front porch with a perforated stainless steel pan and a 15,000 btu gas burner and a insta-read thermometer, i have to rely on distance from flame and good windsheilding. Having this additional information is a great help as i transfer these concepts to my setup. I just packed away 60lbs of some kenyan in 5lb vacuum sealed bags and am going for origin spotlight. These videos have helped me conceptualize what to do and gauge adjustments. After a year or so of this i may either build or purchase a more intricate set-up. I am very satisfied to fail and learn what to do. It is a great coffee and it demands more attention than some of the other origins i have had. Nice full body and bright . Love it. Thanks for expressing your experience!

[@breadloser6383]

Thanks for sharing, it helps a lot. Fortunately, when i got my first roaster and wanted to find some sorts of guides, i clicked your channel. Some customers love our blend and single original coffee, although we just roast for three to four months, i appreciate that not only your simplistic explanation of what are happening but also the theory behind roasting process. i am struggling to deal with high grown high density coffee , like South American beans , SHG and SHB, sort of these. looking forward to your next videos to deplore more. thank you for things you do, have a nice day.

[@Blkcoffeeroastery]

Have you done any research into volatile organic compounds that are produced during roasting and grinding? Any protective measures put in place? I don’t have great air movement and exhaust systems in my roastery so I use PPE. This prevents me from utilizing the olfactory sense. Am I missing a key component for the production of a good roast?

[@chrismorin5531]

Great video guys! I binged watch your first season while on vacation and am happy to be caught up. I have my first roasting class this weekend at Lone Oak Coffee Company in Winchester, VA. Looking forward to the new adventure. I agree with an earlier statement that your guys have stepped it up in your professional delivery! Looking forward to your next video……………………….cm

[@chrisrettig7444]

Next episode can't come soon enough! Love this content! Thank you so much for everything you do!

[@mrgotdibs]

Thank you for posting the series guys!

[@Chris-bm5qd]

Much appreciated. I'm on my 5th roast, and I think will stop messing with the air flow, and focus on the burner.

[@roasterjoe]

WISE. After about 100 you can start thinking about airflow. :)

[@vuphan3929]

Yueah, me too ! first is burner.

[@brichardson001]

Great videos, very helpful. I do get a lot of questions though when relative terms are used such as using a high temp or really high temp. Or a phase is occurring slow or fast. Some practical examples would be very helpful with more specifics such as a temp you would consider high. What ROR is being considered fast or slow? Thanks for all the work in these productions!

[@MillCityRoastersMN]

ROR is always a realtive reference. Worry less about ROR and more about event and development times.

[@mondoc7976]

I can watch these videos all I want but none of the info really sunk it until I actually started roasting on my machine. Thanks Joe & Derek

[@baristamoon6090]

I learned alot from this video, thank you for sharing some interesting tips and guide mill coffee roaster

[@Wheresthesoul]

Awesome! You guys just got way more professional . I've had a question buzzing around the back of my head the last couple years about drop temps. Lets say for example- you have a high grown, high density bean so it can take a lot of heat you could get to yellow two different ways (A) I could drop @ lets say 425f and put my gas on 3kpa and get to yellow in 5min or (B) I could drop at 390f put my gas at 4kpa and also get to yellow at 5min. If you where roasting a high density bean which way would you choose? Would one way have more adverse affects than the other given there was no scorching on either ? Cheers

[@WillTunna]

Hey Luke, I was thinking about the same kind of questions for a while. I came to the conclusion after some testing that the main effects from the two different methods happen after yellowing. I found also that some coffees will scorch when using the high charge temp option, forcing me to use a lower charge. Would be interested to hear Joe's and Derek's opinion on this!

[@Wheresthesoul]

@@WillTunna thanks, yeah I agree with you if there was no scorching either way then the results probably would have to be found in the cup or using a coffee roast colour analyzer to see what coffee is roasted more evenly... But I don't an agatron or roastrite.

[@roasterjoe]

This is a GREAT QUESTION!! So great, in fact, that we have TWO educational shorts coming out soon devoted to just this. I would prefer to use a higher charge temp and lower gas setting for the more dense coffee. I want it to absorb that thermal energy from the drum very quickly when I charge, and then I slow that absorption rate down with lower fuel to allow time for the temp to move to the core of the bean evenly before releasing moisture. I hope the upcoming educational shorts illustrate this in a meaningful way. Stay tuned!!

[@Wheresthesoul]

@@roasterjoe awesome! Can't wait, thanks for taking your time Joe. I was thinking along the same lines also because I might want to still have control over the development phase and if I power through that too fast it could be perfect for some people but if I want a little balance and perceived mouth feel a higher drop temp & lower heat might be a better way to start off the chain reaction... Cheers! Looking forward to the videos.

[@firstlyfe]

These are incredible. Thank you for this

[@kalebgriffin1993]

You say to use full batch sizes, but can you do sample roasts on your machines, like 100g on the 500 or 200g on the 1kg?

[@MillCityRoastersMN]

The recommendation for initially roasting at full batch sizes is educational guidance for inexperienced Mill City owners learning to roast on an unfamiliar machine. It's a way to develop the amount of machine control necessary to roast flavor profile coffee with less frustration and in less time. Once you understand the system, it's easy to develop a roast plan for smaller batch sizes. We intentionally design all of our machines to run optimally between 20% and 120% of capacity. The limiting factor to this is the quality of the green and the skill of the operator, not the machine.

[@chrisrettig7444]

Hey Joe and Derek, and thanks so much for your efforts in Roaster School. Shout out to Dave Borton as well, as season one's episodes have helped me in invaluable ways. That being said, I have so many questions, but will try to be concise. I've recently upgraded my roaster from a Huky with a Kaldi fan control/chaff collector to a 2kg roaster that has no variable fan control, and uses a damper between the fan and the drum. I've been having some issues that I think I attribute to airflow; my coffees are all coming out a bit lifeless and boring. Despite achieving nearly identical times for DE, FC, development time/DTR, as I was with the Huky, my roasts are coming out lifeless, they lack sweetness and aroma, and generally smell kinda toasty from the time they hit the cooling tray.., but I wanted to seek professional help, as I've been charging and dropping a lot of coffee over the last week to try and diagnose and fix this issue; On particularly chaffy coffees, and even on some that aren't so chaffy, there is often chaff buildup in the drum from mid to late drying. I hesitate to open up my fan more out of fear of having too much airflow during drying. I'm also seeing a lot of white smoke in the trier from mid to late dry, all the way through the roast. I think I also hear bit of a sizzle from the beans in the trier that I don't recall hearing while roasting on the Huky. Would the smoke/steam coming off the beans so early in the roast and the sizzle sound raise any flags for you? Should I just open up that damper and focus more on controlling heat via gas changes? I know you don't know the ins and outs of my system but any general advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

[@chrisrettig7444]

Sorry, that wasn't concise at all. 😅

[@MillCityRoastersMN]

Honestly, Chris, it sounds like you bought the wrong 2kg. Roasters may look similar, but they are not the same. All you can do is reduce the batch size and open up the damper.

[@pauloamw]

This is so very useful, informative and easy to understand! Thanks a lot, guys!

[@goldfield78]

Wonderful presentation, so much useful information. Keep them coming.

[@jeremylance2854]

Great video, guys! Really good stuff. Can't wait to come back and do some more roasting with you.

[@roasterjoe]

Come on back! New classes are on the books for 2019! We have some cool stuff coming down the pipe!

[@maciejrodak3590]

You explained the way of indicating the moment of the first crack. But how to set up the yellowing point? Is it subjective?

[@MillCityRoastersMN]

Yellowing is subjective. The scent change from drying straw to a sweet baking scent immediatly after yellowing is a better way to mark actual start of Maillard development in the outer seed.

[@maciejrodak3590]

@@MillCityRoastersMN very interesting. Thank you for the hint! :)

[@chtclimbing]

I love the video and the insight into the variables of roasting. At minute 14:02 you said the coffee is loosing temperature. But that totally goes against the way heat transfers because it always moves from high to low never the other way. just some constructive criticism.

[@chtclimbing]

Your drum is actually the one loosing temperature.

[@roasterjoe]

Jose, I say that the coffee is losing temperature "According to the chart" and that it "doesn't make any sense." You are absolutely right. I am agreeing with you in the video. I am trying to explain that the drop in BT is a myth and that even though it seems that the coffee is losing heat during the first part of roasting it is actually GAINING heat at an incredibly high rate. Please watch again and see if that tracks better for you now.

[@GoTellJesusSaves]

I'm curious... what do you think about finding the general temperature at which you're getting consistent phase markers at for a specific coffee on your machine and then using that temp instead of the tryer all the time? Except maybe at the very last minute or so of the roast. Will this work? Have you tried it? Any thoughts?

[@akk.89alk59]

Great videos guys ! If we notice motteling, what sorts of adjustments are to be made? Or does if mean that the roast has crashed?

[@MillCityRoastersMN]

Mottling is either variation in the coffee or uneven heating from poor mixing inside the drum. Increase your drum speed or decease your batch size.

[@93baran]

İ am a big fan your channel thank you all guys you are not hiding information

[@paweljasnowski]

Great great vids,!!!

[@terryseo6376]

Tank you for the good video! from korea!!!

[@MillCityRoastersMN]

Thanks for watching!

[@pmberkan]

thanks a lot . perfect

[@jessikt]

Thanks so much!!

[@dolcelee209]

Thank you for good videos.I watch every day before roasting coffee at my shop in south Korea. scary???? lol

[@roasterjoe]

That is devotion! Thank you!

[@cigdemcam5077]

thx

[@cigdemcam5077]

🙏🙏

[@AaronGrijalva]

Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second...So, you’re saying I have to learn on my own, be consistent, track/consider the many variables, WITHOUT a unicorn? But I’m a millennial dammit! I have rights! Lol thanks MCR for the videos.

[@roasterjoe]

Sorry, Aaron! No unicorns today. We will keep our fingers crossed for future episodes, though!

[@AaronGrijalva]

Ha, well i look forward to playing and learning with my 1kg once those are available again for purchase. We appreciate what you all are doing!

[@alexeyev2]

Hi, I´m following you since 2016, but I almost can´t understand 50% of the information, because My mater language is Spanish, and you speak at 1000 per hour..., please speak a little bit slowly, thanks a lot

[@Chris-bm5qd]

Try drinking as much coffee as Derek, and maybe you will be able to listen as fast as he talks. He could get a coffee blood transfusion and you wouldn't notice anything different.

[@mrtdonegan]

If you click CC at the bottom it will turn on subtitles for you

[@alexeyev2]

@@mrtdonegan thanks

[@DavidBrown-ku5tm]

It might be worth slowing down the video playback speed to 75% as well!

[@karyaelly2529]

agreed with you Javier

[@luatle3077]

Thank guý, but Derek, pls speak slow down, thks :)

[@SoapsAreStupid]

So, RoR during drying is simply a data point. But is there a general range of peak RoR that is acceptable? As you guys mentioned, RoR of 80 is like knowing you're going too fast. Is there a too low? Is a peak RoR of 10 too low? 20?

[@roasterjoe]

Hey Lawrence! The answer is "yes" and "no." For your coffee in your machine with your probes, there will be an initial RoR that is too high and too low for you to get what you want to out f your coffee. However, in the scope of all machines, all coffee, and all probes, there is no specific prescription for this. Sorry to make it harder!! You have to find what works best for you and your system.