Roasting Coffee At Home: Cast Iron Skillet

[@jerryhubbard4461]

Yesterday 3.9.2024 I roasted my first half pound or 226 grams of coffee beans. Out side in my outdoor kitchen, I have a two burner propane stove I built many years ago. One of the burners is designed to hold my hand hammered wok. After watching many videos of roasting beans using different methods, I decided the wok would be the way to go. Boy did it do a great job. While you are stirring the beans, they all stay in the middle tight and easy to stir and keep even. When the first crack starts and while constantly stirring, I just blow out the chaff as it keeps roasting. When the roasting is finished, the beans are ready to set aside and not have to worry about cleaning them. As for cooling the beans, I just turn off the heat and keep stirring until they are no longer to hot to touch. I am drinking my first roasted coffee as I write this post. The first thing I learned, I did this batch a little too light. I did another batch today 3.10.2024 and took it to a med to dark roast. Actually I like medium roast and that will come with more practice. I have two more pounds of seed to go. Chef Jerry Irmo, South Carolina USA

[@oriongameplays8509]

Great tutorial! I've found that if you flip the beans with a sauté technique along with stirring with a whisk, the beans will turn off of the flat side much better giving this method a more thorough and even roast.

[@karlhebbs]

Karl yes

[@karlhebbs]

Thanks you karl

[@karlhebbs]

Karl yes 😊

[@ia6980]

Start with 4 oz, do it in 2 batches, 8z cause you to burn lot of beans as seen in this video

[@jerryhubbard4461]

I enjoyed your video young man. Chef Jerry

[@xiucoatl82]

Great video. But question, to get a medium roast, do I need to wait for the 1st crack to be finished? Like, no more cracking?

[@TheHuskyRunner]

Yes. For a medium roast I would wait until first crack is finished. I typically go 30-45 seconds after first crack is over to pull it for a medium roast. IF you go to long the coffee will crack again (2nd crack) and that means you have a dark roast. I would pull it quickly to prevent burning it.

[@xiucoatl82]

@@TheHuskyRunner ok. Thanks for the response. I may have taken it off too early the first try because I was afraid I was burning it. I knew it would be smokey but not THAT smokey. It was still cracking. And there's also the possibility that I just didn't like the beans I bought. But I will try again. Thank you.

[@TheHuskyRunner]

@@xiucoatl82 Yeah. Roasting with a skillet is tricky because even though it may look burnt on the outside, it may not be fully developed on the inside. If it tasted grassy, that could very well mean it was underdeveloped inside the bean. When I am using a roaster I will drop with it still slightly cracking for a light roast, but I know the bean has been roasted all the way through. Don't me afraid to go past first crack, but also be mindful how long it has been after so it doesnt get away from you and get too dark.

[@wanyeng]

@@TheHuskyRunner how do you tell the 1st crack is completed, before realised the 2nd crack has started. I can't tell the difference between 1st and 2nd crack.

[@aysumutcan]

what should we do to prevent outside and inside accordance@@TheHuskyRunner

[@davidready8438]

Advice on temperatures please

[@TheHuskyRunner]

Like the video mentioned, I start at 350 degrees so I don't initially scorch the beans and check periodically to make sure that it is slowly rising. If I notice the temp start to stall out I will gently bump the gas on the stove. It is easy to scorch the beans with this method if the temp is to high.

[@keekers]

​@@TheHuskyRunnerI have found that preheating the pan first helps with less burning and more consistency in color. I also lightly blow over the beans as I stir which blows off the chaf as the beans are roasting so the chaf isn't charing and adding to the bitter. (This is where the keyboard vacuums helps after.) Cast iron runs hotter than other pans. I cook on medium heat on an electric stove. It's trial and error with gas stoves and camp fires because I can never find my thermometer where I last put it. 😅 I remove the beans heat source right before it's the color I want and continue to stir until the color I want, then pour onto a baking sheet in a single layer to cool. I lay the beans out flat to cool after. After they're cool, I lay them in a single layer in a gallon sized ziplock or a burlap sack. Let this stay out basically overnight. Put them in the jar after and wait 24 to 72 hours before using. This helps release the gas from the cooked beans. I forget how long they last roasted, we do small batches, only enough for a week. I roast coffee every Sunday as part of my preparations for the week. This has been the most consistent roasting method for me. It's my preference for roasting. My grandfather-in-law showed me and it's actually one of my favorite parts of Sunday. We cook and prepare in batches on Sunday for the rest of the week, month or season. We have it down to a routine by now. Every Sunday I roast coffee beans in the morning while my husband does his morning tasks, unless I sleep in, then I roast them sometime during the day. I set a timer and have found the number of minutes until turning off the heat, then time while I keep stirring to the color I want. The entire heating time for us has been 12 minutes on heat (after preheating pan( and three minutes more stirring off heat until pouring them out on the cookie sheet. Most people that find this way of roasting bitter might not be preheating their pan, discarding as much of the chaf as possible, or gasing the beans (when you have them lay out in the Ziploc or burlap sack).

[@kwillis623]

I followed your method I didn't wait 24 hours but it was still good

[@karlhebbs]

Thanks you

[@CLFurlong]

Yes yes yes!!!!!! So mesmerising 👍🏼😍

[@TheHuskyRunner]

CLFurlong thanks man!

[@ia6980]

Starts at 4 minutes

[@rachelalden8175]

And how do I buy your coffee??

[@TheHuskyRunner]

Great Question....I can talk a bit more about that in the next video. You can grab green coffee off of Amazon or eBay, but I don't know how much I trust what I am actually getting. I really like the website Sweet Maria's (www.sweetmarias.com). They have a great selection and give you a lot of information on the coffee you are buying.

[@TheHuskyRunner]

Rachel Alden So apparently I can't read. I swear I saw something asking how to buy green coffee. Lol. Sorry for not answering your question. At the moment the best way to try anything I am roasting would be to message me poo not Facebook or IG (or see me at The Clay Cup...I believe you are local) and I can fill you in on what I have to roast or will be roasting soon. I am in the process of filling out applications to have my kitchen certified so I can sell online, and in stores.

[@jburtonca]

I've been roasting in a large heavy bottom stainless steel pan for about 13 years. I roast at high heat mixing with a metal spatula. I roast very dark and make a large cup immediately. This idea of letting coffee rest is rubbish. That first cup is the best. I then store the roasted coffee in an airtight jar in the fridge.