Burnt notes on Kenyan natural despite a "theoretically" correct roast

FC was just about finished at the 15% dev time point at which I dropped the beans…

This is very interesting. Maybe it´s time to be brave and increase charge temp further to mitigate.

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Thank you all for the tips and discussion. So far my plan is to roast a few 600g batches:

  1. a roast using the same method as before but dropping at 13% dev
  2. 1 min soak followed by usual power and air
  3. Higher (250) pre-heat followed by usual power and air

I´ll report back!

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Totally agree, instrumentation readings can vary wildly. If they’re fairly accurate (say within a couple degrees), they are fairly reliable. Of course, how many folks are confirming that? Not many I am sure.

That said, the roasting process is the roasting process (especially chemically speaking), and first and second crack are pretty solid milestones to work from, even if you aren’t keep track of any other variables. 210C should just barely be through first crack, and the roast cannot be chemically developed as any sort of “dark” roast. I would think it would be City+ at best, so fairly light.

So how would this be a considered a “medium” roast? That’s a City (light) roast…


Not trying to be combative with either of these replies, but dropping beans right at the end of first crack can’t be darker than City or City+ at best, by everything I have ever learned in my 20 years roasting.

And re @itspaul it’s not always an issue of roasting light or dark on the Bullet. I can get heavy roasty notes in a light roast that I don’t get from a similar roast profile using the same bean on my Huky. MAYBE its related to the conduction/convection thing. Or batch size. Could you share an 11%-12% weight loss Kenya profile ? I don’t mind cooking up some beans with another profile.

Interesting. I’ve never gotten roast notes unless I really tried to and went quite dark.

Here was a Kenyan roast. I accidentally forgot to start a recipe and then thought I’d just play it out and see what happens. It was really delicious and juicy, but could be lighter than you’d like.

That said, @bradm’s Burundi roast up there looks more reasonable as something to emulate.

@chocolatedogkona there is certainly a minimum temp for FC to begin, but not a minimum to end once it has begun.

(Also I said above this was a long development time, but not sure now why I wrote that. 1:45 seems fine to me.)

No question. But in my reasonably long experience, FC usually lasts at least 10-15 degrees, and rarely ends at less than 207C/405F degrees.

According to your roast profile you are dropping a roast before I even call first crack on my Bullet.
I consider a City “Light” Roast dropping at an end temp of minimum 415F with 1st crack happening around 402F. I also pay more attention to the end temp of the roast then the development time as dev time is subjective to many variables that have been set and as far as I know end temps dictate the degree of the roast.
I think I got this roast degree chart off Sweet Maria’s website. I have been following it for some time now with good results. I don’t roast past a N Italian Espresso Roast and only by request.

CITY ROAST 415F - 425F
CITY + 425F - 435F
FULL CITY START OF 2ND CRACK 440F - 450F
FULL CITY + INTO 2ND CRACK

NORTHERN ITALIAN ESPRESSO ROAST ENDS 440 - 446

Thanks for posting!

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Hello,

I have checked a Kenyan SL34natural filter roast, roasted on the 17th of this month April.

Here are my notes :slight_smile:

1-milard time was 4:09, YP 141.7 C. In my opinion 4:09 minutes is too long for beans with fruity notes. The longer milard time goes, more chemical reactions occurred, and that leads to complexity not clarity. Probably you have strong caramel, dark chocolate in your cup. If I would suggest something, boost the power to P9 and shorten the milard.
2- you changed the fan speed almost if not mistaken around 180 C, FC as per the graph was on 186.1 C. i suggest to turn the fan to F5 on 175 C to kick the smoke out of the roasting chamber.
3-if you boost the heat to P9, You will enter the development phase with a high ROR compared to your original profile. Thus, i Suggest at 184 C you turn the power to P1 and fan to F8 to allow a low ROR during the development phase, for filter 6-8 C DT and 11-12% development.
4- I noticed the gap between IBTS and BT lines, do you wait during the preheating until a pop message “The Roaster Is Ready”!?