Hi Bab!
I noticed on this roast of yours, that you applied power just before FC.
In what circumstances do you add power, and have you noticed a difference in flavor when doing so? I like your roasting style too.
I roast pretty much the same beans every time (Chiapas, Mexico). After 2-3 years I have a fair idea what to expect as the roast progresses. Unless I screw up and fail to launch it, I use a Recipe for all roasts. Plus I have an Overlay as a guide. The first roast of a session is Preheated to 419°F but 2nd & later roasts use a PH of 410°F. Independent of PH setting I expect B-Temp to be about 302°-308° at Charge. Every batch is 550 gm which yields 1 lb of dark roasted coffee.
Just before the roast hits 1Cs the beans start giving off moisture (that’s what I believe causes the ‘crack’: steam fractures the beans). If ignored, that pre-1Cs action causes a drop in I-RoR. 1Cs for these beans is pretty consistent at 400-401°F. That moisture from the bean leads to a drop in I-Temp and shows up in I-RoR; my goal is to keep I-RoR on a linear decline from YP all the way to 2Cs (about 444°F). So to compensate for the expected drop in I-RoR I add power (P6 → P7) ahead of the expected drop- that’s at about 391°F . Then at about 410°F I drop power P7 → P5, then P5 → P3.
The linear decline in RoR is not perfect, but the trend approximates what I’m after. That’s about all I can ask for.
Bruce
1 Like
That sounds fantastic!
Everything, from consistently roasting the same region to the thinking and all of it.
Are you using one chaff filter basket, or does the heat momentum just work out that it allows you to PH to 410?
One chaff collector which I vacuum after each roast thru the rubber trap door at the bottom.
There’s a repetitive rhythm to it-
- PH,
- hit B-Temp target,
- Charge,
- hit the marks (with a Recipe!),
- end the roast (PRS button),
- pause 1 sec then
- drop the roast.
- stir the cooling beans
- start PH for the next batch
First roast uses 419°F PH; #2 & later use 410°F PH. But PH time extends long enough for B-Temp to rise to at least 302°F; later roasts I usually have to wait for B-Temp to decay to less than 308°F. The Charge announcement from the Bullet is nothing but a suggestion/wake-up call- I wait till I see specific B-Temp.
Keep in mind I’m roasting the same greens from the same supplier each time. I’m pretty familiar with how they respond to the roaster at my preferred B-Temp at Charge. Room ambient affects the timing a little but the Recipe takes care of that.
Keep in mind this is all related to the heat-soak approach to roasting. I got my info from @quartzglen who in practice did things a little differently than his detailed explanation. I dragged out the whole beginning but in looking at his roasts I saw that I spent way too much time getting thru the front end of the roast (raising temps). But by that time I was happy with what I was getting so I stopped reinventing and stayed with what I had.
Bruce
1 Like
Thank you. About to roast now, and will definitely put some of this to practice!
Hey, the bug is back and it is deleting and erasing my titles and descriptions. So I won’t know the results from today. I’ll try again in a week.