Coaster… Toaster… No! It’s a Coffee Roaster!

Picking, Roasting, Grinding, Brewing – the basic stages that a coffee bean must go through in order to become a drink that we all enjoy. Among the four, the stage responsible for the flavor of our coffee is the roasting stage. This is done by roasting the coffee beans to a certain level to bring out the flavors using of course, a coffee roaster.

The simplest coffee roaster is usually a sauce pan with a tight lid to keep the beans locked in and a well-built handle. It can be put on top of a stove and the beans will be roasted in the pan. The handle is specially designed so that you can stir the beans during the process. Stirring is very important while roasting so that the beans won’t get burnt at the bottom. A thermometer in the lid to monitor and control the temperature is a vital part of an effective yet simple roaster. Part of a good roasting process is maintaining the appropriate temperature.

Though using the manually operated coffee roaster can be easy, you might be tempted to buy fully automatic roasters available in the market. You just need to pour the coffee beans on its container, put on the lid and set the controls then your beans will be roasted to perfection in a few minutes. This type of roaster has a built-in thermometer. You can automatically control the heating mechanism, rotating canisters, the air flow and the timing when to turn it off. With all these benefits, expect to pay a little more than the price of the simpler coffee roaster.

Furthermore, there is a coffee roaster that works like a pop corn maker. Once you pour the beans, hot air circulates and the beans are stirred up and given a uniform roast. Another feature of some roasters is that they have transparent or glass exteriors so that you can watch the roasting process while controlling it. Some even have filters so that the skin of the beans can be removed when they crack. Some roasters also have the pre-set level of roast that you can choose from like light, medium or dark roast.

There are also roasters called drum roasters because the technique used by this roaster focuses mainly on the gravity to move the beans around rather than depending on the stirrer at the bottom of the container. Additionally, a large quantity of coffee beans can also be roasted using large-scale roasters which are usually used by roasted coffee manufacturers or suppliers. The location of large-scale roasters plays a vital role since proper ventilation is important while roasting. Moreover, being able to circulate the air evenly and heat the beans equally is a very significant feature of an effective coffee roaster.

A wide variety of coffee roasters ranging from the simplest, manually operated to the complex, automatic devices are available in the market especially for home use since home coffee roasting has grown popular nowadays. There are also a lot of roasting tutorials available on the web for those who want to learn how to do the perfect roast. If you haven’t tried roasting your own coffee beans, you might want to start now. Just don’t mistake your toaster for a roaster!