Need roasting tips for metropolis greenline

[sky jumper]

I'm new to roasting and wanted to review my initial results with the knowledgeable folks here.

I'm using a brand new poppery II clone (purchased for $10 at walgreen's). I popped a few batches of popcorn in it just to make sure it worked.

I then roasted 3 batches of Metropolis Greenline.

Batch 1: 1/2 cup beans
-1st crack began at 3:25, ending at about 5:40
-2nd crack at 8:49 (maybe 1 or 2 cracks), then nothing.
-roast stopped at 9:45.
-beans look slightly "popped", or split open, for lack of a better term.
-no noticeable smoke during the roast.

Batch 2: 1/2 cup
-1st crack 3:04-5:59
-2nd crack 8:52
-roast stopped at 8:55
-beans look more normal
-no noticeable smoke.

Batch 3: 2/3 cup
-beans did not spin at first. gentle shake of the popper got them spinning.
-1st crack: 2:25~5:55
-2nd crack may have started 7:21. It began to pick up at 7:55.
-roast stopped at 8:12
-beans look identical to batch #2
-some smoke pouring out in last few seconds of roast, continuing a bit during cool down.

an hour later all 3 batches smell like typical fresh roasted coffee.

the small sample bag of roasted Redline Tony gave me, frankly, smells like a dirty ashtray. it's nasty. Tony said it was roasted 5 days ago.

Questions:
1) why is there no/little smoke during my roasts? I was expecting huge amounts.
2) is the popped/spilt open beans in roast 1 a sign that they were roasted too long?
3) is there a trick to judging when 2nd crack starts? I'm not sure I was able to pinpoint it any of these roasts.
4) what is roasted greenline supposed to smell like?

Is there anything out-of-whack in the above roast profiles?

thanks for your help!

[codpiece]

I'm also just starting to get into the whole Home Roasting thing. I'm using a Poppery II as well. Here's the little that I've learned in the past couple months:

Beans
- some beans will smoke more than others
- some beans will weigh more than others per given volume
- some beans roast faster than others

Technique
- I've found 110g of beans yields the best results in my machine. If you have too little mass in the machine, the beans will spin in a uniform circle = not good. What you want is a random pattern of movement in the popper from the beans. A way to tell how much is the right amount for your machine is to slowly add the beans to the turned on popper and stop adding once the beans no longer move. You will need to help stir the beans with a wooden spoon for the first half of the roasting process pretty much continously.
- A total roast time of about 6.5 minutes is pretty ideal (give or take a minute either way depending on the bean). Too long a roast time results in baked beans and your resultant espresso will taste bland and flat.
- My Procedure:
(1) Plug in machine and allow it to warm up (1-2 minutes)
(2) Weigh out 110g of beans
(3) Add beans to popper and stir with your wooden spoon. Watch and listen.
(4) Dump beans into wire strainer/colander and try to cool them as quickly as possible

First crack is usually around the 3 minute mark. Beyond that, roast until you are satisfied with the color and listen for the second crack. I most roast until a few seconds into the second crack with good results.

Crib notes version:
(1) weigh beans (don't do it by volume; remember, the popper uses air to move the beans)
(2) stir with wooden spoon
(3) experiment with roast time on one bean/blend at a time until you're satisfied with the results

[sky jumper]

thanks for the tips.

it sounds like you roast larger batches than I do. I haven't weighed my batches, but they circulate in a uniform circle like you note.

i'd like to try larger batches as you suggest, but I'm sure I'd be losing a lot of coffee. as it is, probably 10% spits out of the popper into the chaff collector as it expands. if I put even more in I'll end up wasting a lot.

how to you keep your beans from jumping out of the popper?

[Spresso_Bean]

Have you tried asking Metropolis for some roasting tips? I know a while back they gave some hints for roasting Greenline over at CG, so it's not anything that they refuse to talk about. I just don't know that you will be able to replicate what they're getting at the roastery but it might be close. I'll try to find a link to the CG discussion about that if I get a chance.

[sky jumper]

yes, Tony at Metropolis gave me some roasting tips. he said to stop the roast very soon after 2nd crack begins, and try to get at least 90 seconds between cracks. Tony is great guy, and runs a fantastic cafe. It probably wasn't fair for me to say his coffee smelled nasty. after about 5 days my home roast smelled the same, but it tastes good (to my amateur palate, that is). I'm not sure if I've ever tasted truly great espresso, but I can say the stuff I pull is far better than starbucks. and that's with a $90 machine I bought on ebay (+$30 for a normal portafilter).

one more thing - after comparing my home roast to store bought Black Cat, my roast definitely has more "clinging chaff", for lack of a better term. I'm talking about the chaff stuck in the "split" of the bean. it turns up in my grind as tiny flecks of chaff. using the same grinder (Baratza Virtuoso) with Black Cat I get virtually no chaff at all, and must grind 2 settings coarser for proper shots. I'm wondering if I'm getting channeling with my home roast due to the flecks of chaff. and without the chaff (black cat) I choke the machine on the same grind setting. and of course the clinging chaff is a likely result of my less than optimal roasting...

[Spresso_Bean]

Yeah, Tony is really helpful. I just roasted some Harrar last night and some of the chaff didn't blow out from my SC/TO setup and it was smoking a lot, so the roasted beans had a slight ashtray sort of smell that didn't affect the taste. I normally would wait a few days to use it but I needed coffee and had some this evening. Still degassing, and very bubbly looking cappuccino. It wasn't bad. Hope you get some good results with the Greenline.

[codpiece]

Your popper must be different than mine. 110g in my popper is probably about half full (at the start). I have the West Bend Poppery II and got it off ebay for ~$15.00.

Also, if you stir with a wooden spoon throughout the roast session, you will end up with virtually no chaffe left on the roasted beans. In addition, cooling the roasted beans in a strainer by swirling them around for a few minutes gets rid of whatever chaffe remains.