Hey everyone,

I'm new here obviously... so I've recently gotten into the home roasting thing. I purchased some green from Sweet Maria's and started roasting using a Presto Poplite. Now, I know it's not the recommended style, but I couldn't find the side-vent style so I picked this one up instead.

I originally started with the recommended cup size for popcorn (1/2 cup), and it seemed to roast really fast. The beans tasted pretty good, but it still seemed to roast too quickly. I never did time it, I just went based on the cracks to get where I wanted the roast to be. The first roast I did inside (under a venting hood), however the chaff was annoying and wasn't particularly enjoyable so my next roast went outside. Since it was quite hot outside, I managed to trip the thermal shutoff. I fixed that by bridging over the switch with some wiring. Outside, it seemed to roast even faster.

I eventually dropped down to 1/4 cup in the roaster to try to slow the roast. When I timed it, it takes approximately 2-2:30 mins to roast to a City+ roast. According to everything I'm reading, normal roasters take about 7-10 minutes or so and a normal popcorn popper should take 4-5 minutes.

Is this going to affect my roasts? They seem OK, although I haven't tried anything FC or FC+ yet. (my beans are meant to be lighter, although I do have some espresso blends coming to pair with the espresso maker I'm about to get..)
Also, is there any suggestions for increasing roasting time? I'd prefer not to get something expensive like PID'ing or hooking it up to a Variac, but something relatively cheap. The popper is rated at 1440W and it heats up in seconds, so I'm willing to bet that probably has something to do with the overly quick roasts.

My setup right now is basically the popper with a 3 (soup) can chimney attached so the beans don't require stirring. They essentially agitate themselves, as the fan has enough force to cause them to blow up probably 2-3 inches off the bottom which seems to stir them fairly well. I tried punching a bunch of holes in the cans to attempt to dissipate the heat faster, however it didn't seem to help very much.

Thanks for any help in advance!

You can keep reducing the amount of beans until the roast is slowed to around 6 to 8 minutes. Alternatively, buy a popper with lower wattage (the new ones moslty use a 12 volt DC fan wired in series with a heater and tied to a bridge rectifier).

Another idea is to tilt the popper. This improves bean ciculation, and may slow the roast down (by increasing airflow) with a higher load.

Finally, and soemwhat dangerously, you can use lighting extension cords (16 or 18 gauge) tied together to drop the voltage to the popper.

I trust if it turns out you like home roasting, you'll be willing to spend more than $25 on it.

Oh, I probably will eventually start upgrading... I already dropped $200 on an espresso machine.. heh. (which, I know, isn't much... but for a college student it feels like a lot ) The popper (I've taken it apart, of course) does use a 12V DC fan. I'm wondering if taking the smaller heat coil out and using a transformer to power the fan separately would increase the roasting time a noticeable amount?

Or would perhaps removing the casing increase the airflow and increase roasting time?
My only issue would be finding a place to mount the switch I added to the case.. hmrph.

Lots of ideas, I might just switch to a drum roaster and a Bunsen burner or something.. I do have a heat gun handy...

If you want to spend around $50, separate out the heat and fan, and buy a 10 to 15 amp Variac on ebay to regulate the heat. Alternatively, low end PID controllers kitted with an SSR and thermocouple cost around that too now. You would place the sensor in the air as it comes off the heat and enters the chamber, set it to around 350 to 375F to start the roast for around 4 minutes, and then up to about 465F to 490F to finish the roast in another 4 or so. Homeroaster.com has a lot of info on PIDing roasters.

Kirby64 wrote:I've recently gotten into the home roasting thing. I purchased some green from Sweet Maria's and started roasting using a Presto Poplite. Now, I know it's not the recommended style, but I couldn't find the side-vent style so I picked this one up instead.
...
The popper is rated at 1440W and it heats up in seconds, so I'm willing to bet that probably has something to do with the overly quick roasts.

I'm sure you are right. Bottom screen style poppers (Presto) do not pose any special fire hazard - this appears to be an urban myth promulgated first by Ken Davids, and later Tom Owens - but they do roast faster than the lower wattage side vent style (West Bend) poppers. More bean agitation may be required due to the lack of cyclonic air patterns. I highly recommend the WB Poppery I, if you're lucky enough to find one.

You have a heatgun handy you say? hmmmm.......

Well sir, you have just solved your problem of roasting too fast. I roast with a heatgun(and a popper) and the heatgun is my ROC(roaster of choice).

http://www.homeroaster.com/heatgun.html

^^There is a plethora of info right there. HEatgun roasting is a very hands-on way of roasting, offering total control. One of the things I really like is the ability to do 1lb batches. In my popper, the most i can do is 3/4cup. I great great results from the heatgun method.. The only thing I have noticed, is the roasts with my heatgun need 4days MINIMUM resting time.. Using the popper I can break into a bag after 48hrs. Could be my imagination, but i dont think so....

You get complete control over the roast profile. You can emulate fluid-bed roasters and do a quick roast, or emulate drum roasters, and have a slower roast. Or, you can just burn the heck out of your beans and light em on fire. Point is, lots of control, much bigger batches, tasty coffee. Oh yeah, and a boat-load more chaff then the popper, but since you are outside already, its not a problem. One tip, roast while wearing a hat.

I have one of those presto pop-lite 1440Watt with the center vent. A while back I plugged it in with 1/2 cup of greens. A temp probe near the center vent quickly climbed above 500F in less than 3 minutes. Beans started scorching before they were dried. (I never run to 500F MET in my Poppery). This may be part of the problem with starting fires. A lower wattage side vent type popper is closer to roast temps out of the box.
This thing is an incinerator!

Well, I just roasted 2 cups of the Kenyan Peaberry's from SM in a dog bowl. Seemed to work decently well, however the batch looks sort of uneven. They do, oddly enough, smell quite good compared to the same beans I roasted in the popper. I have to say, though, it is FAR more convenient. I'll see how they taste in a couple days

I'm tempted to try some other techniques with my popper. I'm thinking perhaps adding a mesh to put the beans further away from the roaster, thereby increasing roast time.

My espresso beans will be arriving tomorrow... which will be interesting, so I can roast to the 2nd crack...

The mesh is good idea. Buy yourself a cheap thermocouple thermometer and put the mesh at a level so the inflow temperature (at the mesh when the roaster is loaded with beans) never gets over 475F. Here's a really inexpensive one that will measure both the inflow and bean temperature