Hi,

I got a P&S popcorn pumper at the goodwill store for $4, cleaned, sanitized, and modded per instructions I found on the internet. A local green bean distributor suggested I try some guatemalan, for it's "ease" if you go a little darker or lighter, so gave it a shot. Started with 150g, on a slight tilt in a cardboard box, and got to C1 at 5min 20s, and first pops of C2 at about 7min even - ambient temp was 62F. Dropped the beans into a sieve, and poured between sieve and metal colander for a couple minutes. Beans were slightly warm to the touch. The roast matched a local coffee-shop's "Full City" on the outside, but when cracked open, it was very dark on the inside (local's was uniform).

12 hours later, I tried a brew just for laughs, and it tasted like sharp charbucks' vienna roast. I'll monitor as the bean ages this week, however, how come the insides continued to cook like that?

Am I not cooling fast enough maybe?

That makes sense, and the inside can't get any warmer than the outside (I've cooked enough steaks to know duh ). I was thinking along a slightly escherian concept, that maybe I cooled the outside, while the inside continued to bake? Either way, my bean tastes burned, but doesn't look it.

I split the bean across the center crack to look at the meat of the bean, not along it. My goal is to slightly prolong the time to first crack; the all mighty internet suggests switching the unit on/off, using a long extension cord, or applying some electronic control ala dimmer switch or variac. I wish it were easier to attach a dimmer switch to just the heating element in these 2nd gen style poppers (e.g. WBII) - from what I'm reading, it requires an ugly mod due to the fan and heater lined up in the circuit.

Would it be better to try to get a better flavor first with the tool (perhaps a second test to verify consistency, and then a third to pull the beans earlier), rather than trying to prolong the time to first crack?