baristainzmking wrote:Roasting can be really rewarding or really frustrating, or both. Count me in the really frustrating camp at the moment, I have an SR800 with extension tubes, two different kind, bean cooler, chaff extender and more and I am ready to throw in the towel and put it all on a local Craig's list. Nothing ever comes out right....sigh.

As a reformed SR500 owner, I have some sense of your frustration. Their newer models may be better, but my SR500 would fluctuate temperature by more than +/- 10 degrees C. I have since learned how just 5C can transform a roast output, so I was doomed to confounding results and no amount of practice was ever gonna get me there. Switching to a precision air roaster has parted the clouds and connected me to the greens.

I always urge anyone in my circle who is getting interested in roasting to just give it a whirl, provided they own a grinder...start ultra low tech, give them some pointers and a kilo of greens to tinker with to see if they think it is for them and take things from there. I started (as mentioned) with a can on a cordless drill over open flame and that produced results that were quite palatable after four attempts, there was quite a learning curve once I started using a Huky 500 but it's not as if there is no way to get good results.

As mentioned earlier, sourcing good quality greens is key and the more fair comparison IMO is not to compare with boutique roasters but to compare the results with the gunk folks buy in supermarkets or more mundane roasters. Anyone already buying coffee from the Wendelboe's of this worls is likely going to be disappointed, simply because the greens at that level are stellar to begin with and they are roasted with exceptional skill.

One should home roast if one wishes to home roast. One should not home roast if one does not wish to home roast. It's as simple as that.

I have been home roasting for over 20 years. I started with a hand cranked stove top pop corn popper. I moved on to a stock hot air popper, Poppery 2, IIRC. I modded that severah times to end up with what, essentially was a home made SR500 with extended chamber. Now I roast with and SR800 and te FreshRoast extended roast chamber.

I'm no expert at roasting. I don't keep logs and track my ROR, drop temp or time to FC. No temp probes, no software. Just eyes, ears and nose. I get very good coffee and have been complimented by many eficionados. Granted, I am not roasting for the ultimate fruit bomb or any other 3rd wave kind of thing. I find a good bean that gives me my classic medium to dark roast with chocolaty, nutty, maybe a little smokey flavors that I like for my daily cup. Usually a Brazil or Guatamala.

If I want to play around with finding the God Shot, I go to one of the many excellent small batch roasters within a 30 mile radius and gladly fork over $15-$30/lb. for their specialty roasts for experimentation. I recently found a roast that hit the tongue like a dark chocolat Cherry Cordial. Wonderful! There's no chance I'll ever duplicate that roast. I don't need to. Its readily available on my daily commute.

What I can do is save $ every day roasting my daily grind.

JMHO, YMMV

Home roasters have a wide variety of green coffee at their fingertips. Many you will not find at your local boutique roastery.

We like variety.

There are lots of good replies that reflect my reasons to roast and to play with pizza making.

Unlike grapes and wine making, we have access to some of the best starting material, beans, available. We can properly store them literally indefinitely when vacuum sealed in a freezer and we can have the coffee we want, when we want it and at the roast level desired.

My roasts may not be up to the greatest coffee out there but I love trying as a hobby and I've found few places that can consistently wow me or make me want to stop roasting my own.

Pizza is, I believe, more complicated than some here give credit. I have access in NY (and New Haven CT) to some of the best pies outside Florence so my interest isn't due to not being able to get good/great pizza.

There are the many styles of dough and flour, the sauces and the toppings. All contribute greatly to the product. The oven, stone or steel and cooking time is also a variable. We have been focusing on NY Style pizza with NY shop style sauce, toppings of my whim and versions of Roberta's (Brooklyn) dough. We are happy with the results. A project I'm starting is playing with Neapolitan style and poolish dough recipes with different hydration. It's fun.

I seem not to be able to download my pizza photos right now. I'm getting a sizing error. I'll try to correct another time. Everyone seems to be making excellent looking pies.

Capuchin Monk wrote:I don't know about supermarkets at your area but in the US, coffee beans sold there are almost always months old. Most of those don't even show the roasted date. Comparing 6 months old roast (in room temperature) with 2 day old roast isn't really a fair fight, no? If a home roaster can't win that "fight", then perhaps that person needs to reset the home roasting strategy...

where I live the typical sell by date on roasted beans is 2 years after roasting, and most are well beyond 2 months post roast...hence my reference to 'gunk' but reality is that many people make do with that since they simply do not know any better. I've stopped counting the number of visitors that were shocked after tasting fresh roasted coffee.'

I like home-made pizzas and don't need to get a superhot oven and make a perfect margherita to have something that tastes good. But we've got a bit of thread drift here.

I like to home roast because it's a hobby that's challenging and because I've done enough that most results are drinkable -- enough so that friends like my roasts more than most commercial ones they've been drinking. This doesn't mean my roasts surpass those of Nossa Familia or other competent local roasters. But I generally develop the roasts enough that they're not lemony and have some sweetness to them. And when I share my coffee it's super fresh.

drgary wrote: I like to home roast because it's a hobby that's challenging and because I've done enough that most results are drinkable -- enough so that friends like my roasts more than most commercial ones they've been drinking...

+1. I have found a hobby with tangible results. I love learning and have found a deep well with all kinds of aspects that offer more and more to learn.