In addition to adding the thermometer to gauge the air temperature, I would also recommend using a handheld infrared thermometer to check the temperature of the beans itself. 2nd crack is around 454F.

Whirley pops can roast really fast or really slow, depending on the coffee itself, coffee weight, heat, and charge temp.

That goes for any roasting machine.

You can hear 2C. No real need for a thermometer. Sounds like static electricity. Each time the lid is opened precious heat is lost.

mkane wrote: You can hear 2C. No real need for a thermometer. Sounds like static electricity. Each time the lid is opened precious heat is lost.

It's his first rodeo. Second crack can be difficult to hear especially if there's not enough agitation, and due to unevenness 1st crack could roll into 2nd crack seamlessly for him.

baldheadracing wrote:Note these are the same people who disected the regional difference in Italian espresso in detail: http://www.assaggiatori.com/tmp/ItaliaDeiCaffe.pdf (free pdf, but in Italian).

Thanks. Per "The Tasting", it turns out I've been drinking espresso all wrong: "five sips of bliss". Okey doke.

I asked the wrong question. I was curious if there are some unusual aspects of a Northern Italian roast 'style' that could inform my, and the OP's roasting experiments. At one point I was playfully imagining the greens were roasted over an open fire, fueled by a specific genus of wood taken from trees that grow along a particular stretch of coastline in northern Italy... but now I'm thinking it's simply a nuanced dark roast, albeit a very good one (for those who like dark roasts). Alas, I'm no further in learning anything other than it exists - but that's enough for me to keep playing around. It's much easier when the roaster, marketing manager, and customer are all the same person.

If you keep EVERYTHING else the same, do several batches timed where you stop the roast 1 minute later each time and see how things look (taste too if it seems ok). First time is just so you can see what things look like at the various times. Then take the best time and stagger batches 30 seconds on each side. Keep dialing in as you go along over the weeks taking notes. But little changes, even the temp of the room, can alter your results.

I like the stop-at-temp method better so if you have a good thermometer in there you can just stop at different temps along the way as it can be more reliable to replicate. But time can work too.

It's fun! But a lot of work...

mkane wrote:That goes for any roasting machine.

You can hear 2C. No real need for a thermometer. Sounds like static electricity. Each time the lid is opened precious heat is lost.

I used to rely pretty much on hearing the development, followed by appearance, aroma, etc. and did use a very simple thermometer setup to give an idea of how much heat was being applied. Being able to dial things in based on that gave me great/consistent results, but then due to a catastrophic illness I became permanently profoundly deaf in both ears in a very short period of time. Imagine going back to roasting in that scenario... I then realized how valuable a few thermal probes/meter can be and wasted no time getting things setup to give as much feedback as possible to offset the deafness. Tried a mechanic stethoscope, decibel meter, IR thermometer, etc. and no real use with any of those. Even considered a higher tech thermal imager, but due to the slower refresh rate with many on the market that likely wouldn't give quick/accurate feedback with the coffee agitation speed I stick with. Even posed that question to Flir and they agreed... Point being, not everyone can hear these days, lmao, so a bit of instrumentation is quite helpful to be sure things are dialed in the way you want/expect.

Yep.