Perhaps. He does recommend steadily declining ROR. There's more of this green left to try and dial it in further and see what cupping reveals about any changes in the curve. I don't know if I would have seen the slight rise in ROR and the possible change from going endothermal to exothermal without leaving the controls alone.

I've been applying the idea of avoid crash, and avoid flick to try to improve the cup of Royal Crown Jewel Rwanda Musasa Ruli Dukunde Kawa Double Washed. (I wonder if that process makes it more "crashy somehow)

Al suggested quick burst of heat that fades off as crash progresses could help avoid the crash without flicking. Another person suggested minimize airflow through beginning phase (to just what pulls the lighter on empty roaster) So I removed the metal shield below my drum and did three roasts tonight.

First is my favorite decaf: Background you can see an earlier effort, more crash and flick:
[EDIT 5/18: taste is as good as prior roasts of it, sweet, cocoa/caramel - great for that after dinner espresso or latte - and sleep still an option]


Next I roasted a Colmbian "Las Estrellas de Buesaco" from Sweet Maria. I hold it in vacuum storage for occasional roasting, delicious coffee that needs to shine - it is really good. That graph makes me think of a line from a Racoon. "Wipers! Wipers! Get that thing off there!"
[EDIT 5/18: (pourover:) definitely back in the ballpark of sweetness and complex floral/fruit - this will be the one to try to tweak antiCRASH/flick]

"
Who knows how that RoR behaved, some major interference gets in my rig lately.

And here is the of the ultimate, penultimate Rwanda roast in background, for I am out of this fine bean:
[EDIT 5/18: espresso shot / definitely why I like this coffee, sweetness with dark cherry! too bad this roast is the last of it]



I think this is progress. I look forward to finding out the results in the cup.

[EDIT added 5/18: too bad I ruined some roasts adding heat during the crash that slapped back with the flick. These roast of less flick and some CRASH, show the value of attacking those issues in trying to improve a coffee/roast. ]

A page from the current Roast Magazine.



I believe the profile that's being followed would be about as baked as can be!

Almico wrote: I believe the profile that's being followed would be about as baked as can be!

I'm sure Rao is calling Cropster marketing department as we type!

It's cherry pie time. Gotta bake it.

Mmm cherry pie.
Serious though thats a shocker and by the look of it would be fairly roasty as well.

I know nothing.....

I have found that a rise in ROR early in FC is not necessarily damaging unless it is followed by a significant crash.

How significant? Hard to say. I've been quantifying my crashes for a while now in terms of the °F/min in ROR lost, and the time period over which the loss occurred (how rapid was the crash). While the best roasts often have no discernible crash at all, having a 6-8°F/min/min loss in ROR does not wreck the roast.

It's probably more important to avoid the flick.

Here is a coffee that has been in my "penalty box" based on the roasting curve. Notice the big hump going into FC followed by a 6.7°F/min/min crash. I tasted it today, and it's actually fine. Not the best Burundi I have done, but not bad at all. Maybe a little astringency if I'm nitpicking, but it's overall an excellent coffee.

Notice the roasting curve in the background. This was one of my BEST Burundi roasts. I was trying to follow that curve, so it was really annoying when the ROR started to get out of control using basically the same gas/air profile.

drcraig wrote:How significant? Hard to say. I've been quantifying my crashes for a while now in terms of the °F/min in ROR lost, and the time period over which the loss occurred (how rapid was the crash). While the best roasts often have no discernible crash at all, having a 6-8°F/min/min loss in ROR does not wreck the roast.

It's probably more important to avoid the flick.

The crash just seems to sap dynamics from the coffee.

Think of it as the perfectly decreasing RoR yields coffee in sharply-focused Techicolor or Kodachrome.

The more significant the crash, the more out of focus and black and white the coffee becomes. You can still tell what it is, but the potential vibrancy is muted.

Flicking starts adding defects like noise or grain.

At least that has been my experience so far.

I also think the crash affects the sustainability of flavor during the cool down and aging of the coffee.