If you roast coffee at home, your body and your wallet with thank you! Organic coffee is running close to $20 a pound these days! And with there being so much talk about mold on coffee, getting it in the most raw form (available to us in America) is super imperative. Buying certified mold-free coffee will run you $30 for just 12 ounces!!
Long before I ever had a glimmer in my eye for the farm life, for homeschooling, or for even being a mom— even before I had hoped to be an esthetician… I dreamed of going to the coffee farms in South America and Africa and being a buyer for Starbucks! I started working in coffee when I was 15 at the cutest little small town coffee shop. When I was 18, I joined the corporate world of Starbucks and worked there for 4 years, before moving on to help open a local shop for a year.
Coffee: More than just caffeine!
Near the end of my time at Starbucks, they had a program called “Coffee Master,” where each store had an employee that did a deep dive on the coffees we sold. I had the honor of being that person for my location, setting up coffee tasting and pairings, highlighting the complexities of each one. That ignited such a joy in my heart for something so common, something so often taken for granted, half-heartedly placed next to endless breakfast platters, simply for the least interesting fact about it: caffeine.
I can’t say that I’m addicted— my day goes just as well with or without coffee, decaf or regular. I’m a morning person to the max (I will 10/10 be more likely to meet up with you at 4:30am than I would at 8pm!) but there IS something about great coffee. Nothing else has the weightiness, the richness, and the pure BLISS that comes from feeling that first sip delight all the tastebuds in my mouth, feeling the warmth slowly moving through my chest and into my belly. Tea, in all its cozy warmth, does not do that. In pursuit of that UTTER DELIGHT, I am eager to sit down in the morning with my “cup of joe,” by way of either pour-over or French press.
Mold Commonly Found On Coffee
The first I heard of mold on coffee causing problems was when my sister developed a rash that went away when she cut out coffee. She did some research and told me about how prevalent mold on coffee is! You can’t look up “mold free coffee” without coming in contact with this super expensive “pure” coffee, so she went with it, and the rash came back. I lived in Okinawa at the time, and there was a sweet military family supplying pretty much the whole island with INCREDIBLE high quality coffee with their home-roaster. I sent my sister a pound just because I enjoyed it so much, and no joke: her rash went away! Without going with one of the super expensive “certified mold-free” companies (and still having reactions) here is how you can choose the best coffee for you.
How to ensure your coffee is mold free:
- Buy single origins coffee beans. There is a lot more accountability if beans can be traced back to a specific farm.
- Find coffee grown in high altitudes. There are usually less insecticides used in higher altitudes because pests are less of a problem.
- Wet-processed and sun dried have fewer mycotoxins than the more common methods used for drying these days.
- Hand picked and processed will always trump machine processed commercial grades!
Where to buy green coffee beans:
Look no further than Sweet Maria’s! (If you’re a Bob Goff fan, this name will stick with you!) They give you SO many details about each variety. Every origin has great detail about the farm on which it was grown, showing you on the map and stating the altitude, how it was processed and dried, the best way to roast it… every last little bit of information you could ever want to know!
Sweet Maria’s typically only has organic available from Ethiopia or Mexico. Sometimes they have it from Guatemala, and that is my favorite!
What you need to get started roasting coffee at home:
- green coffee beans
- hot air popcorn popper— you’ll want to look for one that has the air vents on the bottom, not coming from the sides a little higher up
- 1 cup measuring cup
- canning funnel (not mandatory, but helpful!)
- large kitchen towel
- jar to store coffee
We use a Whirly Pop for popcorn, and I considered using that at first. But the coffee sheds so much chaff in the roasting process that a) it would make a big mess inside and b) our house would smell like cigarettes. (Ha ha… I do try to roast on a day that I plan to wash my hair because of the aroma it absorbs!) Using an electric air popper allows you to roast it outside wherever you have access to electricity. I found mine at a thrift store for $6.
I use just under one cup of green coffee beans at a time. I’m sure it’s different for every popper, so you’ll need to work with yours to know its sweet spot. I put in enough that it’s not powerfully spewing all of the green beans out, but they are all still moving. If your top layer isn’t “bubbling” at all, you’ve put in too much.
I set the funnel on upside down to give it a bit of a chimney. As the beans roast, they become lighter and want to shoot out. If I put the funnel in right-side up, there’s a small space between the poppers chamber and the bottom of the funnel where beans can get lodged. Putting it on upside down allows everything to freely move.
This girl hates when I use the funnel, because she loves snatching up all the rogue coffee beans!
How to roast coffee at home:
Turn on the popper, then pour the green coffee beans in, a little at a time. You’ll have enough when it stops trying to spew them all out, but the air is still moving all of the beans. If you cannot see the beans in the center circulating, you have put in too many. You should see the center of the top layer “bubbling.” Carefully (it’s hot in that chamber!) remove about at a tablespoon at a time until the top is “bubbling” again.
I put a funnel on upside down at this point, because as the coffee roasts, it will get lighter and start shooting out again. Putting it on upside down prevents beans from getting lodged between the poppers chamber and the funnel.
How to know when to stop roasting:
Pay attention to the details on the specific bean you buy. It will say where its flavor is best suited, and will come with a card for you to compare your roast. Most every bean will at least need to go to what they call “first crack” which will give you a light roast. You will hear it loud and clear, and there will be no question as to whether or not that is what you’re hearing! With my popper, I will let it run a few minutes past first crack to a nice medium roast. The total roast time from start to finish usually takes mine about 9 minutes, but that will vary depending on your machine, amount being roasted, and your desired roast level.
I typically love a good, deep, dark roast. That is not achievable in a popper. You can see by the picture here, that in trying to push it to “second crack” and achieve a darker roast, I just end up burning the beans and charring little circles! That is a downside, but for the low cost of this setup, but I’m happy to work with what its capabilities are! Going beyond second crack is how you get dark espresso style roasts. That will be for another day, another roaster. I’ve got my eye on some beautiful drum roasters!
Care after roasting:
Once you have roasted the coffee to your preference, shut off the machine and immediately pour the contents out onto a large kitchen towel. If the coffee stays in the hot chamber, it will burn. Others say to quickly pour it into a metal colander, then pour into a large bowl, going back and forth until it is cool. I have found the towel to be the most efficient way to cool the beans and prevent burning. Another perk is that you can fold it in half and have any size funnel you need to be able to pour into your storage container!
How to store freshly roasted coffee:
For best results, let the coffee rest and release its oils for at least 3 days before enjoying. We use two of these quart flip top jars and rotate between them. Anything will do, as long as it is in an airtight container. Once one is empty, we will roast another batch. While it is resting, we will enjoy the batch we roasted 10 days – 2 weeks ago. Freshly roasted coffee is at its peak flavor from 3 days up to a month.
Give home roasting a try and come back and let me know how it went, and how you like it! For the cost, there is NOTHING else that compares! We have roasted our coffee at home for a year now, and will never go back! Comment below or tag me on instagram when you try it!
2 responses to “How To Roast Your Own Coffee At Home In A Popcorn Popper”
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Just got my organic green beans from Sweet Maria’s. I am excited to try your technique.
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Ooh! I’m so excited for you to try it! Did you already have an air popper?
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