I am in no way a pro roaster, and there are other ways to do it, but these are the basics...
Important resources will be listed at the bottom.
1st Step: Gather the Required materials-
COFFEE, there are tons of choices and of course prices are cheaper than buying it roasted.
ROASTER, You could use a coffee roaster, a popcorn popper, or even just a cast iron skillet. A roaster starts around $75, a popcorn popper will run you $15 or less. The roasters have a lot more features to make roasting easier.
BOWL, metal or glass to transfer your beans from the roaster to the cooling stage.
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img007.jpg[/img]
2nd Step: Measure out your beans-
A popcorn popper can only do 1/2 cup of beans at a time. Do not do more or less, your roast will not come out as desired.
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img008.jpg[/img]
3rd Step: Dump the beans in the popper
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img009.jpg[/img]
4th Step: Roast-
There are varying levels you can roast to. You will want to roast to at least first crack. The first time I roasted I was worried I wouldn't hear first crack, don't worry you will hear it. You can see here I had to fashion a guard to keep the beans from being spit out of the popper. The bowl is catching the Chaff which is messy flakes coming off the beans. I roasted this batch to a Full City roast.
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img011.jpg[/img]
5th Step: Stop the roasting process-
Remove the beans from the popper and put them into a glass or metal bowl. Put this bowl in the freezer to stop the roasting process. Feel the beans a few times until they are not hot to the touch anymore. Cooling should not take anymore than a couple mins.
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img012.jpg[/img]
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img013.jpg[/img]
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img014.jpg[/img]
6th Step: Let them rest-
Don't use the beans for at least 4 hours, they will be releasing CO2. I generally roast the night before I plan to drink the coffee then use it for a few days till I am out and start the process again.
For 1lb of the Sulawesi Toraja I used I paid $4.70. If you buy 3 lbs or more you get a discount. The popper cost me $14 but I have heard of people getting them at thrift stores for less than $5. And all of us should already have a refrigerator and a bowl of some kind.
This is the best visual guide I could find on the roast levels:
http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.html
This is not the only way to do it, and hopefully others can add anything else they see I forgot. I always forget something.
Important resources will be listed at the bottom.
1st Step: Gather the Required materials-
COFFEE, there are tons of choices and of course prices are cheaper than buying it roasted.
ROASTER, You could use a coffee roaster, a popcorn popper, or even just a cast iron skillet. A roaster starts around $75, a popcorn popper will run you $15 or less. The roasters have a lot more features to make roasting easier.
BOWL, metal or glass to transfer your beans from the roaster to the cooling stage.
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img007.jpg[/img]
2nd Step: Measure out your beans-
A popcorn popper can only do 1/2 cup of beans at a time. Do not do more or less, your roast will not come out as desired.
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img008.jpg[/img]
3rd Step: Dump the beans in the popper
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img009.jpg[/img]
4th Step: Roast-
There are varying levels you can roast to. You will want to roast to at least first crack. The first time I roasted I was worried I wouldn't hear first crack, don't worry you will hear it. You can see here I had to fashion a guard to keep the beans from being spit out of the popper. The bowl is catching the Chaff which is messy flakes coming off the beans. I roasted this batch to a Full City roast.
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img011.jpg[/img]
5th Step: Stop the roasting process-
Remove the beans from the popper and put them into a glass or metal bowl. Put this bowl in the freezer to stop the roasting process. Feel the beans a few times until they are not hot to the touch anymore. Cooling should not take anymore than a couple mins.
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img012.jpg[/img]
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img013.jpg[/img]
[img=left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/bildo792/img014.jpg[/img]
6th Step: Let them rest-
Don't use the beans for at least 4 hours, they will be releasing CO2. I generally roast the night before I plan to drink the coffee then use it for a few days till I am out and start the process again.
For 1lb of the Sulawesi Toraja I used I paid $4.70. If you buy 3 lbs or more you get a discount. The popper cost me $14 but I have heard of people getting them at thrift stores for less than $5. And all of us should already have a refrigerator and a bowl of some kind.
This is the best visual guide I could find on the roast levels:
http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.html
This is not the only way to do it, and hopefully others can add anything else they see I forgot. I always forget something.