A use for your unused popcorn popper...

I went with my sister over the weekend to drop an old couch off at Catholic charities, and while browsing their appliances I noticed they had a West Bend Poppery II air popper in good condition for two bucks. I know that a lot of people roast coffee in these things, so I picked it up and today I finally had time to give it a try.

And...wow. The results were terrific and it produced a more even roast than my ridiculously expensive Alpenroast. I just dumped in about 2/3 of a cup of green coffee into the chamber, put the top on it and plugged it in. I put a bowl under the funnel to catch the chaff and six minutes later I had a perfectly roasted batch of coffee. I tossed the hot beans between colanders for a minute or so to cool them off and then stored them in an airtight container. They need to degass for about 12 hours and then they should be ready to grind and have for my morning coffee.

If you have an air popper sitting around, you can roast coffee in it as long as it the air flow comes from the sides, not from a mesh vent in the bottom - The Poppery I and II are like this, as are the Popaire II and the Popcorn Pumper. You can often find these at thrift stores for well under five bucks.

You'll also save a lot of money roasting yourself - this site sells a really tasty, full-bodied Brazilian green coffee for about a buck fifty a pound. I use it in an espresso blend but it's good as a drip coffee as well.

http://www.carmocoffee.com/page/page/1864434.htm

Wow!
:wow:
(I'm stunned at the price of green coffee.)

I simply MUST give this a try.

When you buy coffee, a lot of what you're paying for is the roasting process. You save a lot by roasting yourself, and of course the coffee is much, much fresher. You pay a fraction of the price for vastly superior coffee.

If you try this, roast in a well-ventilated area or under the hood of your stove with the fan on - coffee will produce smoke as it roasts.

Lemme know how it goes!

The place I linked to above charges around 12.50 for 10 pounds of green coffee shipped UPS. That's pretty much the average of what you'll pay for shipping - a little more than a dollar per pound.

There's a coffee broker in my city who sells me a full bag (132 lb) of coffee at a time and it's very cheap - usually it's around 1.50-1.75 a pound - and I pick it up from his warehouse. It's a lot of coffee, but others in my family roast so we split the bag and save a lot of money on shipping. There's a way around everything :)

Not to be nosy, but business takes me out there on occasion, and I could do double duty by picking up coffee while I'm out there.

I *so* want to try this.

Thanks! :hi:

On edit: I just read your other post, and Sweet Maria's is in Oakland. :) Thanks again!

I moved from San Francisco a couple of years ago - I'm in Kansas City now and am in a constant state of culture shock.

I'm also without a Trader Joe's. Double sniff!

I don't think Sweet Maria's sells retail from their Oaktown location. You might want to drop in on your local specialty coffee roaster and see if you can talk them into selling you some unroasted coffee. I've done that a few times and never been turned down, and I've gotten some good tips as well.

I just ordered some Sumatra from Sweet Maria's, and I noticed that you can indeed pick up coffee from their Oakland location and save on the shipping charges. Makes me *really* wish I was still in the Bay Area.

And thanks for the advice. :hi:

I've learned so much today by reading through your group's recent threads. :D

We've been buying ours from a local roaster who uses organic, shade grown, fair trade beans, but they have a tendency to over-roast, and I like lighter roasts. A half-pound a week is average, going up or down from there. I have no idea how long it would take us to use up 10 pounds, and if we didn't use it, it would be a waste. How long can we keep it unroasted and stored?

Green coffee can keep for a couple of years if you store it in a cool, dry place. I keep mine in burlap but you can store it in plastic bags and I don't think there's a huge difference.

That's the nice thing about roasting yourself - you control the roast level to your taste.

Most online retailers sell Fair Trade and organic beans - Sweet Maria's is good, if a little pricey at times. Coffee Bean Corral is also a good source for green beans.

http://www.sweetmarias.com
http://www.coffeebeancorral.com

:yourock:

I was at Target this morning and I saw that they had a Toastmaster hot air popper for $14.99, and it was of the right type - side circulated air, not a bottom vent - so I picked it up to give it a try (I love tinkering with this stuff).

It did a pretty good job. It didn't handle the same bean volume as the Poppery II - 1/2 cup vs. 2/3 cup - and it didn't agitate the beans quite as quickly so I'm guessing the fan isn't as strong. The chaff blew in a slightly wider arc, so I used a skillet underneath the chute in lieu of a bowl so I didn't end up with a mess. A couple of beans blew out with the chaff, even with the reduced bean load.

Still, it did what I wanted it to do, which was to roast coffee. Maybe not as even of a roast as I got from the Poppery II, but still acceptable. For the price it was a good deal. I'd still recommend trying to find a Poppery II on eBay or a thift store, but if that's not possible this one is a workable (and cheap) alternative.