Gina and I have long enjoyed quality coffee, and, in particular, I have spent what some might call an inordinate amount of time, effort, and money to drink fine brews from this mighty bean.  In my ongoing quest to find a consistent supply of superb cups of joe, I have, by inevitable forces, finally purchased a home roaster, and started developing the demanding art of bringing lowly green coffee beans to their ultimate glory.  I hope someone out there finds my recorded trials of home roasting of some use, or at least reaps a small chuckle from this page. 

Coffee

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 My roaster is the Hearthware I-Roast 2, which can be found and purchased at my favorite website for procuring fine green coffees - Sweet Maria's.
Sweet Maria's also contains volumes of valuable information about coffee in general and all the intricacies of home roasting in particular.
A fantastic book on the subject of coffee and roasting is Home Coffee Roasting: Romance and Revival, by Kenneth Davids.
Roast Date 5/22/2007 5/23/2007 5/24/2007 5/25/2007
Coffee Sumatra Sumatra Sumatra Peru Norte Especial
Grade        
Approx. Age 2004 crop 2004 crop 2004 crop <1yr
Bean Vol. 3/4 Cup 1/2 Cup 1/2 cup 1 cup
Time 1st Crack 5 min, unsure 8 min 9min, unsure 8min
1 Temp 455 400 420 420
1 Time 5 2 2 1
2 Temp 410 425 440 440
2 Time 4 3 2 1.5
3 Temp 435 460 460 460
3 Time 4 4 3 8
4 Temp   480 480 480
4 Time   5 7 4.5
5 Temp   485 485  
5 Time   1 1  
Total Time 13 15 15 15
Roast Result Light/Light Medium Medium/Dark Medium Medium/Dark
Comments Dry beans, med brown Beans just becoming oily, medium dark brown Surprised as beans did not reach 2nd 'crack'- no oil Again surpised to 'just' reach 2nd crack; a few beans started to show oil
Analysis No, a bit to light for me, though the complexity was nice. I think the roast stalled and tasted a bit 'baked'.  Avoid this with higher temps. I think the weak Japanese voltages are going to require higher temp settings.  Even at 15min, I only got to City or City+, and the long time to 1st crack indicates a need for a higher starting temp.  The aroma of this darker roast, compared to the first, is heavenly. I have a suspicion that the above profile did not get 'loaded' into the roaster.  Who knows what actually happened, but the above temps should have gotten me to the second crack and a darker roast.  This one gets and asterisk* I'm sure the above profile was performed, but I can only surmise that the wimpy Japanese voltages are keeping me from reaching the dark oily deliciousness that I crave.  It's 485 for 15min on the next one! (Quite good though with full body, balanced sweetness, and hints of caramel.)