Martin's Dog Bowl Heat Gun Coffee Roaster is now in the public
domain. It could change your life as soon as you quit snickering. Let me
start at the beginning.
The thought of roasting was intriguing, but nothing much knocked me over
until I got to Jim Gundlach's descriptions (and photos) of wok roasting. I
love the wok so I already had the stuff. Because stovetops don't put out
enough BTUs to suit me, I cook outside over a humongo macho propane turkey
fryer burner. Well, that was overkill for coffee-beans aflyin', black
clouds billowing, I don't need to tell you.
Enter the heat gun. Off my workbench-no new purchase necessary. I did a
search and only came up with the Sivitz gun, but-why not? Beans in the wok.
Heat gun wanding over the top. Stir. Bad roast, but I was underway.
At first, it seemed that this was strictly a hot air method. But the wok
got pretty hot, so there was still that element of skillet or pan. By now
my back was sore and I needed a higher surface that wouldn't burn. The
barbeque grill was perfect on both counts, and, hey-as long as I'm here, why
not turn it on?
The hot surface and hot air combo began to produce some good roasts.
However, for a number of reasons the wok wasn't quite right. It's large,
and the hot spot is pronounced, and it is well seasoned, which means it's
not particularly slippery. I was working too hard stirring and wanding in
order to keep the beans together and evenly exposed. One day I might try a
different wok, but now other ideas were flowing. I was wondering how I
could emulate Jim's wok arrangement where his wok sits low into the heat
area and provides a wider, more even surface heat from below. I had also
just finished Kenneth David's book, and I had images of drum, air, and fluid
bed roasting in mind. I thought that if I could keep hot the sides of a
smaller circumference bowl, the bowl, stirring, and hot air would combine
elements of these roasting methods.
Enter Betty. Betty, the basset hound has a stainless steel water bowl that
provides a smooth, compact environment for stirring, and it's surrounded by
a heat trap that keeps bowl evenly hot when heated from below by the grill
burners. I can't determine the relative heat supplied to the beans from
bowl or hot air-however, the gun is the important variable during the roast.
No dials or buttons, you just move it farther or closer. And no, I didn't
steal Betty's bowl to roast coffee in. Yuck! The new one cost $14 at Katie
's Pet Depot.
I think I may have added some of the advantages of air, fluid bed, and drum
roasting to the wok's advantages of being able to see, hear, and smell
perfectly the entire roasting process. Someone with experience can sense
every change in the beans, and if, like me, you have little experience, I
can't think of any better way to learn, and raise questions. For example,
do I want to bring a particular bean to crack after 3 or 6 or 8 or however
many minutes? (I can determine this with some precision, I just don't know
enough to establish my targets). When the crack starts, should I prolong it
or get it over with? And so on. Of course, I am too new to roasting to
understand all the data I'm taking in through my senses, and the shallowest
of my learning curves is my palate and taste memory. Even so, I'm at the
point where all roast are very good, and some are astonishing.
The downside? It's the smug factor. I'm reading emails on this list about
modifications and variacrobatics and multiple thermometers and taking apart
brand new $500 machines and scrounging the thrift stores. I'm thinking that
I've got the perfect roaster, and I've narrowed down my list of problems to
just one. Me. I can live with that.
So there it is. I'd love to hear comments and questions. I'm even open to
abuse.
Martin
The photos: http://www.pbase.com/mnl/dog_bowl_heat_gun_coffee_roasting |
"Hearty Praise and Lavish Approbations" for the effort on the post alone! Warmly, Mike Sandiland |
Martin your enthusiasm is spirit lifting. Keep digging the race isn't over yet. who knows you may have the next Home Coffee roaster to hit the market:O) Nice dog Ron rnkyle Home Roasting in SC |
Martin, This is amazing. I'll have to try some of this. I have a heat gun and my wok in the wood stove is what you are trying to duplicate. If I were in your place, I would want a larger bowl because I usually roast a pound and a half at a time. Also, I would recommend a long stainless steel spoon. Again - amazing and not in a bad way. Jim Gundlach On Monday, May 05, 2003, at 04:50PM, Martin Lipton wrote: <Snip> >cut a lot of interesting text< <Snip> |
Jim, Since I'm new to roasting and bean selection, I'm working only in small batches. I've done 3.5 to 5.5 oz in 1/2 oz increments. Frankly, at 5 oz I have some trouble keeping the beans in the bowl. It's one of those acquired skill things. One and one-half lbs. in a wok is more than I can imagine. But the heart of this is simply to add a dimension that allows you to control some blowing heat (which I understand to be preferable to static heat). Just a hunch, but I'm very curious as to how the heat gun might work in connection with a rotisserie. I can imagine tracking across the tumbling beans, using the gun to help you reach a target time if you sensed that the roast was going too slow or if you just wanted to ramp up the temp. BTW, I was using a stainless spoon, but the metal on metal was annoying. I got this 16" wood one for $3.50 from otherwise pricey Williams Sonoma. Seems to be lasting. |
Great description of the process and design. How does the coffee taste? Is it more like air roasted or more like drum roasted? Is there a comparison? Inquiring minds want to know. I've tossed around another 'hybrid' idea that would use a heat gun to blow hot air into a roasting drum as it roasts on the grill. This is to provide a bit of convection current and to blow away excess smoke as the roast nears completion. I envision a perforated tube through the middle of the drum. I'm thinking the heat gun on one end and connected to a vent tube to the outside on the other end. When an air baffle is opened, it would allow excess smoke to be exhausted. It's just an idea now, but I've already got the 1 3/4" diameter x 12" long perfed SS tube I plan on using, (and of course I also have the grill roaster). Ed Needham To Absurdity and Beyond!http://www.homeroaster.comed **************************************** ********************************************** |
Ed, The coffee is delicious. That's about the level of comment that my experience warrants. At this point, I can replicate a roast for a particular bean and play with an inferred profile. That is, take it two minutes longer if that is what I decide, or take less time to achieve the same "level" of roast as the longer roast. I can hurry up the first crack or delay it. All I need is my timer and a careful eye. This capacity, by design or by on-the-spot inspiration, seems to be the greatest potential for this method. Sometimes I can tell (and/or remember) the diff, enough to compare, sometimes not The taste difference between drum and air? No way. I didn't even know there was a difference in the machines until 5 weeks ago. I think that this can be an excellent, or at least, entertaining roasting tool in the hands of people who really know what they are doing and tasting. I'm hoping that you, Jim, and others will try adding air to a wok or grill--and share your results. Martin |
Martin, good posts. Would you mind sharing the information about the heat gun? I'm currently considering buying an affordable one with two heats settings [up to 300 & 500 C], and I'm wondering if it is comparable with the one you use. Also, have you given any thought to using a thermometer or any other temperature measuring device, to monitor the temperature of the beans in the dish, or the air near the beans? -Norm Szcyrek <Snip> Get Paid... With Your Free Email athttp://www.zwallet.com/index.html?user=habscout |
This post made my day, Martin. You have a right to the smug factor! Looking forward to further developments. Andy ---------------------------------------------------- [snipped Martin's most excellent account of his roasting experience] The photos: http://www.pbase.com/mnl/dog_bowl_heat_gun_coffee_roastingFree e-mail! you A service of www.WallaWallaGuide.com Select your own custom email address for FREE! Get you w/No Ads, 6MB, POP & more!http://www.everyone.net/selectmail?campaign=tag |
Martin, It really doesn't take long to get up to speed with coffee roasting. Sometimes we get full of ourselves trying to determine whether it's the "nuance of grapefruit rind or essence of lemon zest" we are tasting in the "finish", but hey, it's really not rocket science. OK, to one guy, who 'was' a rocket scientist, it was, but to the rest of us, it's just mostly trial and error roasting and tasting. We all have our 'pet' roasting methods and favorite beans, but for the most part, it's just a really important hobby/lifestyle/art/craft to most of us. Heck, even my drum roasted taste vs. air roasted taste example could easily be challenged by many here. Actually, it was, and in reality, according to several well respected coffee folk, they said it was the same, when roast profiles were similar. Good enough for me. Now... Air roast vs. Drum Roast taste comparison What I really meant was "as compared to a typical air roast vs. a typical drum roast". A typical air roast can tend toward being brighter and snappier than a typical drum roast, which tends toward being more full bodied, thicker mouthfeel, longer, more lingering aftertaste. Not to say one is better than the other, but they are different. Different coffees respond in different ways to each method, and some are enhanced by one method or the other. An air roast is generally faster, and uses volumes of hot air to agitate and quickly roast the beans. The heat source is generally constant (unless the machine has been modded to be able to control the heat) and varies only because of the changes in airflow throughout the roast. The beans roast quickly and are generally done in a matter of minutes. Drum roasters for home use usually have much larger batch sizes (1 to 10 pounds), and even with smaller batch sizes, the roasting time is much longer than air roasters at 15 to 25 minutes. Roaster temperatures using the Hottop and Alpenrost drum roasters are not easily controlled, but roasting done in a drum using a gas grill can be controlled easily. Agitation is done by stirring vanes inside the drum and not with air as with an air roaster. Some say this has an effect on the outcome of the roast. Others say it's the speed of the roast. In your roaster, you've got several things going on at once. You've got hot air agitation, direct heat roasting from the hot bowl, as it is placed over the grill, and three way heat variability. It's a bit labor intensive to hold the heat gun for the length of the roast and keep all those swirling beans in check, but my guess is that you 'should' be able to get a really good roast. For those of you who choose to challenge any of the points I made, go ahead. I'll probably agree with you . Ed Needham To Absurdity and Beyond!http://www.homeroaster.comed **************************************** ********************************************** |
I'm wondering if this concept can be tied in with the TurboCrazy roaster of a while back...The StirCrazy popper comes with a dome which is not used with the turbo oven, but might be useful with the heat gun. If a hole were cut on some part of the dome, the gun could be inserted and aimed at the beans while the rods agitated them. The dome would keep the beans from flying off the plate if the air from the heat gun is too strong. One might even be able to mount the heat gun to point at the beans through the hole and let the stirring rods do all the work ...Just a thought... Ciao, Angelo <Snip> |
Norm It's a Makita, variable control, continuous from 250 to 1100 F. I run it at full, and work the temp "control" by distance from the beans. I'd go for at least that much power and temp--if the coffee thing doesn't work out, you'll still have a decent tool. Ideally, I'd like to find one that has a diffuser so I could "focus" the beam of air to match my "target." I think there's some useful potential for measuring the heat coming off the under-source near or directly at the bottom of the bowl. Not that the knowing absolute temp at that point would be that useful, but it might help to have relative benchmarks for changing the ratio of heat reaching the beans via the gun or the bowl. Right now I just set 2 of my grill burner bars at "medium." However, I am still catching up to making sense of the variables I can already measure. I'll get some more experience working with time of roasts before I start messing with origins of the heat. Martin |
Sometime around 12:15 5/6/2003, Andrew Thomas typed: <Snip> Good pics. My first thought Martin is that I would set up a "drill press" to hold the heat gun and be able to move it up and down. That way, in 2 years, after you have long perfected this technique (not that it will take 2 years) you could "walk away" sometimes since it will be routine by then. <Snip> -- John Nanci AlChemist at large Zen Roasting and Blending by Gestalt |
It seems to me that the heat gun should be sufficient to agitate the beans if it is placed in an effective orientation. The bowl would need a lip around the top to keep the beans (and heat) inside. I would imagine a stainless steel bowl of any shape would work, but one with a non-tiltable base would be the best. A dog bowl configuration would be fine. Even turned upside down, the dog bowl would work (hey, a little bean racetrack!) if there was a barrier to keep the beans in the bowl as the heat gun blew them around. I feel another project coming on... (No! Gotta finish the ones I've already started.) "No Doc, I'm not talking to myself. I'm 'typing' to myself." Ed Needham To Absurdity and Beyond!http://www.homeroaster.comed **************************************** ********************************************** |
<Snip> <Snip> Dammit Ed. I also have a degree in Aerospace Engineering and I live for "rocket scientist" jokes. How am I supposed to make witty comments after a statement like that? -Chuck Former AV-Geek turned Coffee Geek |
Ah man. I'm still learning the different flavors of coffee. Now I need to worry about the after taste of Fido's previous meal? This is just too much deal with. -Chuck <Snip> |
Hey, how about me. My Dog only weighs 4 lbs. I'm going to have to roast about 1 oz at a time. I need a Great Dane. :-( Chuck the AV-Geek wrote: <Snip> |
heheheh... There are no brain surgeon, rocket scientist type jokes for a therapist. How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the light bulb has to want to change. Ba Da Boom Ed Needham To Absurdity and Beyond!http://www.homeroaster.comed **************************************** ********************************************** |