Gourmet Coffee Corner

Now that we’ve covered the beans, it’s time to move on to the roasting process. If you don’t have a newfangled roasting machine to use in conjunction with your coffee makers, you can roast your beans in a simple convection oven. Simply lay the beans out on a baking sheet, preheat the oven to about 500 oF and roast for 15-20 minutes. There aren’t any steadfast rules when it comes to roasting coffee; as I said yesterday, the roast is largely a matter of personal preference. But you still need to know so you know when to stop. Here are some of the easiest indicators:

~Color: Once you create beans you like, burn that image into your mind and try to replicate it in subsequent roasts.

~Smell: As the beans become done, the smell will morph from green veggies to rich coffee.

~Sound: The beans will begin to snap and pop as the water is forced out as steam.

~Time: If you use the same roasting method each time, the duration of the roast will be your most reliable metric.