Is Roasting Your Own Coffee Beans At Home Worth It?
Is roasting your own coffee beans at home worth it? The answer to this question depends on what kind of coffee drinker you are.
If you are a coffee lover who wants to have control over every step of the brewing process, then roasting coffee beans at home is definitely worth it.
But if you’re someone who is mostly in a hurry and if you’re willing to sacrifice a little freshness and flavor in exchange for the convenience of roasted and ground coffee, then I highly recommend leaving the roasting to professionals.
Key Takeaways:
Is Roasting Your Own Coffee Beans At Home Worth It?
Roasting your own coffee at home is definitely worth it as get to craft your coffee from start to finish, but more importantly, freshly roasted coffee is much more delicious and aromatic compared with the standard store-bought variety that’s typically months old.
Having the ability to roast your own beans at home will provide you with the most authentic coffee experience possible, as well as the freshest coffee flavors. Continue reading this article to find out why it’s a fantastic idea to roast your own coffee beans at home.
Benefits of Roasting Your Own Coffee Beans
If you’ve never roasted your own coffee beans before, you might be surprised to discover that doing so has a number of advantages.
Here are a few reasons why every coffee lover should roast their own beans at home.
1. Freshness in Coffee Flavor.
There’s no denying just how appealing and intoxicating the aroma of freshly roasted coffee can be.
When you roast your own coffee, you will know where the beans come from, what the base flavors are, and what the bean went through before reaching your cup.
The roasted coffee typically acquires its best taste about a week after roasting. Most coffee roasters in the market don’t have the luxury of time to give their coffee a whole week to enhance the flavor.
When you roast your own coffee, you have the ability to invest as much time as is required to ensure that the beans develop a flavor that is to die for.
Additionally, over time, the flavor of coffee beans, whether they are whole or ground, will diminish.
The vast majority of coffee shops and coffee roasters purchase their coffee beans in bulk in order to ensure a consistent and reliable supply.
As a result, some of these coffee beans may have been sitting on the shelves for too long.
These beans have already passed their prime by the time they are roasted and packed, so freshness is not at all guaranteed when you purchase coffee from such establishments.
If you plan on roasting your own beans, buy only the amount that will last you a decent amount of time.
This will prevent the beans from becoming stale and losing their flavor. If you do it this way, you’ll always roast your beans while they’re at their peak flavor potential, and the results will be delicious.
2. Roasting Beans At Home Can Save You Money.
It can be much cheaper to roast your own coffee beans than to buy them already roasted.
However, you will need to buy the equipment you need.
A pound of commercially roasted beans can cost between $12 – $25. One pound of coffee beans that you roast yourself costs between $3 – $9.
If you are wanting to save a few dollars when it comes to your morning brew but don’t want to sacrifice quality or flavor, I highly recommend roasting your own coffee beans at home.
Roasting coffee beans at home may seem daunting and sound complicated, but its really quite simple and can be done without the need for expensive machines.
Because of this, you can save a significant amount of money by roasting your own coffee beans.
If the whole cost of harvesting, exporting, and roasting a bag of coffee beans comes to between $8- $12, then retailers have the ability to increase the price anywhere from $10 – $24, depending on the quality of the coffee beans as well as the demand for them.
If you want to save money on your daily cup of joe, roasting your own beans at home is one of the best ways to do so because it allows you to control the profit margin.
When you roast your own coffee at home, you cut away the middlemen that are the retailers and basically become your own barista.
3. You Control the Flavor Profile.
When you pick the roast level of your coffee beans, it’s easy to control the flavor of your coffee.
A light roast will give the coffee a complex flavor, while a medium roast typically imparts a balanced and earthy taste to the coffee. But if you like your coffee sweet and caramelized or smoky, go for my favorite – Dark roast!
According to research, more than 800 compounds are transformed from the flavorless compounds present in the raw beans into the delectably delicious and aromatic compounds found in roasted beans.
4. Raw Coffee Beans Have a Longer Shelf Life.
When compared to roasted coffee beans, the shelf life of raw coffee beans is significantly longer.
The shelf life of high-quality green coffee beans (provided that they are well protected from oxygen, light, and humidity) can be as long as 12 months.
While the average lifespan of roasted beans is approximately one month (also if well protected).
This implies that you can purchase green coffee beans in large quantities and store them until you need them, at which point you can toss them into your coffee roaster in smaller batches.
5. You Will Experience a Feeling of General Satisfaction.
There’s much to be said for the general satisfaction of roasting your own raw coffee beans and brewing a perfect cup from scratch.
Try the DIY approach to coffee roasting just once, and you’ll find it hard to go back to the store-bought option.
Our culture places a significant emphasis on consumption, but I believe that we also need to place emphasis on creation. If you want a bit more creativity in your life, one way to get it is to start roasting your own coffee.
How Long Does It Take To Roast Coffee Beans At Home?
The roasting time for a small batch of coffee beans at home ranges between 10 – 14 minutes, while the roasting time for a large batch is between 16 – 20 minutes.
To roast a finished product consisting of one or two pounds of fresh coffee can take as much as 20 to 30 minutes of your time in total.
Take into account that in the event that you run out of coffee, you will need to repeat the steps in this process.
How To Roast Coffee Beans at Home in a Pan?
Here’s a way of pan roasting your own green coffee beans at home in a pan on the stove. This is the most basic beginner’s way to roast coffee beans at home.
There are several other ways to do it, such as with a popcorn popper or with an actual coffee roasting machine.
But for me, this is how I roast my coffee beans at home, using a frying pan!
- Make sure that you use a pan that will hold the coffee beans and that you can safely place it on a stove.
- Put enough coffee beans in the pan so that they are easy to stir. Start with about half a cup and add more or less as needed.
- Set your pan over medium heat. The exact temperature will depend on your stove, but you want the pan to be nice and hot, about 500F.
- Pour the beans in and begin to stir. You’ll want to keep the beans moving, but you don’t have to be too aggressive.
- Over the course of 8 to 10 minutes, the beans should go from green to yellow, then from golden brown to light brown, and finally from light brown to dark brown. You may need to change the level of heat to keep the process going smoothly.
- When the beans go from golden to light brown, after about 5 minutes, you should hear the “First Crack.” From this point on, coffee can be drunk, and it’s up to you to decide when it’s done.
- Remember that you’ll need to dump the beans a shade or two lighter than where you want to end up. The beans will keep cooking a little bit as they cool down.
- After the first crack, the beans will continue to get darker. When they go from light brown to dark brown, you’ll hear the “second crack.” The second crack will keep going, but from now on, you’re heading straight for charcoal.
- When you are ready, pour the beans into your metal colander and stir them until they are cool.
- During the cooling process, the chaff that came off the beans when they were roasted will fall through the holes in the colander. You should do this outside or over a container.
- Once the coffee beans have cooled, let it “off-gas” for at least 4 hours or overnight, and then store it in a container that keeps air out.
- About 24 hours after roasting, your coffee will be at its most flavorful, so grind your beans just before brewing. If you store the coffee right, it will stay fresh for 5–7 days.
Here’s a video to guide you so that you can easily roast coffee at home in a pan.
Conclusion
Not only is it fun and rewarding to roast your own coffee, but it’s also the only way to be sure you’re getting the freshest, best-tasting beans and always drinking the roast you like: light, medium, or dark roast.
You can start roasting with whatever you already own, or you can make a few simple purchases to get started. There is essentially nothing stopping you from roasting coffee with whatever you already own. You now have the knowledge necessary to roast coffee beans in the convenience of your own home.
Amit Gupta
Hi, my name is Amit Gupta, and I am the owner and contributor at Cafeish. My obsession with coffee started when I received my first French press as a gift almost ten years ago. Since then, my love of coffee – and the number of coffee gadgets I own – has grown considerably.
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