5 Home Coffee Roasters To Let You Have The Coffee Of Your Dreams Everyday. You are ready to step up your coffee brewing game and roasting coffee at home is a logical next step. Before that happens, though, you need to pick your home coffee roaster. One that you can not avoid, and one that you will never regret! Home coffee roasters offer the possibility to discover whole new blends.
A home coffee roaster will allow you to control the quality of your coffee each morning. We all have different preference and often market coffee just do not do the trick for us. This is the answer to your prayers if you are struggling with a similar problem.
Lets you learn a lot more about the origins of coffee and how it behaves under heat. Once you have scented the aroma of freshly roasted beans, you can never go back to buying them in your local shop, no matter how inconvenient it might be.
There are other benefits to roasting your coffee at home. One of the biggest is that you will have the freshest beans possible. Another factor is – green beans are cheaper. And the third point – you’ll love it! The process, the smell, the work and energy you leave there, and the satisfaction of your first perfect roast.
While pre-roasted coffee can still bring flavour, coffee beans start to lose their richness after some time. You don’t have to be an expert to make coffee from freshly grounded coffee beans; just buy a good home coffee roaster. If you have no idea about coffee roasters, we are here to help you. We listed a few home coffee roasters just for you. Here are 5 home coffee roasters for perfectly roasting your beans.
- 1. 5 Home Coffee Roasters For Perfectly Roasting Your Beans
- 1.1. 1. Fresh Roast SR540 – Home coffee roaster for beginners
- 1.2. 2. Gene Cafe CBR-101 – Home Coffee roaster for knowers and professionals
- 1.3. 3. KALDI coffee-W – Favorite amongst baristas
- 1.4. 4. Behmor 5400 1600 Plus – Most capacity of all home roasters
- 1.5. 5. Nuvo Eco Ceramic Coffee Bean Roaster – Stovetop coffee roaster of the year – everyone’s favourite
- 2. Why should you roast coffee at home?
- 3. What Are The Types Of Coffee Roasters?
- 4. Which One To Choose – Electric roasters or Stovetops?
- 5. Ease of use and Cleaning of your roaster
- 6. Closing Thoughts
5 Home Coffee Roasters For Perfectly Roasting Your Beans
1. Fresh Roast SR540 – Home coffee roaster for beginners
The Fresh Roast SR540, the successor of the SR500, is the perfect tool for those who are new to roasting beans with anything else than a popcorn popper. It is easy to use and understand intuitive controls and has a simple but sturdy design.
Most coffee connoisseurs would suggest starting with the FreshRoast SR540 as it provides decent control over the roasting process. With this small coffee roaster, you can roast 4oz (or 120 grams) of beans at a time. That is more than enough for a few cups and will last a few days. It has a real-time temperature display. However, since the temperature is measured where it enters the chamber, it might slightly vary the actual temperature within the chamber. If you want to be completely precise, you should use an infrared thermometer for that.
The fan provides a constant and throughout movement of hot air between the beans. It also makes them tumble around the chamber for an even roast. It operates on the fluid bed roaster principle.
Pros
- Great control over the timer, fan, and temperature.
- Quiet enough so that you can hear the cracking of the beans.
- 3-minute cooling stage – works like a charm.
- Simple enough for anyone new to roasting to pick up this art.
Cons
- The chaff collector does not always collect all of the chaff.
- On the lower settings, the fan is too weak, the lowest you can go is on setting 3 for it to be efficient, but that is enough for a good roast.
2. Gene Cafe CBR-101 – Home Coffee roaster for knowers and professionals
One of the home coffee roasters that are capable of roasting larger batches of beans of up to 8oz. The Gene Cafe coffee roaster offers great control over the roasting process. Its 3D off-axis drum rotation system provides an even and throughout roast of all the beans while decreasing the overall roasting time to around 15 minutes per full batch. One of its qualities is the quietness with which it operates. Meaning you can safely use it in your house without troubling your family and neighbours. It also has a smoke reduction system in place for your darker roasts.
The temperature and time controls can be adjusted before and during the roasting providing you with great adjustability over the process. The chaff collector is large and highly effective in collecting all the chaff from the drum.
The part yet – you can see the beans clearly; during the process. So you do not need to trust that your time and temperature settings are correct (even if they are impeccable). You can see the beans at all times and just hit the stop button when you see that they have reached the perfect roast level.
Overall, this is the small coffee roaster for home use for both – those new to this and those who have had some practice already. Although this coffee maker stops short at the higher end of the price tag, it is well worth it, much like Apple products.
Pros
- The capacity of nearly 8oz (250 grams) – enough for a week’s worth of coffee even for the most demanding of us.
- 15 minutes roasting time – for a full batch of 8oz that is impressive.
- 3D off-axis rotation – ensures an even roast every time.
- 120v power outlet.
- Very quiet and efficient.
- Easy to ventilate and clean.
Cons
- The chaff collector does not always collect all of the chaff.
- On the lower settings, the fan is too weak, the lowest you can go is on setting 3 for it to be efficient, but that is enough for a good roast.
3. KALDI coffee-W – Favorite amongst baristas
South Koreans love their coffee, so it should not come as a surprise that they also know how to make home coffee roasting equipment, too. The KALDI coffee W is made following the traditions of Korean engineers – sleek, sturdy-looking, and modern, with some rough edges and lots of stainless steel.
You will need a gas burner for this coffee roaster, as well as an electrical outlet to work the drum and make it go around. But that is the traditional way of roasting beans and one that is preferred by most baristas. You can use a stovetop gas burner for this coffee roaster if you want.
You will have great control over the roasting process. Being able to manipulate the time and temperature of the roaster. Pro advice – write down your settings every time you use it to be able to return to what settings were good for you to be able to replicate the results. This is not a machine that you can simply turn over, walk away, and then get back to when the roast is finished. You will need to keep an eye on it and tweak the settings along the way for the perfect roast.
Pros
- Convenient control over roast with the gas burner.
- The cooling cycle can be started right after the heating is over.
- High-quality corpus with few components.
- The drum roast system provides a larger capacity.
- Precise built-in thermometer.
Cons
- It smokes a lot for darker roasts, so – use it outdoors for that.
- The gas burner comes separately from the coffee roaster.
4. Behmor 5400 1600 Plus – Most capacity of all home roasters
Getting close to the professional-level roasting of baristas and industrial coffee roasters. This home roaster comes close to the point where it is not considered only for home roasting, but also considered as one of the coffee roaster machines for small businesses. It offers true functionality control over your roast, trumping any other roaster on this list. But for a fair price, of course.
As with other high-end coffee roasters, this is not something that you can turn on and walk away from. Constant attention is required for the performance. And it does not matter that this roaster comes with an auto-off function. If you are ready to buy this roaster that means you are truly into coffee roasting and would not leave it unattended anyway.
This roaster has five customizable roast profile settings that will allow you to repeat your results of roast batches. It features a highly effective cooling system, and a removable chaff tray, which makes it super-easy to clean and maintain. However, it is not meant to roast Vienna, French, Italian, or darker beans.
Pros
- The capacity of 1 1-pound coffee roaster – is the largest capacity among home roasters.
- High control over roast profiles (5 customizable roast profiles).
- The smoke suppressor works great and the roaster can be used in the kitchen.
- Great manual features.
- Price-to-features ratio.
Cons
- Somewhat difficult to insert the drum and requires some practice and patience.
- Can not roast Vienna, French, Italian, or darker beans.
- Not for beginners.
5. Nuvo Eco Ceramic Coffee Bean Roaster – Stovetop coffee roaster of the year – everyone’s favourite
A simple, affordable ceramic coffee roaster that will require constant attention and care – every batch you make will be better than the previous. You must truly love the process of roasting beans manually, to buy this one. And why not, it relaxes me, for example. And we all love the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans. No noise except for the swishing of the beans and the sound of the first (or second) crack.
You can take this piece of coffee-roasting equipment anywhere you go. To use it you just need a source of heat. Note that the induction heating surface won’t do with this one.
Since it is made out of ceramic the cleaning is very simple – just wipe it down with a clean cloth and it is done! Take all five seconds of your time!
This is the PERFECT tool to get you hooked on the roasting process. You will love the smell of freshly roasted beans so much that you won’t ever want to go back to the pre-roasted beans that you used to buy in the shops. And, once you have gotten to know the roasting process better you can upgrade to something more sophisticated.
Pros
- Super-cheap and easy to use.
- The handle is made out of rubber, so it does not burn your hands.
- You can take it anywhere you want.
- You can check all relatable pages that feature this project in your search.
- That includes various Amazon pages (.de, .fr, .it, .com, .co.uk, etc) as well as other online shops.
Cons
- Hot beans may fly out of the handle – watch your hands when shaking the roaster!
- Small capacity of 1 to 2 oz (30 to 70g).
Why should you roast coffee at home?
I know that you know that coffee starts losing its aroma as soon as the roasting process is finished and the beans come out of the coffee roaster. Even though we have told you many times before that nothing tastes better than coffee brewed using whole coffee beans that you grind yourself – something can taste better.
The beans that are roasted before packed, although done with the coffee roaster machines, start to lose the aroma and freshness right after you take them out of the roaster. This means – you will never get the ultimate cup of coffee unless you roast and grind the beans yourself.
That is where the home coffee roaster comes in. Nowadays you can buy a good home coffee roaster machine for a decent price and start roasting the beans yourself. Small coffee roasters will fit easily on your countertop or in your motorhome if you like to travel much and use gas stoves or burners. And larger roasters that you can plug in electricity.
Coffee roasting can be fine art, but it can also turn disastrous
You can become a true coffee guru by learning more about the process of how a green coffee bean from a field somewhere in Colombia or Brazil ended up in your house. Learning about the process of coffee roasting and the differences between roasting degrees can be fun, and a great conversation starter anywhere you go (especially in coffee shops).
And what is even better – you can adjust the taste to your preferences. You can experiment with blends, origins, roasting types, and degrees. The possibilities are endless, and you can learn about them your whole life.
So, are you convinced of the coffee roasting benefits at home? The roasting of coffee really does sound great, but how to go about it? There are several factors you need to consider before buying your own coffee roaster.
What Are The Types Of Coffee Roasters?
There are two types of coffee roasters. Not only when roasting coffee at home, but also when roasting coffee commercially. Air and drum roasters. The air roasters are generally considered small-batch coffee roasters with fewer beans being roasted at a time. Air roasters can usually do a portion for one or two people at a time.
Drum roasters are used in industrialized processes as this type of roasting can roast larger batches of beans at a time. Most people prefer air roasters over drum roasters for home use as home drum coffee roasters, tho smaller, take longer to roast the beans than the air roaster. The reason for that is that there is something artistic to using the air roaster, you have to find the perfect balance between the heat temperature, the roasting time, and the bean profile. Only then you will have the roast, it is hard to achieve, but once you have done it, the joy and pride are immense.
Air roasters
Air roasters use heated air to roast the beans, the beans do not touch the surface of the container, thus avoiding burning. Instead, they are tumbling around pushed by the heated air. These roasters do the job more quickly, and the coffee roaster models give the user a lot of control over the roasting profile, allowing you to adjust the roast to your preferences.
Drum roasters
Drum roasters work more slowly than air roasters. But they will be able to roast larger batches of beans at a time. It depends on the size of the roaster you have, but these machines will produce about 8 to 12 oz of coffee beans from one batch. As it is with the air roasters – the more you pay for the roaster the more control over the roasting process you’ll have.
Which One To Choose – Electric roasters or Stovetops?
Then you have another choice to make – whether to go for a roaster that is simple and basic to use – one that goes on the higher edge of an open fire or a stove. Or to go for a more complex machine that will use either a gas burner or will be plugged into an electricity socket. For a personal coffee roaster, you can go both ways. But before deciding think of how you are going to use your coffee roaster.
Stovetop Roaster
A roaster that is meant for a stovetop will be perfect if you are looking for an inexpensive, portable coffee roaster for your beans. The most popular choice in this category would be the ceramic coffee roaster. One of the most popular choices here is the Nuvo Eco Ceramic Handy Coffee Bean Roaster. However, with these roasters, you will need to pay more attention to listen for when the beans start to crack and they need constant attention. You will need to shake the roaster by hand quite often to stir the beans around, otherwise, they will get burnt.
Electric Roaster
An electric roaster is gaining popularity among home coffee roasters because of the ease of use, convenience, and level of control they offer. One of the most visible roasters in this category is the Fresh Roast SR540. Most famous for its ease of use and diversity, it can only roast 4oz or 120 grams of coffee beans at a time, but it comes with a wide variety of settings.
Ease of use and Cleaning of your roaster
Lucky for us, home roasters are very easy to use, most of them are one-button operated roasters where you don t have that much control over the roasting process. Usually, you will only get to manipulate the time and temperature of the roaster. And you don’t really need much more as those are the two main variables for any roast. For commercial roasters, you have much larger control, including the level of moisture, pressure, and so on.
How easy is it to clean the roaster?
Easy, they are not very complicated and a wet cloth after each roasting session will be enough. Every now and then you will need to bring it in for annual service – where it gets opened up, cleaned properly, and checked the roasters’ overall status.
What about the smoke? When roasting, some roasters will have smoke reduction systems in place, but even with those, when roasting darker beans, there will be a lot of smoke. Consider this when you buy the roaster – perhaps you will not be able to keep it in your kitchen. Spend a little more to have a smoke reduction system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What are the roast types?
There are four standard roast types. Light, medium, medium-dark and dark. Contrary to what most people think, most caffeine is not in dark roast coffee beans, but in light and medium-light roast.
Light roast – roasted at a temperature between 350°F and 400°F, at this temperature the beans will not reach the first crack and will gain a light brown colour.
Medium roast – roasted at a temperature between 400°F and 430°F, in the roasting process they will acquire a darker-brown colour and will be less acidic.
Medium-dark roast – roasted at a temperature between 435°F and 445°F. Here the beans are roasted until right after the second crack.
Dark roast – roasted at a temperature between 465°F and 480°F.
Q2. How long do coffee beans need to Degas?
This is important to know! When coffee is roasted, there are various gasses form within the beans. Most of it is carbon dioxide. The degassing process can take somewhere from 2 days to 3 weeks, depending on the coffee itself. Darker roasters will take less time for this process than lighter roasts.
What you need to know regarding the degassing process is that you should not use the coffee beans right after roasting is finished. First of all – too much carbon dioxide will ruin the taste of the coffee, you have to let it bloom for at least 12 hours before using it. For most coffee types the optimal resting time would be around 2 days, sometimes more.
Q3. When can I drink coffee after roasting?
After the roasting, you should always let the coffee beans breathe for a while, in most cases 24 hours would be enough. During this time the beans will release most of the CO2 that builds up during the roasting process and the coffee will taste better.
Q4. How long do roasted coffee beans last?
Remember always to roast just enough beans to use them in a short period. After the beans are roasted it is good to use them within a week, then just buy or roast another batch. You can keep the beans for up to 10 days, but more than that and they will start to lose the aroma and will become stale and not tasty.
Closing Thoughts
When you are interested in coffee more than just getting the first cup in the morning from your local coffee store. When you think about coffee brewing as a form of art, which it is. You start to notice how many things there are to learn. First, you need to master various coffee brewing techniques (there are quite a few). Then you realize that maybe, just maybe, buying pre-ground coffee beans from the shop is not your style anymore (there is nothing wrong with that, though those beans are great). And you would like to invest in some good coffee grinders, as you realize that you are losing some of the freshness by buying pre-ground coffee.
We know its a bit more money, but then, who can put a price on happiness? It should be something that you can pass down to your next generation as well, especially if it is well maintained. So this machine is sure to serve you in good stead.
Once you get the hang of brewing and grinding the coffee beans, the next logical step is to start roasting them, too. It takes practice, and patience, and will bring good results from your failures along the way. Nevertheless – there is nothing better than the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans early in the morning, or late into the night. Need an inspirational story? Read this interview with an aspiring coffee roaster Sara Gibson, by the Roasters Guild.
