Roasting coffee at home doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby or require expensive equipment. You can make delicious, consistent and evenly roasted coffee with just a stainless steel skillet and a stove.
Stainless steel versus cast iron for coffee roasting?
My preference is a 10″ stainless steel skillet. Historically, coffee was roasted in a cast iron skillet over an open fire. In modern times stainless steel is the method I prefer as it holds its heat very well and makes tossing coffee easier. I surely wouldn’t want to try tossing coffee in a cast iron pan!
How much to roast?
I like to roast in small batches as large batches can get very smokey. I do 1/2 cup of green beans which yields around 8 cups (4 mugs of coffee in America).
Where can I buy green coffee beans?
I personally recommend Sweet Maria’s. They are not an affiliate but I find their detailed descriptions of the coffee to be on-point and very helpful when deciding which bean to buy. I am a fan of the Costa Rica and Nicaragua origins lately.
Roasting coffee can take some time an patience to learn. Each bean has its own nuances and way it likes to be roasted. If you don’t succeed on the first attempt, just keep trying!
Pan Roasted Coffee
Description
An easy to follow recipe for roasting fresh coffee at home.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Roast to First Crack
Preheat a 10" stainless steel skillet on medium-low heat (closer to medium).
Add the coffee to the skillet. Whisk for 30 seconds then toss for 20 seconds. Repeat for 7-10 minutes until you hear the coffee start to crack. It will sound similar to popcorn popping. The combination of whisking and tossing will ensure even roasting.
See gallery for more pictures. -
Roast the coffee
After the coffee starts to crack roast to your desired level. Af this stage it will be a light roast. Continue roasting for 3 minute or until the coffee starts to crack again for medium roast. For a dark roast, the coffee will start to get oily and will be into the second crack.
One thing to note is when roasting coffee the chaff will come off. This papery layer can make a mess over your stove and is the reason it was done outside. What I do to combat this is every minute I toss it over the sink and let the chaff float off. If your sink is right next to your stove you can give this a try, but if it is more than a few seconds away you will want to avoid this method. The skillet would lose too much heat and impede on the roasting by cooling down the beans. -
Toss to cool
Place the beans into metal bowl and toss to cool them off. Once fully cool place in a ziploc bag or container not fully closed. Let rest for at least a day then store in a sealed container.
You can drink the coffee a day after roasting.
