Then there are ingenious devices that appear to be home made that cool the beans quickly once the roasting process has been completed. I was going to try the frying pan approach, but I also read up on the few coffee bean roasting machines for the home that are available.
Two in particular took my fancy, the I-Roast 2 Home Coffee Roaster (no longer available) and the Nesco Pro Coffee-Bean Roaster
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After reading up on both of them, I decided to go with the i-Roast which I ordered through Amazon yesterday.
.After reading up on both of them, I decided to go with the i-Roast which I ordered through Amazon yesterday.
The reason I chose the i-Roast was that it seems it's been on the market longer, and in fact this is "version 2", so it has a track record and the reviews at Amazon were pretty favorable. One of the great features about the i-Roast 2 is that it has the ability to save up to 10 roast settings in memory so that once you hit the sweet spot with a roast, you can save it and use it again.
Both machines have glass viewing areas which is something essential for getting your roast perfect it seems. One feature on the Nesco machine that sounded like a big plus is that it has a catalytic converter that removes the smoke; from my reading it sounds like smoke is a big thing when it comes to roasting your own beans and you're almost always going to set off your smoke alarms. So, again, that seems like a plus, but living in sunny Southern California, and having a deck with power outlets means I intend to take my i-Roast outside when I use it.
The thing that ultimately decided me against the Nesco machine is that it is brand new to the market as of January 2007, and there are no reviews for it, and even on the Nesco website there is currently very little information about the machine and its features, which seems like a major marketing faux pas to me.
I ordered some green beans from Espresso Vivace when I placed my latest coffee bean order a week ago. They supply their Dolce espresso roast as green beans. I intend to try green beans from other companies going forward too.
