Home Coffee Roasters
Home Roasting Has Never Been Easier
Home coffee roasters are must-haves in the kitchen, whether for the coffee lovers or those who just need their regular dose of coffee.
Having a roaster right in your own kitchen means you don’t have to go out of your house to get your daily dose.
You can have your fresh cup of coffee right upon waking up. However, some people are not confident about using their own coffee roasters at home. Home coffee roasting is not an easy business, and the way your coffee is roasted will certainly affect how your coffee tastes.
But you don’t need the skills of a barista to be able to roast coffee the right way. Sometimes, all it takes is the right coffee roaster for your home.
The Art of Coffee Roasting
To begin roasting coffee, you need to heat your beans to the right degree, waiting for the green beans to turn to first, yellow, then to brown. At this point, you will already smell the unmistakable fragrance of coffee.
The first crack will be heard as the moisture from the beans drain out and the sugars will begin to caramelize. If you want a light roast, you can already take your coffee out. But if you want a darker flavor, you can continue roasting until you hear a second crack.
A lot of people, however, usually reach the darkness of coffee that they prefer before the second crack occurs. If you want a more helpful machine, your best options are the automatic coffee roasters, which come with programmed roasting profiles.
These machines offer convenience especially for the bustling home user. But you also have other more specific roasters, such as the drum coffee roasters and the hot air roasters. These are both available from various brands.
Your Best Bets: iRoast 2 for the Standard Home Maker
One of the best choices of home coffee roasters is the iRoast 2, a compact unit great for home coffee roasting. This automatic coffee bean roaster can be a great complement for any brewing system. It can roast up to 5-2/7 ounces of green coffee beans, which is already quite a lot compared to the capacity of most other roasters.
The unit already comes with automatic as well as programmable roasting profiles. In fact, you can save a maximum of ten different roasting profiles. You can also adjust the time and temperature to the level you desire. The iRoast2 also comes with a built-in cooling cycle that lasts for 4 minutes, a wind tunnel, an LCD display, and a thermoflector technology. This is a pretty good buy at $199.
Your Best Bets: FreshRoast +8 for the Budget Hunter
Another good choice is the FreshRoast +8 Home Coffee Roaster, which can roast up to 3.5 ounces of green beans. This is a bit more affordable than the iRoast2, at $70 as the lowest price you will find, though it has a smaller capacity. This is just the right machine for homes with just a few coffee drinkers.
This is also an easy-to-use machine that can make roasting manageable for beginners. The machine has a smaller coffee roasting chamber, which limits capacity but definitely makes for faster roasting. This, however, requires more attention because the pace of roasting is faster. This is definitely a pretty affordable deal given the sweet package you get in exchange.
Your Best Bets: Gene Cafe Drum Coffee Roaster for the Coffee Aficionado
But if money is no object and you want more meticulous home roasting, you can go for some more expensive drum home coffee roasters. One of the best products under this category is the Gene Cafe Drum Coffee Roaster, which usually ships with up to 9 ounces of Organic Fair Trade Coffee.
This model is definitely more expensive than the other two, at $495, but is definitely a more sophisticated machine. It combines the science of a drum roaster and a hot air roaster, though the expensive roaster does not come with digital controls.
This makes it a perfect choice for old-fashioned coffee aficionados, though. The machine comes with two knobs used in controlling the roasting, a Pyrex roasting chamber, convection roasting, and time, temperature, system status as well as on-the-fly adjustments.
The best feature of this product, however, is its fine coffee roasts. This machine can give you American roasts and even Espresso roasts. Even at such an expensive price compared to other products, the Gene Cafe Drum Coffee Roaster is definitely worth the buy for coffee lovers.
Pros: The Gene Cafe Drum Coffee Roaster is definitely the best product in terms of roasting capability and quality. The FreshRoast +8 is great for beginners, and the iRoast2 is an excellent machine for the average home maker.
Cons: The Gene Cafe Drum Coffee Roaster is quite expensive, but most of its best features are stripped down by the more affordable models from other brands.
The Verdict
The type of home coffee roasters that are great for you depends primarily on what type of coffee drinker you are. Coffee lovers may be prepared to shell out $495 for the Gene Cafe model, while other average drinkers may prefer the iRoast2 with its automatic and conventional features. Budget hunters, however, will love the FreshRoast +8.
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