Fresh Roasted Coffee

 Have you ever tried roasting your own coffee? I do and really enjoy it. There's a real satisfaction in picking up a delivery of green coffee beans off the front porch and turning it into a perfectly satisfying pot of caffeinated goodness. Yes. I've mentioned this before but here's a recap:

 I started learning about home roasting via internet searches and there is a LOT of information out there. At first I just wanted to see if I could do it but once I'd experienced the difference, it snowballed into a thing. A necessity. A need. A staple. Do I still buy roasted and ground coffee? Yes, I do. I keep it on hand for those busy days when I don't have time to haul out the air popcorn popper (aka the coffee roaster.) But honestly, the taste of fresh roasted is enough to convince me to try to always have time.

 The coffee beans usually arrive in 5 or 10 pound bags and I've learned that they can be stored for a very long time as long as they are green. Once roasted, as all dedicated coffee drinkers know, the beans need to be stored carefully as they quickly become stale and bland with exposure to air. I usually roast enough for 2-3 days at a time. Truthfully, I'd like to roast enough for a week or two but if I roast too much at once- the smoke detector goes off, the dogs get upset and start howling, I have to open windows and wave a book in the air toward the smoke detector, in my haste to find a book a lamp gets knocked over,  ....it's a fiasco. So I just do a small amount. I dump in some beans, set a timer, wait, and then dump the roasted beans into a mesh strainer to cool. Easy as pie.

 But here's the new thing I want to share. I'm learning more about roasting the beans without a timer. Our original roaster popcorn popper bit the dust. I found a replacement at a second hand store but it was a different brand and definitely has a higher heat setting. I was burning the coffee! So I went back to the internet and started reading more about different roasts. And now, I think I could roast coffee without using a popper at all. If push came to shove, or if our electricity went down, I'm fairly certain I could keep us caffeinated with a cast iron skillet on a stove top!

So, what about you? Pick up any new skills lately that you'd like to brag about or share?