Popcorn Pumper
While this is more of an interesting project than a practical one, those of us with a streak of MacGyverism might have fun seeing if you actually can roast coffee with a popcorn popper. Short answer: You can. As freshly roasted coffee is tastier, there could be a time when this is worth doing.
Some caveats before we dive into the technique.
1) Don't expect to be able to roast any more than 3-4 ounces at a time.
2) Use a hot air popcorn popper. The popcorn poppers that use oil might work... but the quality of your roasted beans will be pretty poor.
3) The popper you use must be designed so the hot air enters the popping (or roasting) chamber from the side. The beans should be sitting in the base of the chamber, and the bottom of the chamber should be solid, without a grate.
4) Expect a bit of a mess. Chaff from the green beans is going to get spread around.
5) Don't expect to brew your newly roasted coffee immediately. It will need to "rest" 4 to 48 hours after roasting to achieve peak flavor.
Here is a short list of popcorn poppers that have been used to roast coffee: The Popcorn Pumper, Salton Popcorn Maker, Popaire 2 by Hamilton Beach and the West Bend Poppery II.
So -- for entertainment value and culinary education -- here is how to roast coffee with your popcorn popper.
1) Put the popcorn popper in a well-lit and well-ventilated spot. You will need to be able to look into the popping/roasting chamber and see changes in the beans.
2) Fill the popcorn machine with the same amount of beans as you would use popcorn kernels.
3) Put the cover on the popper and a bowl under the chute.
4) Turn the popper on. In about 3 minutes you should begin to smell the "coffee smoke" and hear the beans starting to crack.
5) Let the beans roast for another minute for a light roast, and another 2-3 minutes for a darker roast. Try to look into the chamber and gauge the doneness of the beans by their color. Remember -- slightly under-roasted is better than burned. Also remember that you'll want to stop the roasting when the beans look a shade or two lighter than how you want them to be, as the roasting process will continue after you have turned the machine off and even after you've removed the beans from the popcorn popper.
6) The beans are going to be extremely hot. Move them into a metal colander and move them around with a metal spoon. You may want two bowls to toss them back and forth to aid cooling.
7) Put the cooled beans in an airtight jar out of direct sunlight (but not in a freezer or refrigerator). Do not close the seal, as the beans need to vent CO2 gas for at least 12 hours.
Pamella Neely writes about how to start a bakery and how to start a home bakery.
Whats On My YouTube Today?
Popcorn Maker
Here Are A Few Items From Amazon You Might Be Interested In.
[phpzon keywords="Popcorn Pumper" searchindex="All" templatename="columns" columns="2" num="10"]Items recently purchased on this site:
Thanks for visiting!
Tags: howto, coffee, popcorn pumper instructions, popcorn pumper