Roasting Beans on the Grill

Yesterday I received my first shipment of unroasted coffee beans from Sweet Maria’s and was very excited to get roasting. Not having a roaster, I decided that I would try the pan roasting method, so I went and got an old skillet I use for camping, fired up the grill, and started warming up the skillet. The skillet is one of those really heavy pans, so I wanted to get it warmed up before adding the beans.

Now mind you, I’ve never done this before, but the internet has been a great resource and I found out some of the basics of roasting:

• Beans should be roasted somewhere in the neighborhood of 350-500 degrees
• Beans should not be left sitting in the pan. Keep them moving so they don’t burn.
• Decide ahead of time, what kind of roast you want, which will determine how long to roast them.
• Cool them down quickly since they’ll keep roasting after they’re off the fire.

So after 10 minutes of warming the skillet, I threw some beans in the pan (one even layer across the bottom of the pan) and got to work. Using my thermometer, I found that I wasn’t getting enough heat from the grill with an open lid, so I closed the lid for a minute or two, opened it up and stirred the beans, and closed it again.

I kept up this process for about 13 minutes, which was about 3 minutes after the first crack.

After the grill, I put them in a colander to cool and to get the remaining husks off.

Later that evening, I used the AeroPress to brew a couple cups of coffee and was really impressed how good the coffee was. Granted it’s not rocket science, but it was my first time, and I didn’t follow the first two guidelines I mentioned above while roasting.
I think next time, I’ll try roasting the beans a little longer and do it over the stove in a more temperature controlled environment. This was a good learning experience and I urge you to comment on the different ways you’ve roasted beans.