Roasting & grinding coffee beans

[countrygrrrl]

Call me crazy, but now that I've finally finished planning next year's garden(s) and ordering most of the seeds, I've decided to start roasting and grinding my own coffee.



The problem is, I have no idea where to start. So, I'll begin with a list of questions:

1. Where do I get nice quality raw coffee beans?
2. Would is be possible to roast the beans in my George Foreman Lean Mean Roasting Machine? Or do I actually have to turn on the gas to the oven?
3. I like dark roast --- okay, I LOVE dark roast --- espresso, French Roast, can't get enough of them --- how do I do that at home?

Any other hints are greatly appreciated!

[Shrek]

This was discussed a few months back on this thread

http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=40727&

lots of information was passed around then.

[countrygrrrl]

::lightbulb::

So that's where I got the idea!

[insanity]

Ok now ive been grinding my own beans for a while.I remember the taste between the fresh ground and store bought preground being whopping!

Now is there even more night and day deference in taste between roasting raw beans than buying them from the store or from a big company prebaked? There would have to be a big difference for me to try backing my own since id have to order them to try it. Cause I hate ordering stuff!

Now if they do taste way better,couldn't i just plant the beans in my garden next spring and just grow them myself. couldn't get any fresher than that! :haha:
Seriously way don't we grow any here.Climate must be a problem?

[countrygrrrl]

I have no idea, insanity. :haha:

I do know, however, that I just went on a little rampage and bought a used coffee roaster and a bunch of raw beans.

Well, suppose it keeps me busy which is better than some things.

In any case, it will now take me a year of roasting raw coffee beans to recoup the cost of the coffee roaster (which was $50). Maybe less but I'm figuring one big thing of cheap supermarket coffee per month @ 4.99 = 10 mos. to recoup the cost of the roaster, then subtracting the cost of buying the coffee and the electricity to run the roaster = 12-13 mos. to recoup the cost of the roaster.

But hey, it's still cheaper than turning on the gas to the stove, which would run me an extra $2-300/year. :yeeha:

I will report back as soon as I get the hang of it.

[Marcia in MT]

My brother roasts his beans in a hot air corn popper and grinds them in an old hand-crank grinder he found somewhere. Says he'll NEVER go back to coffee any other way!

Can't use the popper for anything else afterwards, however.

[countrygrrrl]

Originally Posted by Marcia in MT

My brother roasts his beans in a hot air corn popper and grinds them in an old hand-crank grinder he found somewhere. Says he'll NEVER go back to coffee any other way!

Can't use the popper for anything else afterwards, however.

I thought about cruising around the thrift shops for an old popcorn popper or something similar, but decided to just go ahead and get the roaster --- given I'd likely end up spending as much money in gas driving around looking for a popper or something similar as I did for the used roaster.

And unless I'm willing to turn on the gas to the stove every day (which I'm not ), I just don't have anything else, except my George Foreman Lean Mean Roasting Machine, and I need that to make my quasi fried banana butter pudding in!!!

So I sprug for the roaster. Now I just need a mill ... although I'll likely use my mortar and pestle til I find the right mill.

[3girls]

OK, I'll bite--

How 'bout a recipe and directions for that quasi-fried banana pudding.

Also, please tell me about this G. F. Roasting machine. Do you think it is worth a look? How large are they (feed four?).

I always buy dark roast coffee beans at the grocery and grind them at home. I like my coffee to float spoons.

Sandi

[southerngurl]

Here is a website that sells seeds for many unusual plants, including dwarf coffee! Cool! I am ordering all kinds of stuff. Their prices are kind of high for seeds, but they have neat stuff. Cotton, cashews, coffee, banana, venus fly traps, ect. All seeds.

Oh wait, countrygrrrl, maybe you ought to stay away from there.

[southerngurl]

Ok... apparently I never posted the URL. http://seedrack.com/

I came back here because I had forgot the URL and hoped to find it...

[countrygrrrl]

Oh no, SG, I'm just in the middle of building a big raised bed in the greenhouse. Thanks to you, I'm now having visions of a miniature coffee plantation in there.

3girls, the quasi-banana pudding is actually, more than anything else, kind of glorified fried bananas.

Some years back, I learned that saute-ing bananas slowly in a bit of butter with some cinnamon made the absolutely sweetest treat you can imagine. No need to add sugar - no need to add anything else.

So I began improvising the basic saute recipe in my George Foreman Lean Mean Roasting Machine --- I brown some butter in it, add the bananas and lots of cinnamon, and cook and cook and cook and cook --- sometimes, they're ready at 20 minutes, sometimes it takes longer. It seems to depend on the bananas.

Be wanred that they'll look dreadful --- but I take these absolutely dreadful looking bananas AND all the wonderful banana juice they let out and everything else out of the pan (including the butter, etc) --- I moosh it up a bit and pour real heavy cream over.

Yum. It's my fave dessert right now, beating out even my homemade sugar free truffles.

I'll post more about the coffee roaster later --- I just got an email and looks like a house we put on the market two weeks ago HAS JUST SOLD!!!!!!!

woohoo!!! woohoo!!!!! woohoooooo! I can't believe it, I can't believe it!