JeffPersson Senior Member Joined: 11 May 2008 Posts: 68 Location: Goodyear, AZ Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Bialetti Moka Pot Grinder: LaSanMarco SM-90A Vac Pot: Yama 8-cup Drip: Cuisanart Roaster: Poppery I
Posted Tue May 13, 2008, 2:24pm Subject: Cast Iron Roasting
Doing further reading into the wonders of home roasting I've discovered the Cast Iron option, and more specifically Tim Eggers page on the subject. I've always been a sucker for cast iron and have several family heirlooms in my collection, so when I read about cast iron roasting I knew its something I have to try soon. I followed the link to Tim's pot as well as the pre-seasoned version of it here.
I'm trying to find out what the diameter of the pots bottom is. I'm going to be using this with a stand alone electric burner and I want to make sure the pot covers the burner. I'm hoping the burner is big enough to support using a slightly larger 4qt version so I can do bigger batches. I'm hoping someone knows the diameter of each of these pots.
Any insight or tips on Cast Iron roasting are also welcome. I've been reading some of the old threads that look to be 2+ years old, so any newer revelations would be helpful too.
mitchellb Senior Member Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 593 Location: Houston, TX Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Astra Pro, SAMA Lever Grinder: Mazzer Major Vac Pot: Cory DKG-S Drip: Bodum French Press Roaster: HGDB
Posted Tue May 13, 2008, 4:25pm Subject: Re: Cast Iron Roasting
i have had an interest in roasting large batches (1 lb+) with a burner, heat gun, wok or a burner, heat gun, and cast iron..
try it out and let us know.. i would use the outside heating source secondarily to the heat gun in my vision, but i will be following this discussion to see what other people think.
Posted Wed May 14, 2008, 6:22am Subject: Re: Cast Iron Roasting
Hi Guys! My hunch is that the pots you’re looking at will fit the burner nicely. My pot (the smallest of the ones you list) covers my burner just fine.
As far as batch size I found around 1/2-pound was best. But the addition of a heat gun to heat the beans from above (as well as the burner below) I don't see why a pond or more wouldn't work. I have tried full pounds with just the burner and almost pulled it off, the heat gun would make for success (I bet).
Posted Wed May 14, 2008, 10:31am Subject: Re: Cast Iron Roasting
What is more important to batch size than roasting chamber size alone is the ability to heat the additional bean mass evenly and quick enough without scorching that becomes critical. The roasting pot with little or no air movement will heat primarily by the beans in direct contact with the heated surfaces. Using the heatgun in addition to the heated pot will help to get the beans up to temp quicker with less chance of scorching.
Posted Wed May 14, 2008, 3:52pm Subject: Re: Cast Iron Roasting
Before buying my Behmor 1600, my two roasting methods were HG/DB in the spring, summer and early fall, and stovetop roasting in the fall and winter. I used a 3 qt. stainless soup pot on an electric range and almost all of my batch sizes were 1 lb. I had no problem roasting this amount and always achieved a nice even full city to full city plus roast. Constant stirring was the key.
JeffPersson Senior Member Joined: 11 May 2008 Posts: 68 Location: Goodyear, AZ Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Bialetti Moka Pot Grinder: LaSanMarco SM-90A Vac Pot: Yama 8-cup Drip: Cuisanart Roaster: Poppery I
Posted Wed May 14, 2008, 4:47pm Subject: Re: Cast Iron Roasting
I'm looking at it more from the approach Tim and Lloyd use with just the pot providing the heat to roast the beans. I'm not looking to invest in a heat gun, I was just trying to see if it was feasible to use a pot larger than Tim's recommended 3qt to get larger batch sizes, but I think I'll start with the 3qt cast iron pot and a half pound batch.
I'll be sure to keep a constant stir on it to try and reduce the chance of scorching.
Posted Wed May 14, 2008, 9:51pm Subject: Re: Cast Iron Roasting
JeffPersson Said:
I'm looking at it more from the approach Tim and Lloyd use with just the pot providing the heat to roast the beans. I'm not looking to invest in a heat gun, I was just trying to see if it was feasible to use a pot larger than Tim's recommended 3qt to get larger batch sizes, but I think I'll start with the 3qt cast iron pot and a half pound batch.
I'll be sure to keep a constant stir on it to try and reduce the chance of scorching.
That's probably your best bet. I did experiment with larger pots and larger batch sizes. I found that in my experience the roast quality went down the bigger I went. I suspect the inefficiency of the heat transfer due to the beans being uncovered caught up to me.
Start small and go from there. I found around 1/2-pound or less to offer the best results and I've never roasted with an electric element either. I wish you the best of luck!
Posted Wed May 14, 2008, 10:26pm Subject: Re: Cast Iron Roasting
For me, in both HG/DB and stovetop, a crucial element of my success was finding a roasting vessel of an appropriate inside diameter to give me a good depth of bean mass for heat retention. My stainless soup pot has a bottom inside diameter of seven inches. A pound of green covers the inside to a depth of just under 0.5 inches, if I recall correctly. It has been a while since I measured. I found that when I had too large of a vessel, and too shallow of a bean mass, my roasts took longer and were more uneven.
I fully agree. As far as a one size fits all I don't know, I only used my 3-quart pan for my half-pound roasts and had very good results. For the larger batches I used a 5-quart Cuisinart saucepan. Worked all right but roasts were on the long side. A heat gun would help...
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