Use this bl**dy thing properly????

[Green Aura]

Hopefully that will have got your attention.

OK. OH fancies roasting his own coffee beans - "to get the perfect blend" blah, blah.....

So, for Christmas I bought him a variety of green coffee beans and an old French coffee roaster. It's an oblong "fire box" about 30cmlong x 20cm tall x 15cm deep, with a drum that sits on top which you rotate over the hot coals.

When we tried it with red hot coals out of the boiler, they cooled off really quickly and we didn't get a roast. The only way we've managed to use it is by sitting the box on the electric hob. And then it took 2 hours to roast the sodding things It would be quicker to roast them in a saucepan!

Any ideas, or is this one to consign to the "seemed like a good idea" file.

[Green Aura]

I'd whack it on fleabay if I was you and cut your losses!

That's where I got it from

[Green Aura]

Thanks Richie, it's not roasting coffee we're having problems with, it's roasting coffee in this stupid contraption

I'm sure it'll be great if we can work it out - I wonder if smokeless fuel needs bulk to keep its heat. Maybe the house coal we use to light the boiler might be better - burns hotter too. I may have just solved my problem.

Thanks richie

[ElizabethBinary]

Frankly it sounds on a par with stuffing mushrooms - life's toooooooo short to roast a coffee bean. Sorry not helpful - I'd whack it on fleabay if I was you and cut your losses!

You take that back this instant, young lady.

[MKG]

a) I know sod all about roasting coffee beans ...

b) ... but have you thought of using charcoal?

Mike

[Green Aura]

Hey Mike - where've ya been?

I did think about charcoal but we haven't got any and there's not much at the petrol stations in January

[boboff]

Have you tried "Instant" Coffee, you just add a spoon of it to a mug, poor on hot water and Wolah! Coffee.

*ok so that wasn't that helpful was it.

I would imagine at some point it had an element in it to keep the fuel alight?

[Green Aura]

Don't know why I didn't think before. Here's a picture.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2737/429 ... 9fc9_m.jpg

The base is punctured all over to let air in, ash out presumably. No sign of ever having element or anything else.

I'm sure when we've sussed what to do it'll be really good.

[theabsinthefairy]

Green Aura

Your coffee bean roaster looks identical to our chestnut roaster - sorry :)

I have only ever roasted coffee beans in a cast iron pan on the wood burner.

[Green Aura]

That's fine - but how do you keep it hot enough to roast chestnuts - the principle must be similar.

[theabsinthefairy]

Coals from the fire straight into the bottom, chestnuts don't take long to roast. Holes are for air flow over the coals to keep them hot. Also works with wood but something like oak that burns slow. I take them straight from the Rayburn burning bin with a shovel and put them in, I don't light the fire in it.

[Green Aura]

So, I think I'm back to the idea of burning house coal rather than smokeless, which burns hotter. The coffee shouldn't take so long to roast, we just couldn't get the temperature high enough.

You can roast coffee in a popcorn pan so it doesn't matter if it wasn't originally made for that purpose, as long as we can get it good and hot. Chestnuts will be good too

I'll give it a try.