lsegeorge@m (Geogre) wrote in message news:<bb8a4174.0403012206.609ba6f5@ com>...
> > >
> > > I have been roasting for 2 months and I am a bit confused with the
> > > timing of my roast
> > >
> > > I have gone through the Home roasting book by Keneth Davids and
> > > decided that I want to aim for roasts around the City to Full City
> > > era.
> > >
> > > I am roasting with a Hearthware Precision and I was considering using
> > > a Cooper Large thermometer to aim the roasts more accurately.
If you don't have your home roaster modified or you don't use a
Vivaric, I think using a thermometer doesn't help a lot for your
roasting. As you may know, un-modified small roasters are set to run
up to the aimed temperature. Each time the heating element heat up in
an unstable way, especially apparent in your first and second batch.
So, how can you "control" the roasts "accurately" when so many factors
are inaccurate? A thermometer doesn't help to gain the accuracy you
claim for, but adds the monitoring function on the temperature. :)
> > >
> > > How will the temp on the Cooper relate to the internal bean
> > > temperature suggested by Keneths Book? Should I aim higher than the
> > > internal bean temperatures and if so by how much?
Once you gain more roasting experiences (roast more batches), you will
notice one fact that, the temperature you get from the thermometer is
NOT that of the coffee beans. But don't be frustrated. The
temperature is still a funtional sign. You may try to record the
cracking temperature point every time (1st and 2nd cracks), and see
what's going on with the numbers. It's just a relative referecial
info.
> > >
> > > Will the difference (if any) between internal bean temperature and
> > > roasting chamber temperature be different when aiming for different
> > > roasts (i.e. when roasting for City than when roasting for French)
Practices make perfections. :)
> > > Will it damage my roaster if I enlarge one of the 8 holes on the
> > > centre of the chaff collector?
> > >
It depends on your drilling skill. :P
> > > How far should I push the cooper in the roasting pot, is half way ok?
> > >
Anywhere would be OK. But the most important is, you must fix the
position for each roast. Then the temperature you get from the
thermometer is significant.
> > > Finally is roasting by temperature a sound method compared to roasting
> > > by sight and sound? (2 Crack is hard to hear with the precision)
> > >
Yes...but just for the modified ones, not for the prototype ones. But
even for one who operates a modified one, learning to tell the smells
and sounds are also very crucial keys for a good result. :)
> > > Thanks for all your help !
> >
Good luck~ :)
Simon Hsieh
Fun but confusing 
