Planning a consistent production roast
I read a Perfect Daily Grind Español guide on keeping roasts consistent as volume grows, and I found its practical focus useful. The core idea is that consistency comes more from a stable, disciplined routine than from very precise profiles.
The author, Daniel Lancaster, who runs a roastery in Black Mountain, USA, starts with preheating, which should always be done the same way, at the same temperature and for the same length of time. He then asks you to control the moisture, density and temperature of the green coffee, and to log the humidity and temperature of the roasting room too, because all of these change heat transfer.
One part that caught my attention is the between-batch protocol: checking the cooling trays, removing the chaff, inspecting the drum and restarting the machine. According to the article, this stage explains most of the day-to-day variation, so reference profiles should include a reproducible protocol. He also recommends ordering the day's roasts from light and dense coffees to dark and less dense ones, forecasting volume from confirmed orders, and rotating green stock to keep it fresh.
Machine size matters too: a small one forces back-to-back batches with no recovery time, and a large one produces partial loads that behave differently. At Café Mokxa in France, they moved from a 12 kg roaster to a 60 kg one and saw fewer errors than when they did six 10 kg batches. The piece also recommends cupping at the start, middle and end of production.
A word of caution: the article is sponsored by IMF Roasters and promotes its equipment, so it's worth reading that part with some distance. Still, the routine advice applies to any roaster.
Source: Perfect Daily Grind Español
The author, Daniel Lancaster, who runs a roastery in Black Mountain, USA, starts with preheating, which should always be done the same way, at the same temperature and for the same length of time. He then asks you to control the moisture, density and temperature of the green coffee, and to log the humidity and temperature of the roasting room too, because all of these change heat transfer.
One part that caught my attention is the between-batch protocol: checking the cooling trays, removing the chaff, inspecting the drum and restarting the machine. According to the article, this stage explains most of the day-to-day variation, so reference profiles should include a reproducible protocol. He also recommends ordering the day's roasts from light and dense coffees to dark and less dense ones, forecasting volume from confirmed orders, and rotating green stock to keep it fresh.
Machine size matters too: a small one forces back-to-back batches with no recovery time, and a large one produces partial loads that behave differently. At Café Mokxa in France, they moved from a 12 kg roaster to a 60 kg one and saw fewer errors than when they did six 10 kg batches. The piece also recommends cupping at the start, middle and end of production.
A word of caution: the article is sponsored by IMF Roasters and promotes its equipment, so it's worth reading that part with some distance. Still, the routine advice applies to any roaster.
Source: Perfect Daily Grind Español
Comments 0
Leave the first comment, in any language.
Log in to comment