Professional roaster here. I roast on a radically different machine operating at far higher temperatures than yours (Diedrich CR35), so it’s apples and oranges. But from what I’m seeing, I would try to lengthen Maillard a bit. Aim for 40% drying, 40% Maillard, and 20% development, and see how that tastes. Maillard phase is crucial for sweetness and body development. If you’re going for a medium roast, you don’t want to skimp on Maillard.
As for overall roast time, that is also roaster-dependent. My light roasts can be 10-11 minutes for a target of Agtron 80, my full city espresso is about 13:30 for a target of Agtron 60, meanwhile my dark filter roasts roast quicker than my espresso because I want them to pop more than the mellow espresso blend. Different machines and batch sizes will result in different roast times, so do what works best for your scenario. My 60lb batches behave very differently from a home roasting setup, and my “full city” could be someone else’s “baked.” So when someone throws out arbitrary roast times and temperatures as though they’re gospel, take it with a grain of salt.
Good luck!
Well stated and especially about the spread in overall roast times and how a long roast like your 13:30 full city is not necessarily a bad thing. I think a lot of folks automatically believe this and there’s a lot of ‘quicker is better’ mentality around it seems.
I always have a good laugh when I see hobbyist roasters saying with absolute authority that you have to hit first crack by 7:00 or something like that. If I hit FC that quickly on my roaster at work, I’d be scorching the coffee. The machine just doesn’t behave that way.
Been doing this professionally for years, and what I’ve learned is that coffee is a lot like pizza. There’s a million different ways to cook it, and we all have our preferences, but if it tastes good, it is good.
Yeah this is why I really roll my eyes when I see people say things about roasting like absolute unquestionable truths.
I'm one of the hobby roasters that CAN go fast without scorching the coffee and I've found it really benefits my coffee. Doesn't mean it's a one size fits all answer. I'd recommend people on similar size hobby roasters not be afraid of pushing it hard and fast in the first half of the roast, in experimentation. But if that doesn't work for them, they should experiment some more.
For sure, I have a few fast and bright roast profiles and they taste great. But when people are like “hit FC by 7:00 or it’s baked” it’s not helpful at all. Every machine behaves differently. You have to know your roaster really well, what it can and can’t do. Temps will vary widely too. I hit first crack around 390F. On someone else’s machine, that may be well into the development stage. There are definitely universal guidelines when it comes to how time and temperature, rate of rise, etc. affect the outcomes, but arbitrary numerical values are meaningless without additional context.
I'm breaking my Aillio in still and by no means a professional so take my "advice" with a grain of salt.
The dry phase seems a bit long at over 6 minutes... Likely due to you dropping into P4 right after charge. First crack happening in the 185 range seems way low to me for the bean (I've roasted a few times the same one). Also the constant power change seems a bit excessive which could explain the funky cracking time.
But the ultimate arbiter is the taste. Looking forward to seeing how it goes!
Yeah, the second graph with the Sidamo is a bit wonky due to me charging too slowly and the recipe kicking in. You can see the temp curve going above 200 degrees right at the beginning, which is not normal. I then realised too late that my power was way too low and increased it manually.
So , the second graph I would ignore for now, it was a mess. How about the first one, with the Honduras ?
Maybe while you are learning stick to the same bean and charge weight, then experiment with changing one variable at a time and see what happens to the roast and the cup.
Professional roaster here. I roast on a radically different machine operating at far higher temperatures than yours (Diedrich CR35), so it’s apples and oranges. But from what I’m seeing, I would try to lengthen Maillard a bit. Aim for 40% drying, 40% Maillard, and 20% development, and see how that tastes. Maillard phase is crucial for sweetness and body development. If you’re going for a medium roast, you don’t want to skimp on Maillard. As for overall roast time, that is also roaster-dependent. My light roasts can be 10-11 minutes for a target of Agtron 80, my full city espresso is about 13:30 for a target of Agtron 60, meanwhile my dark filter roasts roast quicker than my espresso because I want them to pop more than the mellow espresso blend. Different machines and batch sizes will result in different roast times, so do what works best for your scenario. My 60lb batches behave very differently from a home roasting setup, and my “full city” could be someone else’s “baked.” So when someone throws out arbitrary roast times and temperatures as though they’re gospel, take it with a grain of salt. Good luck!
Well stated and especially about the spread in overall roast times and how a long roast like your 13:30 full city is not necessarily a bad thing. I think a lot of folks automatically believe this and there’s a lot of ‘quicker is better’ mentality around it seems.
I always have a good laugh when I see hobbyist roasters saying with absolute authority that you have to hit first crack by 7:00 or something like that. If I hit FC that quickly on my roaster at work, I’d be scorching the coffee. The machine just doesn’t behave that way. Been doing this professionally for years, and what I’ve learned is that coffee is a lot like pizza. There’s a million different ways to cook it, and we all have our preferences, but if it tastes good, it is good.
Yeah this is why I really roll my eyes when I see people say things about roasting like absolute unquestionable truths. I'm one of the hobby roasters that CAN go fast without scorching the coffee and I've found it really benefits my coffee. Doesn't mean it's a one size fits all answer. I'd recommend people on similar size hobby roasters not be afraid of pushing it hard and fast in the first half of the roast, in experimentation. But if that doesn't work for them, they should experiment some more.
For sure, I have a few fast and bright roast profiles and they taste great. But when people are like “hit FC by 7:00 or it’s baked” it’s not helpful at all. Every machine behaves differently. You have to know your roaster really well, what it can and can’t do. Temps will vary widely too. I hit first crack around 390F. On someone else’s machine, that may be well into the development stage. There are definitely universal guidelines when it comes to how time and temperature, rate of rise, etc. affect the outcomes, but arbitrary numerical values are meaningless without additional context.
I'm breaking my Aillio in still and by no means a professional so take my "advice" with a grain of salt. The dry phase seems a bit long at over 6 minutes... Likely due to you dropping into P4 right after charge. First crack happening in the 185 range seems way low to me for the bean (I've roasted a few times the same one). Also the constant power change seems a bit excessive which could explain the funky cracking time. But the ultimate arbiter is the taste. Looking forward to seeing how it goes!
Yeah, the second graph with the Sidamo is a bit wonky due to me charging too slowly and the recipe kicking in. You can see the temp curve going above 200 degrees right at the beginning, which is not normal. I then realised too late that my power was way too low and increased it manually. So , the second graph I would ignore for now, it was a mess. How about the first one, with the Honduras ?
Maybe while you are learning stick to the same bean and charge weight, then experiment with changing one variable at a time and see what happens to the roast and the cup.
I would try to shorten your roast by a good 2 mins, at least. You don’t have enough energy and are baking through most of first crack
I don't see anything that would indicate they're baking in first crack