First Time Roasting

[rene]

I'm very much an amateur with chocolate roasting. I bought a bag of Go Chocolate Raw Sun Dried Whole Peeled Cacao Beans and thought how fun it would be to grind and make hot chocolate. I did that in a coffee grinder, dumped the grinds in milk and heated. Then I strained through a mesh strainer and, poof, great hot chocolate. So, I decided to order various beans in the sample packet from Alchemy, also for fun. I had done a bit of research before I roasted them in my oven. Well, I think I burned all four sample bags (not in the bag of course). They ended up smelling like "burnt" even though that smell really wasn't there while roasting. I roasted at 350 for about 25 minutes stirring once and just checking them. I heard some popping but nothing much. I sure made a mess of my fun experiment plus I was very disappointed that I didn't have the opportunity to taste some different flavors of cocoa. Not sure if I'll try it again, a bit of an expensive goof!! Great forum!!

[jamescary]

Rene, sorry to hear that you're roasting didn't go well. But, don't give up! Your oven probably has some hot spots in it (most home ovens do - as the heat cycles on/off) and may have gotten a little warmer than 350. You can set your oven a little lower (maybe 300) and make sure to preheat it. If you've got a cast iron pan, turn it upside down and put it in the cold oven when you preheat it. Then place your cookie sheet of beans on top of that. You can also use a pizza stone if you've got that.
Then let the beans roast for 20 minutes and take one out and smell it. If it's brownie chocolatey, it's good. If it's still somewhat vinegary leave the beans in for another 5 minutes and check again. At 300, I think it should take not much more than 30-35 minutes (probably 23-27 minutes could be about right).

[Brad]

James;

Good advice.

I "second" the advice that smell is the key when trying to determine roasting times for beans. I have found that the smell starts nice, goes sour/vinegary, and then transitions into a nice "brownie baking" smell with slight vinegary notes. At about the "brownie" stage, you are done.

I also agree with lower temperatures. I roast my Ocumare Criollo in my home oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees exactly, taking them out every 10 minutes to stir and rotate them.

One other thing: MAKE SURE AIR CAN FLOW AROUND THE PANS. One of the biggest mistakes people do with home ovens is put two trays side-by-side on the bottom rack. this blocks the flow of heat, and will cause the element to remain on longer than it should when the oven cycles. This will burn everything on the bottom rack EVERY time. I promise.

In closing, I can honestly say that my garden is a better place for the beans I've burnt!

[Sebastian]

Just a thought, but instead of using pans with a solid bottom, make a frame with a screen on it and some raised lips for edges, and roast on that. You'll get much better airflow and heat transfer than by setting the beans on a flat hot surface w/o any ventilation.

[cheebs]

Or, just use perforated half-sheet pans. About $10 ea at any bakery supply. (copied from Brad)

[Sebastian]

even better. one day i'll learn to read slower and more thoroughly