Sunday, March 13, 2005
SCCO SUCCESS
I said in yesterdays post that there were some exciting developments on the coffee front. Well they were even more exciting than I anticipated. First of all some background:
I bought the Z&D roaster largely because it would be ideal for a beginner and that over time I would be able to learn more about the roasting process. It was successful in that, however a few weeks ago it broke down and I was without a roaster until it came back last week. I had become increasingly interested in the talk on CoffeeGeek about the SCCO and was looking forward to moving to that. Originally I had planned to make that move when we moved back to SF, but I now felt it would be a good time to do it.
Firstly, what is an SCCO. It was originally invented by Ryuji Suzuki and called the SCGG. It comprised an amalgam of a Stir Crazy Poppcorn Popper and a Galloping Gourmet convection oven. These could be bought cheaply and adapted to the process quite easily. Eventually the GG, no longer manufactured, became more and more expensive on EBay, (all those CoffeeGeeks buying them up?), so other ovens were used. I ordered a Sunpentown at NewEgg.com and bought the SC at Target. Cost: CO $59 plus shipping, SC $29, misc materials $5. $93, not bad for a coffee roaster.+
Secondly, what are the advantages of an SCCO? Look at a comparisone with the Z&D:
------------------Z&D----------------SCCO
Batch Size--------1/4lb--------------Upto 1.5lbs
Control of Roast--None---------------Complete
Ability to
Profile Roast-----None---------------Complete
Cost--------------$99----------------$89
So, last week I spent much of my time modding the SC. Below you can see the results. Clockwise from top left:An unmodded SC, Replace plastic nut with metal nut and washer,bottom of SC, bottom with heater disconnected, and taped,mods to stirring arms to improve bean movement, copper cap to protect shaft (Thanks Joe Chloupek), and the CO on top of the SC.
SC Mods
Now the fun starts...Drum Roll! With Cynthia keeping the roasting log, a record of minute by minute progress of the roast, and I, having spent hours figuring out what profile I wanted to use, we set about roasting 3/4lb (hear that 3/4lb!!!) of Brazilian Carmo Estate Peaberry, on the porch - no catalytic converter on this as you will see.
As we started the roast it was a lot of chaos, but then the supense set in. After about 7 minutes we could see the beans changing color, at 14mins First Crack started, this was the sign to lift the lid for 20secs to slow the roast down then set the lid back on and head to Second Crack (although I think that is a shame to do for a Brazilian, I wanted to see how fast it got to 2nd).
At this point a little explanation is in order. Up until now I had been roasting 1/4lb in the Z&D, and the Z&D has a catalytic converter to get rid of the smoke and the smell. There is a lot of smoke in the coffee roasting process but up until now we had never seen any. Also as you enter 2nd, some of the chaff will ignite (kind of pretty actually, one guy says he like to roast in his garage at night and watch the fireworks!)
Well, here I am now roasting 3/4lb. While there is some smoke emitted at 1st, I had heard that a second puff of smoke signals the onset of 2nd, and indeed, as we approached second, smoke comes billowing out and little pieces of chaff ignite. Cynthia, not having seen this process, thought something was amiss and calls out "My God, It's on Fire! It's on Fire!" and I don't think she was entirely reassured by my insististance that this was normal, because I wasn't entirely sure that it was myself!
So shortly after 2nd we stop the roast and cool the beans. Just had them this morning and they were wonderul. I suspect that the flavor profile was even better than with the Z&D but would have to do some side-by-side tastings to verify.
I bought the Z&D roaster largely because it would be ideal for a beginner and that over time I would be able to learn more about the roasting process. It was successful in that, however a few weeks ago it broke down and I was without a roaster until it came back last week. I had become increasingly interested in the talk on CoffeeGeek about the SCCO and was looking forward to moving to that. Originally I had planned to make that move when we moved back to SF, but I now felt it would be a good time to do it.
Firstly, what is an SCCO. It was originally invented by Ryuji Suzuki and called the SCGG. It comprised an amalgam of a Stir Crazy Poppcorn Popper and a Galloping Gourmet convection oven. These could be bought cheaply and adapted to the process quite easily. Eventually the GG, no longer manufactured, became more and more expensive on EBay, (all those CoffeeGeeks buying them up?), so other ovens were used. I ordered a Sunpentown at NewEgg.com and bought the SC at Target. Cost: CO $59 plus shipping, SC $29, misc materials $5. $93, not bad for a coffee roaster.+
Secondly, what are the advantages of an SCCO? Look at a comparisone with the Z&D:
------------------Z&D----------------SCCO
Batch Size--------1/4lb--------------Upto 1.5lbs
Control of Roast--None---------------Complete
Ability to
Profile Roast-----None---------------Complete
Cost--------------$99----------------$89
So, last week I spent much of my time modding the SC. Below you can see the results. Clockwise from top left:An unmodded SC, Replace plastic nut with metal nut and washer,bottom of SC, bottom with heater disconnected, and taped,mods to stirring arms to improve bean movement, copper cap to protect shaft (Thanks Joe Chloupek), and the CO on top of the SC.
SC Mods
Now the fun starts...Drum Roll! With Cynthia keeping the roasting log, a record of minute by minute progress of the roast, and I, having spent hours figuring out what profile I wanted to use, we set about roasting 3/4lb (hear that 3/4lb!!!) of Brazilian Carmo Estate Peaberry, on the porch - no catalytic converter on this as you will see.
As we started the roast it was a lot of chaos, but then the supense set in. After about 7 minutes we could see the beans changing color, at 14mins First Crack started, this was the sign to lift the lid for 20secs to slow the roast down then set the lid back on and head to Second Crack (although I think that is a shame to do for a Brazilian, I wanted to see how fast it got to 2nd).
At this point a little explanation is in order. Up until now I had been roasting 1/4lb in the Z&D, and the Z&D has a catalytic converter to get rid of the smoke and the smell. There is a lot of smoke in the coffee roasting process but up until now we had never seen any. Also as you enter 2nd, some of the chaff will ignite (kind of pretty actually, one guy says he like to roast in his garage at night and watch the fireworks!)
Well, here I am now roasting 3/4lb. While there is some smoke emitted at 1st, I had heard that a second puff of smoke signals the onset of 2nd, and indeed, as we approached second, smoke comes billowing out and little pieces of chaff ignite. Cynthia, not having seen this process, thought something was amiss and calls out "My God, It's on Fire! It's on Fire!" and I don't think she was entirely reassured by my insististance that this was normal, because I wasn't entirely sure that it was myself!
So shortly after 2nd we stop the roast and cool the beans. Just had them this morning and they were wonderul. I suspect that the flavor profile was even better than with the Z&D but would have to do some side-by-side tastings to verify.
