December 1, 2013

Using a Kettle as a Coffee Roaster/やかんをコーヒー焙煎機として使う

Yesterday (Nov. 30), I almost tried to roast 300 g of green coffee beans in this 18 cm diameter sieve.
昨日(11/30)は、この直径18 cmのざるで生豆(きまめ、なままめ)を300 g焙煎しようと思いました。
I thought of ways to attach a wooden handle to the sieve and wrap aluminum foil around the sieve. I was unable to find good ways, so I decided to go to the second hand store again, hoping to find other cheap items suitable for coffee roasting. I bought this 19 cm diameter kettle for 380 yen.
このざるに木の取っ手を付けて、アルミホイルをざるの周りに貼る方法を考えたのですが、いい補方法が見つからないので、またリサイクルショップに行って、コーヒー焙煎に適した何か安いものを探しました。この直径19 cmのやかんを380円で買いました。   
I also bought this big enameled pot for 1,500 yen.
この大きなホーロー鍋も1,500円で買いました。 
I liked this particular pot because it can be used as a steamer, too.
このポットは蒸し器としても使えるので気に入りました。 
Besides, I fell in love with these cute bears at first sight.
それにこのかわいいくまさんたちに一目ぼれしたので。 
That's another story.
別の話ですが。
 
This is another story, too.
次のも別の話です。 
Left: Coffee cup at a 7-11.
Right: Coffee cup at a Lawson.
左: セブンイレブンのコーヒーカップ。
右: ローソンのコーヒーカップ。
This year, major conbini chains have started to offer drip coffee at moderate prices (100 and 180 yen at 7-11 and Lawson, respectively). I've been interested to know how good their coffees would be. Both coffees were much worse than I had expected, especially the 7-11 one.
今年、大手コンビニチェーンはドリップコーヒーを手頃な値段で(セブンイレブン、ローソンではそれぞれ100、180円)販売するようになりました。どのくらい美味しいのかどうか興味がありましたが、どちらも期待よりはずっとまずかったです(特にセブンイレブンのは)。
 
Last night, my family had both Le Lectier and La France at the same time after supper.
昨晩は夕飯の後にルチェクチェとラフランスを同時に食べました。 
 
 
Generally, le Lectier is considered much tastier than la France, but my daughter said she prefers the latter.
一般的にルレクチェのほうがラフランスよりずっと美味しいと思われていますが、娘はラフランスのほうが好きだそうです。
 
Back to the main topic!
本題に戻ります!
 
Today (Dec. 1), I tried to roast 315 g of Colombian coffee beans in the kettle shown above. But first, I "double roasted" 435 g of coffee beans I previously roasted.
今日(12/1)は、生豆(コロンビア)315 g、上のやかんで焙煎してみました。その前に、以前焙煎した豆を435 g「ダブルロースト」しました。
 
Before:
ビフォー:
After:
アフター:
I wanted to dark roast them so that they would be suitable for iced coffee (coffee jelly, to be more precise), but probably due to the heat capacity of the portable burner, the beans wouldn't get darker. After all, I roasted them for about 12 minutes. The weight loss was only 10 g.
アイスコーヒー(正確に言えばコーヒーゼリー)に合うように深煎りしたかったのですが、カセットコンロの熱容量のせいか、色がこれ以上濃くなりませんでした。結局、12分程度焙煎しました。重さは10 g減っただけです。
 
Now, the main event of the day.
さて、今日のメインイベント。
 
315 g of green beans:
生豆315 g: 
Transferred to the kettle.
やかんに移しました。
This is how I shook the kettle.
やかんはこんなふうに振りました。 
With the lid on and the spout open.
蓋は付けて、注ぎ口は開けて。
 
I occasionally checked the beans inside from the spout.
時々、注ぎ口から中の豆をチェックしました。
Ten minutes later, I removed the lid, and started to shake the kettle again.
10分後、ふたを外し、またやかんを振り始めました。
I roasted them for about 15.5 minutes.
約15.5分焙煎しました。  
They are now 265 g in weight, so the weight loss is remarkable: 15.9%.
重さは265 gになったので、減った量はすごいです。15.9%です。
 
Rather uneven roast, as you can see from the photo, but considering this is the very first try with a kettle, I think this was a success.
写真も見て分かるよう、煎りむらがありますが、やかんを使っての初めての挑戦としては成功だと思います。
 
I may make some modifications to the kettle, like making holes at the bottom. Or, maybe I should remove the bottom and replace it with a net or something, as in this blog (Japanese only).
やかんをちょっと改造するかも知れません。底に穴を開けるとか。それとも、このブログのように、底を抜いて、網か何かを張ろうかとも思います。

11 comments:

Fräulein Trude said...

You are slowly, slowly getting nearer to the geek side (laugh). I think these chicken grills (doing the merry go round with a rotary spit) combined with a drum are really good.

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: I'm still not geeky! I'm just trying to find better and cheaper ways to roast coffee.

Chicken grills? I may move up to a higher level in the future, but for now, I'm still satisfied with very low-tech gadgets (laugh).

I hope that the second hand store carries some inspiring items, including chicken grills, of course (laugh).

Sissi said...

I shouldn't have thrown away my old kettle (now I have only an electric one). These beans look impressive.

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: The kettle works really fine as a coffee roaster. I think that with some holes at the bottom, it will work even better.

Sissi said...

I am wondering... a special chestnut roasting pan would be perfect! It has wholes in the bottom (it's sold here and in France).

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: If you provide some details of your pan (dimensions, weight, and so on), I think I can give you some suggestions.

If you ever roast coffee beans, you will see how easy it is, and you may never want to go back to the supermarket kind!

Sissi said...

Thank you, Hiroyuki. I'd have to find first green beans here ;-)
Another problem is the grinder... I have bought very good coffee in Italy. Part of it is in grains because I plan to buy a grinder but still haven't bought a good one... so I have to hurry up now. I haven't found it in Berlin (there is apparently a very good German brand which makes grinders) and will probably buy it on internet.

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: Why not buy green beans on the Internet, too?

Anyway, I will write more about direct-flame (not hot air) coffee roasting in the near future.

Sissi said...

Thank you for the advice. I must check if it's sold in Switzerland (it's a small country...) and many European websites don't send food to Switzerland... It's a bit complicated.
I often buy stuff on French internet and have it sent to a nearby post office, but it doesn't work with smaller websites. Anyway, I will tell you if I ever manage to buy green beans and roast them!

Unknown said...

Hirouki,
Do you have a recipe for tofu shirataki? Konnyaku noodle

Hiroyuki said...

William Aperance: Sorry, No. Tofu shirataki is NOT available in Japan. I did some gooling but found no such recipes in Japanese.