Home roasting is the process of roasting coffee from green coffee beans on a small scale for personal consumption. Home roasting of coffee has been practiced for centuries, using simple methods such as roasting in cast-iron skillets over a wood fire and hand-turning small steel drums on a kitchen stovetop. Until the early 20th century, it was more common to roast coffee at home than to buy pre-roasted coffee. Following World War I, commercial coffee roasting became prevalent, and, combined with the distribution of instant coffee, home roasting decreased substantially. In recent years, there has been a revival in home roasting. What was originally a necessity has now become a hobby. The attractions are four-fold: enjoying fresh, flavorful coffee; experimenting with various beans and roasting methods; perfecting the roasting process, and saving money. Other factors that have contributed to the renewed interest in home roasting coffee include coffee suppliers selling green coffee in small quantities and manufacturers making counter-top roasters.
History
The first known implements specially made for roasting coffee beans for personal use were thin, circular, often perforated pans made from metal or porcelain, used in the 15th century in the Ottoman Empire and Greater Persia. This type of shallow, dished pan was equipped with a long handle so that it could be held over a brazier (a container of hot coals) until the coffee was roasted. The beans were stirred with a slender spoon. Only a small amount of beans could be heated at one time. The first cylinder roaster with a crank to keep the beans in motion appeared in Cairo around 1650. It was made of metal, most commonly tinned copper or cast iron, and was held over a brazier or open fire. French, Dutch and Italian variations of this design quickly appeared. These proved popular over the next century in Europe, England and the American colonies. English coffee merchant Humphrey Broadbent wrote in 1722 about his preference for this sort of cylindrical roaster. He emphasized that home roasting provided the capability of eliminating damaged berries from the batch before they are roasted, and also the security of knowing that duplicitous merchants were not adding poisonous lead powder to the roasted beans to increase their weight and thus their price. He wrote: "Most persons of distinction in Holland roast their own berries."
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