First roast with Gene Cafe

[chemistone]

I received my new Gene from Ivo last week. He included some beans to try. I"ve started with the Kenya AA.
During roasting I noticed a few things:

There was lots of chaff stuck at the hot air outlet of the drum.
The heating time was very quick, about 10 minutes to get to 235 degr.C
There was more noise than expected. (seems to be more than Joris of DLiefboers Gene, but that is hard to tell without direct comparison)
I reached first crack (or second) in 13 minutes
I've roasted about 250 grams with a temperature setpoint of 240 degrC

The smell of the coffee is horrible and the taste is not much better. It is very flat, with an almost watery sensation.

What am I doing wrong?

[bruceb]

Dear Mr Stone,

Just some questions about the roast: How dark are the beans? You said "first or second crack..." Couldn't you tell the difference? The first crack you hear should definitely be first crack. Do you have any other beans to try? Kenyan don't do well when they are dark. Try some Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. It's really difficult to ruin them! Could it be that you have burned the beans? Are you sure you took all the packing material out of the Gene?

Let us know how it goes. I'm sure some of the Gene crowd here will have some ideas for you. Good luck!

[chemistone]

Bruce,

Thanks for the answer:

Here is a pic:

It doesn't look too dark in my opinion.

[JulieJayne]

There was lots of chaff stuck at the hot air outlet of the drum.

Some coffees have more chaff than others, but so far I have not had a serious problem.

The heating time was very quick, about 10 minutes to get to 235 degr.C

That seems about normal for the Gene

I reached first crack (or second) in 13 minutes

That sounds like first crack to me.

The smell of the coffee is horrible and the taste is not much better. It is very flat, with an almost watery sensation.

The smell of roasting coffee is not always as pleasant as people expect, but if it also tastes bad then something is wrong. From the photo the beans look a little variable.

Do you have any other beans to try, or have you tried a second batch.

[grib]

I've another thread started here with a roast log for Kenyan Gethumbwini in a Gene Cafe.

Its based on my default profile below:
Stage 1: 148º C for 5.0 minutes of drying / warming; total elapsed time is 5 minutes

Stage 2: 230º C for 4.0 minutes of initial heat ramp; total elapsed time is 9 minutes

Stage 3: 241º C for 1.5 minutes of continued heat ramp; total elapsed time is 10.5 minutes

Stage 4: 250º C for 3.0 minutes of final heat ramp: total elapsed time is 13.5 minutes
(1st crack will usually happen sometime around this point so listen out for it)
Stage 5: 236º C for the remainder of the roast

You may have heated the beans too fast and burnt them, or alternatively not provided enough heat approaching and after first crack. Try it with the profile on my other post and see how you go.

Andrew

PS make sure you empty the chaff collector after every roast.

[lukas]

To me they look a bit on the light side, probably never even reached the end of first crack? Can't really tell on the laptop screen

Did you try them in the espresso machine? I ask because I wouldn't dare to do so, because Kenyans tend to make your face look really funny as SO Espresso. French press it and it could be better

But alas, on very light roasts, I've had this very watery-non-coffee taste before, too, so it could be just that. Just go on with the next roast, maybe go a bit darker and get accustomed to your roaster - don't expect miracles in the first few roasts, though

[zapty]

Don't expect miracles the first few roasts, keep on trying Richard, with a little experimentation your "plastic fantastic" should get some good results....or else get a "real" roaster (had to rub it in... )

[espressomattic]

Hmmm...I had a truly shocking experience with my Gene...literally...240 volts bloody hurts!!!!!!

It has utterly blown up, the motor runs when the power is off, it stops when the power is on...so it is now resigned to that great rubbish tip in the sky This was not my fault!!!!

Mind you after having the shock of my life (BTW my chest still feels odd), I am in full favour of TASER

[bruceb]

This was not my fault!!!!

Bwahhhhaaaahaaaahaaaaa!

[bruceb]

Wow, those really are light. I wouldn't be surprised if they're still green inside. Richard, how did you try them? They won't be usable for espresso in any case. As Lukas said, Kenyans are almost no one's choice for espresso, and when they're lightly roasted they're even less suitable. In any case, I would try some other beans and go a bit further with them. Listen carefully for second crack and either stop at that point or wait until second crack is rolling.

[zapty]

This was not my fault!!!!

Is your name Breako by chance? Wonder why that is.....

[marmhz]

Chemistone
A friend of mine bought the Gene recently from Ivo and I had the pleasure to play serveral times with the Gene
What kind of roaster did you use before? If it was the Iroast then compared to that the Gene is totally different in it's roasting process. The best way of hearing the cracks with the Gene is to listen at the chaff collector. (be carefull to not burn you ear;)) If you are totally new to roasting then I should start with a more easy roasting bean like a Kalossi or a Peru for example.
Ivo explained to me that they get a nice darkbrown roast in about 15 minutes on 230 degrees. Maybe that is a good startingpoint. If results satisfy you more then you could start tweaking around like Grib told you.

[GeorgeW]

Hmmm...I had a truly shocking experience with my Gene...literally...240 volts bloody hurts!!!!!!

It has utterly blown up, the motor runs when the power is off, it stops when the power is on...so it is now resigned to that great rubbish tip in the sky This was not my fault!!!!

Mind you after having the shock of my life (BTW my chest still feels odd), I am in full favour of TASER

Now that is strange.

I wonder how that could've happened?

[ivdp]

The Kenyans are definately under roasted, this explains the nasty/grassy taste.
Give the beans another try till the surface is nice and evenly brown.

[chemistone]

Thanks for the answers everyone. It was my first roast ever. I saw a few roast before, at Zapty and at Joris place. Last week I'd tried the Colombian beans, I roasted them just into second crack. After two days of degassing it was time to make coffee. It took three shots to dial the grinder, but the result was good.

After the second good roast it is time to look back. The time was at least 4 minutes shorter on the first roast. It didn't reach 1st crack, I dumbed the beans before.

Zapty, I'm still looking for a real roaster....