HELP! What’s happening to my beans?

There seems to be always a massive misconception between tipping, scorching, blowing, and burning.. Area of the problem is there is no naming convention – does “roaster” refer to the individual or the equipment; is “dropping” taking the beans out or putting them in to the drum? Is “tipping” and “scorching” the same thing and just how do we spot the difference?

Well, I don’t know who decides on the precise naming conventions, but listed here is my undertake it:

Tipping
The word “tipping” most likely refers to the phenomenon where in actuality the “tip” of the bean burns black. That produces sense in my experience, at least.

How to “spot” Tipping

Tipping happens once the beans experience any temperature too much for the bean’s heat-transfer coefficient. i.e., there is so much energy (heat) around a particular part of the bean that the bean cannot absorb/conduct/disperse the power fast enough. The sole choice left is to burn in that area.

An example is found in just about any kind of meat grilling. A simple lamb chop on the grill has tipping across the edges. This is caused by an excessive amount of heat at any one time coffee roasting machine, inducing the meat to char instead of cook. This really is what goes on to the beans: there is an excessive amount of heat for the bean to occupy, so that it burns.

The causes of Tipping?

So, when does tipping occur? The fact is that individuals don’t know exactly. This is above tells us so it can happen anytime, whenever the temperature is too much throughout the roast. It can happen as a result of too much a receiving temperature (the starting temp), too much a ramp during roasting…an excessive amount of heat anywhere!

Another question is whether this really is caused by convection or conduction heat? Quite simply: could be the drum too hot or could be the air too hot? The solution is: either. Tipping is just a factor of the beans, not the environmental surroundings, the roaster, the drum, or air temperature. The truth is that the beans cannot handle it.

Go through the image below:

Tipping
Photo Source: www.sciencedirect.com

The colours show the difference in temperatures in the beans. It is clear from the image that, if anything should burn, it would be the tips of the beans! But this changes depending on the bean: try finding tipping on peaberries. As the peaberries are round and has minimal distinct “tip”, the odds of tipping happening are much smaller in peaberries.

What is the effectation of Tipping on you roast?

So, is tipping a negative thing? That’s a question only the drinker can answer. Allow me, as I cannot stress this enough:

TASTE YOUR COFFEE!

Quite simply, if the coffee tastes bad, then tipping is bad. If your coffee tastes good but you’ve tipping, then surely tipping is not a bad thing! May be the “tipping” on the lamb chops a negative thing? No, we all love only a little char-grilling on our chops. But surely this really is per definition a burnt chop? Well, possibly so, however it still tastes great!  The odds of tipping affecting your roast to the level of experiencing to dump all of it is extremely slim.  Odds are your chosen profile or roast degree is way off, and that tipping is just a really small part of the problem.

Scorching
So, if tipping is just a burnt spot on the tip of a bean, then what is scorching? To me, scorching is bad practice. Definitely not a negative tasting bad practice, but one that points to inexperience privately of the roast master.

Scorching happens once the bean touches a floor that’s too hot for the thermal conductivity of the bean. Just like for tipping, but almost exclusively caused by conduction heat. In layman’s terms: your drum was too hot! Try a cooler charge temperature or reduce steadily the ramp-time of your profile to negate any scorching. You ought not need certainly to scorch the beans to attain your preferred roasting profile.

Scorching is distinctive from tipping in so it typically presents on the flat side of the bean. It is just a larger spot that’s burnt black.

This is what scorching seems like:

Scorching
Photo Source: www.perfectdailygrind.com

Cratering
There is of confusion between craters and tipping. Both are VERY far apart. Cratering happens near or into second crack where in actuality the pressure in the beans is released at such a high rate that the bean’s surface cannot handle the release. This is per definition “second crack”, but in the case of cratering, the next crack was induced so much so it affects the structural integrity of the bean and literally blows a bit off once the bean releases the built-up gasses in the bean.

Crating
Photo Source: www.fullcoffeeroast.com

What is the answer?
If you decide that tipping, scorching, or cratering is the reason for any unwanted flavours in your bean, here’s how to proceed:

Tipping: Lessen your charge temp and perform a slower, gentler roast.  Increasing your convection heat also needs to help, along with increasing the batch size and drum speed.  The very best should be to roast longer and gentler allowing your beans enough time and energy to absorb and distribute the power that you are attempting to force into them.

Scorching: Lessen your charge temp and raise your drum speed.  The less time the bean spends privately of the drum, the less scorching you will have. Try to maximize your convection heat and minimize your conduction heat, i.e., transfer your energy by way of hot air instead of a hot drum.

Cratering: Increase enough time from first to second crack and take a gentler approach will assist you to prevent cratering.  Dial back on your own gas pressure after you reach first crack and allow beans carry themselves into second crack.   In the event that you force more and more energy in to the batch, it stands to reason that “something’s gotta give&rdquo ;.In this case, the complete bean is splintering apart because of your requirement for burnt coffee!

The Genio Academy, as well as Shaun Aupiais from We Roast Coffee produced a brand-new online Coffee Roasting 101 course on our Genio Hub, available to all or any Genio customers, where he discusses common roasting defects in depth. Go through the link to see this specific module.