[Shop-talk] Removing moisture from coffee beans (yes, it is shop related.)

[Richard Beels]

coffee beans will lose 20% or so of weight in roasting.  the green 
bean is much like an unpopped piece of popcorn and when roasted will 
lose the moisture and other volatile compounds but can double in size 
as the cellulose fibers and such get set by the heat of the roasting 
process.  I don't know if this setting of the "tissue" of the bean 
locks in moisture more or if opening up the fibers allows great 
humidity movement.

24 hours doesn't sound too far-fetched.  You could put the toaster 
oven all by itself in the middle of the garage with nothing around it 
and if it goes up, the smoke alarm I'm sure you have would give 
enough notice before the inside filled up with burned coffee roasting smoke.

And you could try a different angle on it, grind the beans up before 
going into the juice.  Experimentation with different size grinds and 
how densely you pack it into a mold before resin would be interesting.


At 08/22/2018 at 07:31, Shakespearean monkeys danced on 
eric at megageek.com's keyboard and said:
>Paul writes,
>
> >But if you're going to that length to get them dry you need to be 
> able to keep them dry. They'll start picking up moisture very 
> quickly as they cool. You need to immediately move them from the 
> oven to a dessicator if they need to get extremely dry >and stay that way.
>
>This is why I love this list, there is alway awesome, expert advice, 
>no matter what!
>
>I normally take the bean from the oven, and they got right into the 
>'catus juice' in the vaccuum pot.  From there, they are under 
>vaccuum until the bubbles stop (maybe an hour or so,) then they soak 
>at normal air pressure for about 2 days.
>
>Like I said, this process takes about a week to get the beans ready 
>for casting, add a few days for the casting/curing/turning, and I'm 
>wondering why I do it!
>
>
>Oh well, I know why I do it, I get ot buy MORE TOOLS!  8>)
>
>Enjoy.


Cheers!