You Can Totally Rotisserie-Roast Your Coffee Beans

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With a little imagination, patience (perhaps lots of it), and a bit of help from a rotisserie drum, not only can you rotisserie-roast meat, you can also roast coffee beans. It's an accessible and affordable method that you can easily do at home; if you have an insatiable curiosity that can only be satisfied by trying out new things, it's an interesting approach to try. The Mochiglory rotisserie oven basket can get the job done with a little boost from an air fryer (it's an air fryer hack you might wish you knew sooner). If you don't mind buying a whole other piece of equipment, though, an Emeril Lagasse French door convection toaster is a convenient option because it has a built-in rotisserie function with a basket included among the accessories.

Once you have the gear all set, toss the beans into the drum or basket and pop them in the oven. Make sure not to overcrowd them, though, since that might hinder the beans from roasting evenly. The heat setting typically depends on the roast you want to achieve: 356 to 401 degrees Fahrenheit for a light roast, 410 to 428 degrees Fahrenheit for a medium roast, and 428 degrees Fahrenheit and up for a dark roast. Keeping the roasting time to a minimum is key because cooking them for too long sacrifices their bold flavors.

When roasting your own beans, the key is to listen for their first crack. This lets you know they're ready. If you've popped one too many bags of popcorn for your movie night, whether in the microwave or on the stovetop using the old-school popcorn trick, they sound pretty much the same. Light or medium finishes can be achieved between the first and second crack, so trial and error is in order, especially if you don't have experience with roasting coffee. Meanwhile, for dark roasts, letting it go beyond the second crack is best.

If you're looking to explore worlds of flavors, introduce other notes to your coffee beans by marinating them in the desired additives before roasting. Either go the experimental route by combining coffee and wine to create the perfect brunch drink, or stick with classic ones, such as cinnamon. Alternatively, you can add layers of flavor after roasting and before brewing by letting them soak up the liquid flavorings. All in all, there are many different processes to achieve this, but make sure you're not over-flavoring them and losing the pleasantly bitter notes of the beans.