First roast with the Gene Cafe - Too Easy?

First roast with the Gene Cafe - Too Easy? With just a push of the button I was able to get a decent roast. The Gene Cafe isn't a drum roaster or a typical fluid bed roaster. It is more of a hybrid roasters that uses a drum to move the beans and hot air to heat them up. It is using a "hot box that blows heated air into the drum. The concept is kind of like a Loring BUT it isn't. This is a popular home coffee roaster but many have commented it is limited to the type of roasting it can do. Today's video is a starting point using the Gene Cafe. It was my First roast with the Gene Cafe - Too Easy? Take a look for yourself.

What type of questions do you have about home coffee roasting. Comment below OR go to my community tab and answer my post!

Video Timeline
0:00 First roast with the Gene Cafe - To Easy?
1:45 Closer Look at the Gene Cafe
3:00 Preheating the Gene Cafe
4:06 Roasting a Timor coffee on the Gene Cafe
5:00 Charging the Gene Cafe
10:45 Dry End
14:15 First Crack
15:32 Drop & Cool The Coffee
16:40 Roast Profile Review
18:30 Tasting The Coffee
19:30 What is next with the Gene Cafe?
20:10 First Impressions of the Gene Cafe

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I roast coffee on my Mill City 500 gram commercial coffee roaster every week. I also use a Behmor and a hot air popcorn popper to roast some great coffee. Join me as we roast, brew and cup coffee every week at home.

Do you roast coffee at home? Do you craft single serve coffee and if so, what brewing method do you like? Please share your comments and be sure to like this video!

About Me:
I am a coffee enthusiast who roasts coffee from home on my sample size commercial drum coffee roaster. Coffee has been in my life for over 40 years, whether I was selling it or roasting it, I want to share my passion with you.

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[addertooth]

For lower altitude beans, or low density beans, a dehydration phase of about 392 to 402 is just about right. For higher altitude beans a higher dehydration temperature is workable.
Keep in mind the reported temperature is of the air exhausting from the beans. It does not mean the beans are at that temperature. The beans are usually MUCH cooler than the exhaust temperature.
I use an optical pyrometer pointed to the exact same spot of the drum on each rotation to measure temperature. I call full yellow when the drum measures 300 degrees F with a 1/2 pound (227 gram) load. I arrived at this temperature by multiple different beans and observing the color AND optical pyrometer temperature across several different roasts.
Use a cardboard tube at the exhaust and your ear on the other end of the tube to more clearly hear first crack.
First crack reads about 345 degrees F via the optical pyrometer. This is useful because some Peaberry beans and some Decaf coffees have a VERY quiet crack.
Forced air cooling is ideal. I have my cooler about 3 feet from my roaster.
Be sure to use the release button to pull the drum out. Otherwise you create excessive wear on the drum release mechanism. In the video he did not press it to remove the drum at the end of the roast.
The cool down phase ends when the exhaust air drops below 140 degrees F on the Gene temperature display.
Below is a roast cycle for the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Misty valley beans which are known for a blueberry flavor hit.
. For those with the Gene Cafe roaster, here was the profile used: 8 oz, 227 grams starting, 7.0 oz 199 grams weight after roasting (12.5% loss).
Pre-warm the empty drum for 5 minutes at 402 F. Rapidly add your beans and re-insert the drum into the Gene Cafe. (be quick!). Clear your kitchen timer and start timer and the roast at 402 F.
Stay at this temperature for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes have elapsed, raise the temperature to 473 F . First pop of first Crack will be likely heard at about 10:15 on the kitchen timer,
Reduce temperature to 437 F (225C) one minute ten seconds after the first pop of first crack is heard.
Continue at this temperature until Full-City roast is reached (About 13 minutes and 30 seconds).
Rapidly cool externally to the Gene Cafe to stop the roast process. I include this because the Gene Cafe roasts a bit different than classical drum roasters, so the roast profile is tuned for the Gene Cafe Roaster.

A Kona, low altitude South American bean, or a Geisha beans are roasted at lower temperatures. Typically 392 dehydrate, 464 roast, 450 development.

[londodw]

Clear and insightful review. Thank you.

[billgrubbs]

I have one I been roasting on for 15 years really is a great roaster

[LjStrassel]

Love my Gene Cafe. Been roasting on it for over three years. I get a nice even roast every time.

[mred]

For those who don’t have an oven hood that vents outside the exhaust port is sized the same as gas hot water heaters so Lowes Home Depot carries the proper size pipes and clamps to be able to vent out a window

[conradcrisafulli]

Hi Mike, Thank you for roasting on the Gene Cafe! I am looking forward to all your upcoming roasts on the Gene Cafe, so I can be ready to upgrade from using a popcorn popper.

[nando]

Just ordered this machine for the first time, this hobby is becoming expensive 😂😂. Thanks for the video, I'm trying to learn how to use it beforehand.

[shanewilson]

Great video Mike, a lot of great information on this roaster 👍☕

[ERE]

Hi from Germany! I started roasting about a year ago with an electric heating pan and a small propeller to move the beans. My friends and colleagues always look forward to drinking our self-roasted coffee from the Aeropress. I recently decided to upgrade my roaster and I'm really excited to try it out. I love your channel and I'm now following you :)

Best regards from southern Germany, Bavaria!

[slam]

I never went into the deep science of the roast but focused on visual, nasal and auditory input. The machine is always clean collecting most all chaff. All adjustments are on the fly which gives great control and you will learn about thermal inertia, this has allot. Great roaster once you learn the slowness of energy transfer plus carry-over cooking. Once beans are roasted get them out into a colander. Fan cooling and agitation is a help to halt over-roasting. Gene Cafe is simple and direct once you learn the visuals. I love this roaster with all its shortfalls.

[luigicollins]

Thanks Mike. It was particularly nice seeing this video since I almost bought the Gene Cafe when I started roasting, but opted to go with the Behmor instead. With the mass loss and development percentage you got, it indicates you got a medium roast, and your tasting comments reflected that. Yes, it would be nice to see if it brings out the fruity notes of an Ethiopian Natural. I’m quite sure it would do just fine. It was also good to see the exhaust could be handled quite easily. Looks like you had fun with the GC!

[jlantz]

Thanks Mike. I am thinking ahead to when my SR800 craps out as to what to get next. I've had it for 2 years, and had the "guts" replaced once already. Gene Cafe is certainly one of the contenders. I've read that the manufacturer now recommends NOT preheating, as this may lead to premature failure of the roaster. I would certainly be interested in seeing another roast in this, with whatever parameter changes you think might be warranted. Agree that David and Captains Coffee are fantastic resources.

[upscalebohemian]

Great video. At 16:24, though, I'm not sure what it means that you poured the coffee beans into the cooling tray and then need to take that down to the basement to get them cool? I'm not sure how I adapt that if roasting in my kitchen. I just assumed I'd be dumping the beans into a collander or something and moving it around a bit to dissipate the heat from the beans into the air.

[cosmoshfasavant]

I have a Barista pro arriving today, , , watching a gene on uping my game 🙂

[akquicksilver]

What did you do in the basement to cool the coffee? I'v had a Gene for almost 20 years and I love it. I will definitely try this profile. For years I used the Gene recommended roast and have since changed a few times. I have been very pleased with the Gene. Initially I went through a couple heating elements before the improved the quality of the build. The last heating element has lasted 15 years. I roast 2-3 time a month a couple pounds a session. Great video! I look forward to more Gene videos.

[KellyanneGill]

Hi Mike, I'd advise weighing ur beans, for a better weight than guessing with this roaster, and for yellowing, I hit at around 230-235 degrees Celsius, and around 14-16 mins depending on the beans, I've also got a video of me roasting, and with the temp drops, the element turns off after reaching to desired temp

[cricocoo]

After almost a year of roasting with the Gene Cafe I am still very pleased with it. Most of the time, for ease of use I keep the beans in for the cooling cycle. On that note, when you keep them in, up to which temperature would you consider it part of the development time?

[brendenpetersen]

What if we wanted to take the roast to more of a dark or espresso roast? Should we lower the temp after first crack and then ramp it back up or just let it ride? I’m struggling getting a quality dark roast, my last few, the beans have cratered. Trying to figure out the balance to keep the heat from becoming too excessive between 1st and 2nd crack. 1st crack they are fine, it’s when trying to achieve a dark or espresso dark roast that they seem to get too hot and crater.

[gdhhayes]

For proper roasting and end result of flavor, between Behmor and Gene Cafe, which machine is your first pick? And is there another option for the home roaster that is better, when we want more control over our end roast?

[paisteplayer]

How would you compare this to the stove top versions that use gas burner ?