Used to roast beans in a cast iron skillet, now I have a proper drum roaster...

I spent two years roasting coffee in a cast iron skillet on my stove in Tulsa, burning half the batch most times. Got a proper drum roaster about 6 months ago after my wife complained the smoke alarm was going off every Tuesday night. Has anyone else found the learning curve on a real roaster actually steeper than the cheap way?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.mark4d ago

Man, that line about the smoke alarm going off every Tuesday night hit close to home. I did the cast iron skillet thing for way too long and my kitchen still smells like burnt chaff if you ask me. But you're dead right, getting a proper drum roaster doesn't magically fix everything. I had to unlearn all those bad habits from the skillet days, like thinking you just crank the heat and hope for the best. It's almost harder because now you got all these controls and you gotta figure out what they actually do instead of just guessing.

the_ben4d ago

Hold up, wait - you're telling me you spent TWO YEARS on a cast iron skillet? That's dedication bordering on insanity right there. I burnt my first dozen batches in a week and gave up for a month before trying again. But man, that comment about having to unlearn bad habits is the real kicker. I caught myself cranking the flame to full thinking "this worked before" and realized I had to start from scratch with actual technique.