Popcorn Coffee Fireworks on Australia Day

Happy Australia Day!

As the country swarms to Australia's cities in preparation of a night of music and fireworks, I've spent this morning creating my own smoke - roasting up a fourth batch in the popcorn popper.

This time I left the butter dish on the top of the pop corn popper - to keep the heat a bit better. The roast time was more acceptable - 4mins to the first crack and about 7 minutes to the second crack. (Previous roasts took 10-11 mins to 2nd crack). I stopped the roast at about 7.5 minutes as the beans started 'tipping' (little circular chips flying off the bean). The beans were still dry in appearance, so I could have roasted a little longer to bring the oils to the surfce (I'm brewing espresso after all). Maybe I'll try that next time.

130g of green beens in yielded about 92g of roasted beans out... with about 10g falling out of the chute during the roast. Lots of smoke out too this time. Although the weight was less, the volume was about double.

Yesterday's first roast still tastes quite acidic and flat - I suspect this has a lot to do with the slow roast at low temps. I'll see how the flavours develop tomorrow.

For now, Happy Australia Day!

Food and Drink