Hopefully this works. I copied the post from another place where I posted it.
I roast my own coffee, from green beans I order from a coffee importer.
http://www.coffeebeandirect.com/ is the place I use. Green coffee from them runs around $4-$6/lb, and if you order 25 lbs or more, the shipping is free. No small savings, when you consider it ships from Jersey.
So, get your green coffee. It will come in a bag something like this:
You'll want a scale if you have a machine, it isn't really necessary for this method, since we'll be roasting old school on the outside stove.But, I used one, anyway. Mine looks like this:
You'll need a metal pot/pan.
Put the beans in it. You'll also want a wooden spoon, like the one in the photo. I roasted 8 oz this time, which turned out to be a very nice amount for stirring.
You'll want a metal colander, for cooling the roasted beans.
You'll need a heat source. Mine is propane powered, but you could just as easily use a campfire.
Put your beans over the heat source and turn it on. I used a pretty high heat setting, as I wanted these beans to heat up quickly. The speed affects the roast, but that's not important now, this is a very basic guide.
Stir the beans steadily. Keep them moving, you want them to roast as evenly as possible. You'll see later in the tutorial that I didn't do so well at this part. It's hard to stir and take pictures at the same time.
The beans will start to change color in a minute or two. This is a good thing. You'll start to see a bit of smoke.
Keep stirring.
You'll start to hear a popping sound. This is called "first crack", and is your first audible indication that the coffee is roasting. This is the sound of the steam splitting the bean open as it expands.
You'll start to see more smoke at this point, so it gets a bit harder to see from these photos, just what is occurring.
The beans will get progressively darker, and you'll see a lot of smoke. Keep stirring.
At some point, you'll reach "second crack". At this point, you'll have a nice medium roast suitable for drinking. Second crack is faster and quieter than first crack, it sounds like popcorn popping. Keep a close eye on the color at this point. The beans will turn very dark, and begin to look visibly oily. Too much roasting after this, and you'll have charcoal, or Starbucks coffee.
When the coffee looks like what you'd normally buy, dump the beans into your colander, and stir to cool.
Keep stirring.
It'll take some time for these to cool. Don't burn yourself on the colander, and don't do what I did. I put the colander into the freezer to speed cooling, and managed to spill half of my beans when I took them back out.
Grind(use a burr grinder for best results), and brew. Enjoy!
