How to Roast Coffee Beans in a Whirley Popcorn Popper?

Whirley popcorn popper is a stainless steel pot invented in 1980, used to heat popcorn. It pops all the kernels without burning them. Besides popcorns, you can also use a Whirley popper to roast your coffee beans. Raw coffee beans and raw popcorn kernels are similar as they are hard little nuggets, and you can transform them into a completely different product after heating.

Whirley popcorn popper can roast raw coffee beans quite nicely and easily. This article includes a detailed method of roasting coffee beans in a Whirley popcorn popper. 

Things You Will Need 

For the roasting process, you will require the following things. 

• Raw green coffee
• Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper
• Wooden spoon
• Steel or enamel colander
• Oven mitt
• Kitchen scale (optional)
• Timer (you can use your smartphone)

Method of Roasting Coffee Beans with Whirley Pop

You can roast your coffee beans perfectly in a Whirley pop just like you roast popcorn kernels into it. Follow the given easy steps to roast the coffee beans. 

1. Select Appropriate Coffee Beans Quantity

You have to choose the optimum amount of coffee beans for roasting at a time. Typically, 250 grams of raw coffee beans are perfect for each roast. Always keep in mind that fewer coffee beans will more quickly roast. 

Try to roast an equal amount of beans every time. If you alter your coffee beans quantity, you will not understand the time and temperature effect on your bean’s roasting. So, take fewer beans every time to pop and keep their quantity consistent. 

Put the measured quantity of beans into the colander. Now, insert the wooden spoon. Grab the Whirley pop and oven mitt firmly, and take it out to the grill. 

2. Preheat Your Whirley Popper

Preheating your Whirley pop is necessary. When you add cold beans into the pop, its temperature will go down immediately. So, you should preheat your popper to avoid dropping its temperature. If you grill, you will only need one side of the burner. It’s better to remove the grate before placing your popper. 

Place your popper directly on the metal slat of your burner. Turn on the burner to its full heat and let your popper leave on it for 4-5 minutes at least. 

3. Pour the Coffee Beans into the Pop

After preheating the popper thoroughly, pour the coffee beans into the popper from the colander. Once you have done pouring the beans, close the lid of the popper carefully. Start your timer now. 

Time and temperature are the two main factors that help roast the coffee beans in a Whirley popper. There isn’t any recipe for roasting beans in a pop; instead, you have to consider the popper temperature and time allotted for roasting. 

You can experiment with roasting time to get the best result. More roasting time will offer a better taste of coffee beans. 

4. Stir the Beans

You can easily agitate your beans in the Whirley popcorn popper. Turn the handle of the popper slightly to stir the beans in it. The more you will agitate the popper, the finer roasting of coffee beans you will get. During agitating process, the lid of the popper should be tightly closed. You can open it after every minute to check the roasting progress of the beans. 

Besides opening the lid after every minute, you should also spin the popper frequently. Some beans may be stuck under the rods present near the central axel. So, rotation after every minute helps these beans to dislodge. It would help if you turned your pop a few times before returning to the regular spinning. 

5. Open the Lid

At the start of the roasting process, heat should be high, but it must be gradually lowered along with the roasting. As mentioned above, you have to check your roasting beans after every minute. So, when the coffee beans start to change their colors, you have to slow down the process a little bit. 

The first progress in the roasting process is achieved when you hear a cracking noise inside the popper. The steam that is generated in the popper cracks the beans. You will hear sounds like snapping toothpicks. 

You will probably experience these sounds after 6-9 minutes of bean roasting. Open the lid when you feel your beans have reached the desired roasted level. 

6. Reduce the Heat

After reaching the first crack, reduce your flame from high to medium and medium to low. You have to wait for the second crack. The time between the first and second crack is known as development time. Now it all depends upon your choices. You will get the light roast if you take out your beans early before the second crack. 

After the second crack, you will more likely get a dark roast if you take out your beans lately. It would be best if you settled in between for a medium roast. 

There is generally a five-minute gap between the first and second crack, which is suitable for getting a medium roast. 

7. Pull the Roast

If you like a dark roast, then wait for a second crack to pull out the beans from the popper. Do not wait long after the second crack because your coffee beans will burn down if you don’t pull them out. As time passes, the volume of smoke also increases in the pop, and it will become hard to see what’s going inside it. So, it’s the time when you must pull your roast from the Whirley popper. 

The entire roasting process will take 11-15 minutes on average. 

8. Cool Down the Beans

Steady the pot by using the oven mitt. Now open the lid and pour the beans into the colander. After pouring the coffee beans into the colander, you must stir them with the wooden lid. Stirring is necessary to cool down the bins. You should do it in the open air so that the roasted coffee beans will cool down more quickly. 

After drying, you will notice some chaff flying off the beans. This chaff is the dried skin of the beans that loses during roasting. Most of the flaky skin will drift away with the breeze during stirring. You must blow on the beans to get rid of the chaff every 20 seconds. 

After a few minutes, the temperature of the beans will be moderate, and you can touch them. Let them leave so they can drop their temperature more. 

9. Degassing the Beans

You must not use coffee beans before degassing them after roasting. During the roasting process, carbon dioxide gas accumulates in the beans. After cooling the beans, degassing process starts automatically. But this is a time-consuming process. Mostly, after 24 hours from the roasting, beans will degas themselves. But, it may take longer than a day also. 

Wait until the beans are entirely degassed before using them for brewing. You can place your beans in a zip lock bag and lay them on your kitchen counter for 1-2 days. Let the top of the zip lock bag open so that gas will discard from it easily. 

After degassing, store these roasted beans in a clean, airtight, and opaque container. You can use these beans for up to 14 days for brewing. 

Final Words…

Using a Whirley popcorn popper is one of the best ways to roast coffee beans. You might not get success on the first attempt, but you will indeed become experienced with time. Next time, adjust the heat and temperature if you don’t want the same roast. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can you roast coffee in a popcorn popper?

Yes, you can roast coffee beans in any popcorn popper with a metal popping chamber and air vent on the side of the metal chamber. The vent shouldn’t be straight in the bottom as it will not be suitable for roasting. 

2. Is using an electric air popcorn popper worthy to roast coffee beans?

Roasting coffee beans in an electric popcorn popper is a great way to get finely roasted beans. This method of roasting beans is highly recommended because it is easy, and it roasts the beans evenly from all sides also. Besides this, stovetop stainless steel poppers are also good for roasting coffee beans. 

3. Which temperature is suitable for roasting beans?

The roasting temperature for coffee beans is between 370 to 540 degrees Fahrenheit (188 to 282 degrees centigrade). Depending upon the roaster type, the roasting time varies from 8 to 20 minutes. 

4. Should green coffee beans be washed before roasting?

Yes, you should wash green coffee beans before roasting. Washing green coffee beans before roasting not only washes them but also moisturizes them. Moisturizing coffee beans prior to roasting help in the process, and you will get nicely roasted beans in the end. 

5. How long does it take to roast coffee beans in a Whirley popcorn popper?

Whirley popcorn popper is a great tool to roast coffee beans. It takes 11-15 minutes to roast coffee beans in the popper depending upon the number of beans and size of the popper.