For a first roast, use the beginner procedure supplied with your roaster and write down what happened. A borrowed curve from another machine can look precise while telling you very little about your own equipment.
Set the limits before starting
Read the manual's batch limits, ventilation requirements, safety warnings and cooling procedure. Prepare the machine and chaff system as directed. Stay present throughout the roast and follow the manufacturer's instructions if smoke or any abnormal condition develops. Do not disable safety features to extend a batch.
Choose one green coffee and a supported batch size. Avoid combining beans with different histories for the first comparison. Record the supplier and lot description so another batch can be traced to the same coffee.
Use a log with six entries
| Entry | Record |
|---|---|
| Input | Green coffee name and mass |
| Machine | Model, programme and supported settings |
| Start | Date and any relevant room conditions |
| Events | What you observed and elapsed time |
| Finish | Stop and cooling procedure used |
| Output | Mass of fully cooled roasted coffee |
Record audible events only if you can identify them confidently. "Possible first crack at 7:40" is an honest observation; an invented exact event is not. Note what the display measures before treating its temperature as a bean-temperature measurement.
Calculate roast loss after cooling
Use the same scale for input and cooled output. If a 200 g green batch becomes 170 g roasted coffee, the mass loss is 30 g, or 15%: (200 - 170) / 200 x 100. These are illustrative numbers, not a roast performed here and not a target for every coffee.
Weight loss is one record of the batch. It does not independently prove roast quality or tell you that the coffee will taste sweet. Keep it alongside the process notes and the eventual tasting.
Taste without changing the brewing test
Follow the supplier's advice for resting and storage where available. Choose a brewing method you can repeat and write the dose, water amount and grind setting. Taste at a consistent interval after roasting when comparing batches.
Use plain observations such as "dry finish" or "peanut-like flavour," not a score copied from the green-coffee listing. If the batch is disappointing, do not assume one roast adjustment fixes it. Brewing and the green coffee itself also deserve consideration.
For the second batch, change one supported setting only if you can state what you are testing. Keep the original log. A failed batch with accurate notes is more useful than a successful cup whose process you cannot reproduce.
