coffee bean smoke


 
L

Lance

TVWBB Super Fan
Has anyone ever tried to smoke and cook coffee beans on the WSM? I have oak, jack daniel's wood chips, and other woods. How much smoke do the beans need? How long does it take to cook the beans? Thanks.
Lance
 
Are you asking about using the beans to create smoke for your Q, or are you asking about smoking beans for later use as a drink with smoke flavor?
 
Sorry about not being clear. I was asking about the latter. One of my guys received oak smoked coffee beans today in the mail. He just has to grind them so that he can brew a cup of coffee. I was wondering if anyone has done something like that on the WSM.
Lance
 
I know a gentleman in the PNW who roasts coffee over an open fire in a drum made of perforated stainless steel. The drum was originally designed to be used in a gas grill (I use one here to roast coffee weekly). I've had his coffee and it had a different flavor, but I couldn't really say that it was a smoke flavor. It was very good.

Here is a source for the drum...

http://www.rkdrums.com/

The coffee beans have to reach an internal temp around 440 degrees, so you need a hot fire. You may be able to do it in a WSM if you remove the water pan and use a pan right on the lower grate. You would have to stir continuously to keep the roast even.

Here is a great source for info on coffee roasting and also a good source for green coffee beans.

http://www.sweetmarias.com/

Feel free to contact me if you have questions about roasting coffee. Besides BBQ, coffee is my other hobby.
 
There's a home brew method that was created out of a jury-rigged bread machine.

here is a video

There would be three challenges for doing it in the bullet:

1) Getting the temp high enough
2) keeping the beans stirred frequently to keep the browning even
3) monitoring the internal temp of the beans
 
as far as #3 goes, you really don't need to monitor the internal temperature. as the beans heat up their internal moisture vaporizes and the beans 'pop' in much the same way as popcorn. assuming you have the temp up to 400 or so they will pop and turn brown and roast. too high a temp, or lack of rotation/stirring, and they will burn and char.
 
Since Lance was talking about roasting coffee beans on the WSM, I'll ask, has anyone ever used coffee beans as a smoking agent for Q?
 
I'm not sure that would work too easily, Jeff. i roast coffee every day, and you really have only about 5-9 minutes of smoke from each batch of beans before they quickly turn to an acrid char.

Mind you, I'm well smoked all day...my clothes smell like coffee all the time!
 
This is a bit of a tangent but I was reading about a product made from used coffee grinds and considering trying it as an alternative fuel source for WSM.

Java Logs
 
Shawn, i don't think you'd want the chemicals from all the wax, even if it's "renewable vegetable wax", they use to hold the coffee grounds together getting in to your food.

At least I know I wouldn't. At least I'd want to see some type of an analysis of the emissions before I risked it.
 
Originally posted by Sean S.:
Shawn, i don't think you'd want the chemicals from all the wax, even if it's "renewable vegetable wax", they use to hold the coffee grounds together getting in to your food.

At least I know I wouldn't. At least I'd want to see some type of an analysis of the emissions before I risked it.
Click to expand...
yeah, not certain yet ... but we do go through a pot of coffe or two per day at my house ... Maybe I could make my own logs with a food friendly binder like wheat paste. Just an idea for now.
 
Originally posted by Shawn W:
yeah, not certain yet ... but we do go through a pot of coffe or two per day at my house ... Maybe I could make my own logs with a food friendly binder like wheat paste. Just an idea for now.
Click to expand...

the grounds also make a great fertilizer for your plants; i guess it gets the earthworms all revved up on caffeine
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