Although, even a popcorn popper or a frying pan can be used there are range of roaster types which are available. Though, you must be certain to begin with extremely clean equipment. Left over butter or fish oils can ruin the coffee taste.

Compared to the lighter roasts, dark roasts lack the acid taste and contain lesser caffeine. Of course, be sure to begin with superior beans.

You must be ready for a bit of smoke as the beans will have to be heated between 460F and 530F. Either with a stove top exhaust or a small room fan you can easily manage that part. Probably, with no one home and the windows open is how your first experiments must be done as there will be an odor beyond the smoke too.

The heat must be turned up after the beans are put in the roaster! (Those over-sensitive fire alarms at home should be taken care of and be temporarily disabled.)

The thermometer is built into some roaster models although for those frying pan experiments or for when it's open you may want to have an extra. For this purpose thermometers used for candy making work well.

The beans will turn brown from yellow during the process. The individual choice about your liking of how dark your roast should be depends on how brown it can get.

When it bursts a loud crack will be heard by you as both water and oil moisture heat up putting a pressure on the bean surface. This is normal and there is nothing to worry. After the heating progresses for four to seven minutes you can hear for every 30 seconds or more this stirring.

As the roasting continues the inside sugar will start to caramelize (burning slightly and turning brow). The matter of taste is what the degree depends on. For every 30 second or so the color must be checked.

Occasionally a second loud crack will happen if for long enough the roasting continues. A little overdone for some palates and quite dark beans will develop at this stage. Boiling the sugar away while simple burning the beans is what you are doing if you continue beyond the second crack. For most the outcome will be too harsh.

Agitate after in a metal colander you have poured to cool. Some method for removing the produced chaff (as the beans are agitated the fine skin that detaches from the bean) during the roasting process may be wanted by you. One option is the mesh cooking screens.

See that the beans are not clinging to the surfaces by stirring them to move them around by being sure to get one that allows you that in case you want the roasting style to be popcorn popper. A cast iron skillet works superbly for the stove top style. Get ready for lots of viewing and stirring. Rapidly the roasting occurs!