Whether you own a coffee roasting company or a specialty coffee house, there is sure to be a coffee bean roaster or two in your facility. The right coffee roasters education and training is imperative in order to keep your coffee roasting machines functioning properly and to ensure the best beans for your business.

Coffee roasters education and training can be found by reading training materials, attending classes or seminars and watching instructional videos. The best training resources will ensure that both you and your employees know how properly use your commercial coffee bean roasters. When looking for coffee roasters education and training materials, consider the following:

1. Coffee schools are available for classroom based training for your coffee roasting business.

2. Companies who sell coffee beans and coffee bean roasters often offer educational programs.

3. Experts are available to assist you with learning how to use the machines for your coffee roasting company.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Attend a class or coffee school to learn about commercial coffee roasters

Coffee schools offer everything from barista training to assistance with learning how to properly operate commercial machines. Coffee roasting equipment can be difficult to operate, and classroom based training is often the best way to learn the ropes.

I recommend: The Roasters Guild offers classes and accreditation programs. Check out its apprenticeship program to earn the title of “Master Roaster.” Bellissimo also offers classes on the correct operating procedures for a wide variety of commercial coffee roasters.

Ask about training programs when you buy your coffee bean roasters

Whether you buy new or used coffee roasting equipment, it is important to ask about any available training or education programs. Your bean suppliers may also have training programs to offer to you. These courses will usually cost less because you have purchased supplies for your coffee roasting company.

I recommend: Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roasters offers both on and off site training to fit your businesses needs. Waverly’s also offers training for every piece of equipment that is sold.

Check out online experts for tips on how to run your coffee roaster

The Internet is an important tool for any business. It provides direct access to experts in ever field, including coffee roasters. These experts provide educational articles and videos that are important for your business.

I recommend: CoffeeResearch.org offers a database of information and educational articles. It is the perfect study resource for coffee roasters education and training materials. Check out Loring Smart Roast for a great instructional video for how to use a commercial coffee roaster.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Be sure to check with the distributor when your purchase a used coffee bean roaster. There still may be educational programs available to you.

Coffee roasters have become the new status symbol among food service operators and food wholesalers. Not only are wholesale coffee shops investing in the latest coffee roasting technology, but also restaurateurs are buying commercial coffee bean roasters so they can wow their customers with amazingly fresh, rich-tasting coffee. When it comes to serving great coffee, "fresh" is the key word. There's no better way to get fresh coffee then to roast your own coffee beans right on the premises.

A commercial coffee bean roaster lets you roast coffee beans right on the premises—even if you don't have extra room in the kitchen. Your customers will notice the difference. They'll value the extra steps you've taken to make sure they get a premium cup of coffee. Commercial coffee roasters are a sound investment because they can help you:

1. Boost sales in your breakfast-lunch operation with an affordable, space-saving coffee bean roaster.

2. Satisfy the coffee roasting demands of higher-volume operations.

3. Maximize your productivity with industrial-sized commercial coffee roasters.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Purchase a tabletop coffee bean roaster for your deli or luncheonette counters

Your store is small without much extra floor space. You're also new to coffee roasting, so an entry-level model is a perfect start. Roasting an hourly maximum of 25 lbs. should be sufficient for your needs, even for the early-morning rush.

I recommend: Diedrich Manufacturing prides itself on working with its customers to achieve their goals. Diedrich has developed its own unique roasting technology and offers free training classes to its customers. Supramatic also makes a counter top commercial coffee roaster weighing only 77 lbs. and roasting burgundy-colored beans in about 20 minutes. Majestic Coffee & Tea Inc. sells the Roller Roaster counter top roaster, which uses a lower-temperature system than other brands of tabletop roasters.

Purchase a floor-mounted drum coffee roaster machine for larger scale operations

Perhaps you own a gourmet food store that packages its own fresh roasted whole coffee beans for its discriminating patrons, or you operate a diner where the coffee never stops pouring. A floor-mounted fresh roast coffee roaster is what you need to put out between 50 and 150 lbs. of fresh roasted coffee per hour.

I recommend: Probat Burns, which makes solid drum coffee roasters, makes easy to clean modular designs that have a user-friendly operation. Primo Roasting Equipment also makes several different models of medium capacity industrial roasters and all with digital temperature controls.

Invest in an industrial-size commercial coffee roaster for wholesale accounts

With wholesale accounts to fill, you'll need to roast at least 1000 lbs. of coffee beans each hour.

I recommend: Ambex Inc. has made its name by satisfying the demands of high volume wholesale coffee roasters. Coffee PER, Inc. makes one of the largest industrial roasters. Its model, "The San Franciscan" industrial roaster, can roast up to 1200 lbs. of coffee beans in one hour. The company also offers free training classes at its headquarters in Reno, Nevada.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Try to buy commercial coffee bean roasters with 'infrared' rather than 'atmospheric' burners. Infrared burners run on about 50% less fuel than atmospheric burners, and provide a greater capacity roasting range.

If you are a barista that is aiming for a promotion or a restaurant owner who is looking to add coffee made from fresh roasted beans to your menu, you might want to take some time to read about different key terms that are used when speaking about coffee roasters. There is much more to the coffee roasting process than just adding beans, setting a timer and waiting for the delicious aroma to fill the room.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Infrared burners

A coffee roaster that has an infrared burner is said to generate beans that have a lower acidity level, are roasted more evenly and does not produce the burnt or bitter taste that some beans take on after roasting.

I recommend: You can read an article by Kopi Leghorn that explains more about infrared burners in coffee roasters.

Atmospheric burners

If a coffee roaster is equipped with an atmospheric burner, it means that the operator can control the gas flow to the burner, which in turn, changes the heat output.

I recommend: If you go to The Coffee Site, you can read an article about the atmospheric burners in the Ambex Coffee Roasters.

Drum coffee roaster

A drum coffee roaster is a type of coffee roaster that uses a fan and hot air to roast the beans. As the beans are roasting, the drum is rotating to give the beans equal roasting time.

I recommend: The folks over at Probat Burns have four drum coffee roasters for you to look at. They also have a chart which gives general guidelines as to how many pounds of beans each model of drum coffee roaster can handle.

Tabletop roaster

A tabletop roaster is a small coffee roaster that is normally capable of roasting up to 25 lbs. of beans per hour.

I recommend: You can visit Supramatic to see what a table top coffee roaster looks like. They have a model that is only 77 lbs. and can roast coffee beans in as little as 20 minutes.

French roast

Using a coffee roaster to make French roast beans means that you have roasted the coffee bean high enough that the natural oil of the coffee comes to the surface of the bean itself. It has nothing to do with the country of France!

I recommend: If you want to learn more about French roasting beans, visit Stagecoach Coffee.

Body

The body of roasted coffee is how 'heavy' the coffee seems when you drink it.

I recommend: You can get a more detailed definition of body at Sweet Maria's, where you can also find definitions for many more coffee related terms.

Depending on how much of your business you dedicate to coffee roasting will dictate the type and style of coffee bean roaster you will need. Some machines produce higher quality roasted beans while others produce a higher quantity. If roasted coffee beans equate to a small part of your business, you may be able to get away with a smaller, less expensive machine that produces quality beans. If this is your business' key offering, you will need to focus on a high-quality roaster that produces according to customer demand.

Being familiar with the different coffee roasters types and styles can help you select the right model for your establishment. Consider the following options when evaluating coffee roasters types and styles for your coffee roasting business:

1. A drum coffee roaster is a small coffee roasting machine that can sit on the counter.

2. Air roasters come in a few different sizes, but still have a limit on quantity.

3. Commercial coffee roasters can afford you the ability to produce mass quantities of roasted coffee beans at a time.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get a full bodied coffee from a drum coffee bean roaster

This type of coffee bean roaster uses a drum that is constantly rotating while hot air is being fed into the chamber to get an even distribution of heat to each bean producing a rich coffee. A drum coffee roaster machine does have a size restriction, however, based on the size of the drum. Most drum roasters can only roast a few ounces of coffee beans at a time. This is just one of many coffee roasters types and styles used for quality purposes over quantity.

I recommend: Sweet Maria's explains how drum coffee roasters do the job. Roastmasters.com outlines some of the important features of drum coffee roasting.

Choose fluid air coffee roasting equipment to roast your beans

Fluid air roasters distribute the hot air differently than drum coffee roasters. Rather than the heat from the metal drum helping with the roasting process, the hot air suspends and circulates the beans at a lower temperature than a drum roaster. Due to the open chamber, less residue is left behind and result in less cleaning. Some of the darkness of the bean is compromised by this type of commercial coffee bean roaster. This method of coffee bean roasting is said to lend a richer taste to the finished product.

I recommend: Sivetz Coffee describes the differences between fluid air coffee roasters and drum roasting. Air-Roasted Coffee provides a diagram of the fluid air roasting process.

Purchase a commercial coffee roaster if beans are your main business

If you are looking to roast a large number of beans at a time, more than a few ounces at a time, you need a commercial coffee roaster. This type of coffee roaster is for a coffee roasting business that relies solely on making its own beans for mass production. Commercial coffee bean roasters can roast a few pounds of beans to a few thousand pounds at a time. They use similar technologies as the table-top models, but have much larger capacities.

I recommend: Probat Burns describes the advantages of the larger coffee roasting machines. Judge Java details the features of several different sizes of coffee roasting equipment.