About baking

The average chemical composition of raw coffee beans is as follows:

Water 12%, nitrogen 12%, fat 12%, sugar and dextrin (dextrine) 10%, other non-nitrogen substances 18%, dust 4%, tannin 6.7%, caffeine 1.2%, coffee essential oil 0.1%.

Of course, these figures are not fixed, and the number of some ingredients varies greatly, which is why each type of coffee is so different. The baking process involves heating the beans to 200-220 degrees Celsius in a special large container and stirring the beans continuously for up to 20 minutes.

This process ends when the beans are dark brown. In many countries, baking ends when the beans are light brown, but the timing of all these stops is determined by taste.

During baking, beans lose about 18-22% of their weight, which is actually due to a number of factors: water is evaporated, sugar is caramelized, tannins and fat are reduced. An important indicator of baking (aspect) is that beans should be baked the same on the inside as on the outside. In the baking process, the volume of beans can increase by up to 60%, so the proportion is greatly reduced. The coffee essential oil in the beans runs to the surface, showing aromatic properties (developing an aromatic element). Coffee (coffeone) contains more than 600 chemicals, giving the coffee a charming flavor. In any case, baking must not be "push" too much to improve the aroma, as this may cause many components in the coffee to volatilize, thus risking reducing the aroma.

Cooling: as soon as the beans leave the roaster, they must be cooled immediately so as not to cause the beans to roast deeper than they have reached due to the self-baking effect. There are three ways to cool beans:

1) Water cooling: spray water on hot beans that have just been baked to cool them. Because coffee absorbs water easily, this process significantly increases the proportion of beans.

2) cooling with ordinary air

3) cooling with cooled air