SR800 Medium Roasting Washed Coffee | Beginner's Guide

I just started roasting coffee a few months ago. Your videos are the MOST helpful and easy to follow! Thank you!

I think less adjustment will still give a good result. Just let the roaster go to 1st crack and turn down after 1 min

Thanks, this video was very helpful to me!

I have pulled my older SR-800 out of its storage location because I am in a new place and I am quite tired of paying for old ground coffee. I lost the sheets I made for my previous roasts, so I came looking for some help. While it is nice to witness a much-better roaster doing the job, following along and trying to write down basic times from this presentation is very difficult. I wish it hadn't been so or that you would have included a document of some kind showing the times and temps for one of your future "good" roasts. Such is life...

I’ve been roasting a while, but still am always looking for helpful videos. I am not sure I’m understanding this. You have one temperature posted, yet the temperature on your roaster is not the same. And the time doesn’t make sense to me either. Am I missing something? Thanks!

I'm getting better and better with it, it's so fun .

Excellent!

I am a Newbie at this , Just found the Roaster you have in your Video at a Amazon Return Bin store for 15$.
Thank you so much for your Videos, they help so much more than reading paper instructions.
I tried my first Roast last night! The only depressing thing about Roasting your own beans is the wait time after.
I am so excited, and can hardly wait.

Man great work getting the time/temp/settings view on a heads up display, I personally would love to see your roast in real time without the fast forward clips so that I could roast right along with you in live time

Can you fit a FR800 roasting camber on a FR540?

SR 800 roaster here. I've done about 25-75 8 oz batches maybe 20 lbs of beans over about 2 years. Blower motor has burned up, sounds like bearings are going/gone, screaches and howels with reduced airflow, trips a 15 amp braker.

So actual use life expectancy seems around ~50 batches over 1 1/2 to 2 years.

I like the unit, I was able to get beans roasted to my tastes, mostly to just the begining of second crack, quite repeatably. But I really don't think I am inclined to get a new unit (now around $300) which I strongly suspect will just die in another 1 1/2 years/50 batches.
And the CBR101 @ $650 and again a one year warrenty like the SR 800 which kinda tells me it wont last much longer than that is a non-started.
I guess I will just have to cobble something together for myself.

Wow, I learned so much from your videos! And the narrator has such great facial expressions during his narration that really make you lean into what he is saying...and selling. Ha, ha. Seriously, his expressions exude kindness and thoughtfulness, though I never knew that could be expressed as plainly as he does in this and other videos.

What voltage is the SR800, I’m in Australia so I need at least 220V.

Your videos are super helpful! There are a lot of people who say to just turn the settings all the way up and leave them, but this method is obviously better. Question: you always aim between 6-7 minutes for first crack. If you were using the 540, would you aim for quicker? I find that it's hard to roast slow enough, without risking stalling the roast. Any insight would be great!

Good job on the videos, It really inspired me to get me the SR800 and yesterday I did my first roast ( I did get a coffee from Amazon, since was not sure how the coffee was going to come up) I did follow similar template of this video and I am amazed for my first roast, thanks for this it really made it easier ofcourse need to learn and really understand the process, but definetly it really help. Now going to start searching for all the coffees I can get :). Not sure why in forums or orther videos people start with Speed 9 and power 9 and leave the power liket hat for the entire roast, for a while it made me think taht roasting at lower powers was not optimal, but after watching this it gave me a good starting point.

Greatly appreciate this recent find! Your videos and demonstrations have been very beneficial in taking my roasting to higher levels and bringing out the best of the beans. One trick I do, regarding chaff, is to initially clean the collector and then turn back on the cooling cycle to collect remaining chaff for about 30 seconds. This prevents chaff from being sucked into the bottom of the machine and potentially causing bigger issues.

How soon do you put the beans into airtight container after cooling cycle? And is it ok if they are still a little warm? Just did my first batch!

If you know someone that likes dark roast you never have a bad or missed timing on your roast just let it go dark and your Buddy thinks you’re awesome and then you go back and roast it right for yourself or other friends who enjoy something more out of there coffee

I roasted my first batch of beans with an SR300 which is pre-programmed to 5.9 min. (no manual heat or power adjuster). The beans went into 2nd crack (I believe, since I was unaware of the ventilation issue and was busy trying to shut of a smoke detector!) but the brewed coffee still turned out weak. I used my normal amount of coffee so should I increase the roasting time or use more coffee in the coffee maker? I'm still a little confused with the timing process. The beans I used are from Nicaragua. Any advice?

Thanks SO MUCH for the display information window! This one small thing puts these videos in a different category.

You explain it well, and focus on important stuff and points. Still having to re-watch videos because I thought I understood but results tell me I missed something

Thank you for this series! I have another popper-style roaster with temp control, and these guides have been the basis for my own profiles. Unlike other roast guides, your remarks on thought process and what to look for at each phase are so helpful. And I've successfully gotten sweet, flavorful city and full city roasts from washed beans. I just tried my first natural roast with incrementally increasing drying heat per that video, and hope it turns out similarly. Cheers!

During your video you mentioned that you made some "errors" while roasting. Based on that, what would have been the ideal roast? In other words, give me the Fan & Power settings and the time for each setting that you wished you would have roasted. I am new to using the SR-800 and really enjoy your videos. Thanks.

I just ordered first time coffee from Captain's coffee, i am waiting for an SR800 that will be arriving soon, so i got in contact with Captain's coffee and i spoke to the nicest person, i think he's David, well i explained my situation and he graciously and very politely helped above and beyond, he changed my order according to my experience..., which is none...🥺, but he explained that with the coffee that he will send me, i will have for the most part an easier time roasting while savoring Captain's coffee's variety pack, i can't wait and i am totally happy and desiring my first time roasting on the SR800 those
Medium Roasts, thanks again Captain's Coffee, God bless always...

Hi, love your full detail, i would like to know, what are "ALL" the best coffees for me to buy when all I want and love is "Medium full Roast" i want to have a good variety of flavorful coffees to choose from, thanks again

Captain...thanks for this! Trying to get acclimated to my SR800. Two roasts so far. I used this as a template on a washed Panama Bouquet. I seemed to be about a minute behind on everything, including first crack. So, I should probably up the heat a bit more towards the beginning. Anxious to try this coffee. (do you have a recommendation for how long one should wait after roasting to grind?) Thanks!

For cool down how would removing them into a colander compare to the cool down cycle?

As a new 540 owner your videos are invaluable. Thanks for sharing this. Much better than Burmans and Sweet Marias imho.

Hi, i have 2 questions :
1. At which stage (Drying, Millard and Development) of the roasting help to reduce astringent taste?
2. What is the difference in temperature between 1st crack and the end of roasting? I need to determine what should be the rate of change.

I like the inset of the display and timer !

Very helpful videos for us new to the process. Thank you

Captain! is there any specific product/ way you clean the SR800 if you use the machine a few times a week? thank you!!!

Everyone that buys an FR roaster needs to watch this video. Sweet Maria's needs to at least Iink to it in their roasting library. Good stuff, Captain, thank you.

Great video, David! Wondering if you would mind sharing the weight in and the weight out from your roast? I've noticed that there's quite a difference in result when using different batch sizes - wondering if you have any tips/guidance on how batch size affects the roast and how to choose a batch size? Do you take in account the %-loss in weight at all when determining how you will roast a certain coffee?

Another awesome video David just what I needed to get motivated into roasting this week

You sir, have completely convinced me in buying the SR800, I’m looking forward to what I can do with it. However, I do have a few questions. How do you achieve every roast level (light, medium, medium-dark, dark) with and without the extension tube? How does the origin and way it was harvested effect roast time? What settings do I have to for an espresso roast?

David, your work does not go unnoticed. The way you communicate, and make sure this is friendly to all users is brilliant. Always excited to check out the videos you upload! thank you. have a great week!

Very valuable content, thanks.

🙏🏼

Hi David, video was extremely helpful. Thanks so much. Best ever!!

This is great content. Best advice next to Sweet Maria’s on how to roast with the Freshroast roasters! I have an SR540 w/ extension tube and your commentary will really help me improve my roasts.