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Step 7The roasting bowl
You will need a decent bowl to roast the coffee in. Given the high temperatures, stainless steel is the material of choice. Additionally, the steel helps spread the heat and roast the beans more evenly. The real trick is in getting the right shape and size bowl.
The most common name for this method is the heat gun/dog bowl method, because so many people use metal dog bowls to roast in. These bowls are great because they are readily available, come in various sizes, and, because of the shape, they don't transfer heat directly to the surface below them like other bowls do. However, I personally don't use one because I get annoyed with how much the beans spill out of them, and how few beans they hold compared to how much they look like they should hold.
I usually use a stainless steel mixing bowl most of the time. I got a set of 4 sizes for cheap, and they work great. The straight sides aid in keeping all the beans in the bowl when stirring, and I can estimate easily how much can fit in a bowl. There are downsides to a bowl like this; the large, flat bottom easily transfers heat to the surface below it. This can result in burned tables and decks (yep, done both) unless you have a steel-topped table (as I now have) or use a trivet or hot pad or thick cardboard or set it on concrete. Additionally, these bowls (like dog bowls) have a very exact amount of beans that you can roast in them; if you want to do other sizes you need another sized bowl. I have 4 of these, use 3, and keep a dog bowl for mini-batches!
The best bowls I have found are the ones with high sides that slowly taper and round down toward the bottom in a sort of egg shape. The tapered shape allows for a variety of different batch sizes, and the near-vertical high sides strongly resist spilling. The shape also seems to work well to direct the airflow and focus the heat onto the beans. A friend of mine has one that scales from a 3/4 cup batch to a 5 cup batch! When I need a particularly large batch, I swipe the 4.5 quart mixing bowl from our Kitchenaide, and it works wonders, but my wife won't let me keep it for everyday mixing. The only real problems with tapered bowls are the slight tendency to tip (easily remedied a variety of ways) and the probability of burning the surface below if you don't adequately protect it. (A Kitchenaide stand mixer bowl has an extra thick base that slows the heat transfer almost enough to prevent burning.)
The most common name for this method is the heat gun/dog bowl method, because so many people use metal dog bowls to roast in. These bowls are great because they are readily available, come in various sizes, and, because of the shape, they don't transfer heat directly to the surface below them like other bowls do. However, I personally don't use one because I get annoyed with how much the beans spill out of them, and how few beans they hold compared to how much they look like they should hold.
I usually use a stainless steel mixing bowl most of the time. I got a set of 4 sizes for cheap, and they work great. The straight sides aid in keeping all the beans in the bowl when stirring, and I can estimate easily how much can fit in a bowl. There are downsides to a bowl like this; the large, flat bottom easily transfers heat to the surface below it. This can result in burned tables and decks (yep, done both) unless you have a steel-topped table (as I now have) or use a trivet or hot pad or thick cardboard or set it on concrete. Additionally, these bowls (like dog bowls) have a very exact amount of beans that you can roast in them; if you want to do other sizes you need another sized bowl. I have 4 of these, use 3, and keep a dog bowl for mini-batches!
The best bowls I have found are the ones with high sides that slowly taper and round down toward the bottom in a sort of egg shape. The tapered shape allows for a variety of different batch sizes, and the near-vertical high sides strongly resist spilling. The shape also seems to work well to direct the airflow and focus the heat onto the beans. A friend of mine has one that scales from a 3/4 cup batch to a 5 cup batch! When I need a particularly large batch, I swipe the 4.5 quart mixing bowl from our Kitchenaide, and it works wonders, but my wife won't let me keep it for everyday mixing. The only real problems with tapered bowls are the slight tendency to tip (easily remedied a variety of ways) and the probability of burning the surface below if you don't adequately protect it. (A Kitchenaide stand mixer bowl has an extra thick base that slows the heat transfer almost enough to prevent burning.)
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