I visited the local Goodwill store this afternoon, and I finally found a used hot air popper. The price was $2.98, and I was up for a bargain. The cashier said “That makes the best popcorn.” I was not concerned about dry fluffy popcorn, but here's the deal. I wanted to try to roast coffee in a hot air popper. For one, I had heard it was pretty easy, and I've been looking for better ways to decrease my kitchen smoke. Was this going to be the answer?
Well I quickly got home and told my family why I had made the purchase. I still got some strange looks, but I proceeded to the garage to make the test batch. I normally roast 3 measuring cups of green coffee each time and that produces about 3/4 lb of roasted coffee. The over the stove roast takes about 12-13 minutes of actual cranking time. With the air popper I was only able to roast 1/2 measuring cup of green coffee at a time, and the process took only 3-4 minutes so overall it wasn't too bad.
I have yet to taste the batch that I made, but it did dramatically decrease the smoke and the air popper helped sift through some of the chaff. I don't think that I'm quite sold on it yet. It may be good if I am in a hurry and need a quick roast before the friends arrive, but for now I'll still roast the old fashioned way. Ultimately I hope to work my way up to the Behmor 1600 Until then I will keep dreaming and working on my cranking biceps.