Friday, March 27, 2009

Coffee Roasting attempt #7?

Coffee roasting has come a long way!  My father-in-law was laid off two months ago, and as much as I hate to admit it, I have benefited greatly!  He is a union plumber/pipefitter and is great with all things metal.  He also is an avid coffee drinker.  All of these things made it easy for him to catch the home-roasting fever.  We fumbled around with a fluid airbed roaster design for awhile but he quickly let go of that and began pursuing a more conventional design.  Before I knew it he unveiled the roaster below.


Well, it was not quite this glorious to begin with.  Having watched many drum roasters on youtube and even studied their blueprints in books, I was able to offer lots of constructive criticism that has led to the current design.  The amazing thing is that as pictured, the only thing we didn't have on hand is the thermometer!  I purchased some bearings and a gearmotor today from Surplus Center.  That site is amazing and has incredible prices.  I bought bearings online a month ago and thought I was getting a good deal.  Well, they suck compared to similar priced ones from that catalog.  Currently, the drum only rotates at about 4 rpm, and the new motor will ramp that up to 64.  I am excited for that!  It easily roasts a pound at a time with good but slightly inconsistent results.  I am banking on the higher rpms to fix this.

So, if you love good coffee, buy it fresh from me and I will cut you one heck of a deal!  God bless.

Friday, March 20, 2009

80 Degrees

There are few things that can bring such instantaneous joy in the worst of circumstances like instance below. Of course, this video is just the tail end of some great laughter--you never get the best part on video. Stephanie and Thor had just returned from a walk and Stephanie told me that is was 80 degrees outside. Next thing we know, Thor is giggling. For some reason, those words tickled his ears as you can now experience for yourself. What a bundle of joy!

Monday, March 16, 2009

A Lesson in Failure.

I failed Calculus B today. I have coasted through years of college with minimal effort and have still ended up on the Dean's list many times. A decent IQ, and a good foundation laid by my parents have made education a breeze up until Calc B. This is the first course I have ever failed and I am almost happy about it because finally someone is not going to let me get away with being lazy. The class is required for my major so I will be taking it again sometime in the near future. I am excited for the challenge! I did not complete a single homework problem the entire quarter. The only effort I put into the class was logging a few hours at justmathtutoring.com. The place is amazing. If you need any help with any math, it is definitely the place to go.

Much beer and coffee roasting news is to come soon.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Updates

Weight Watchers - As I expected, my metabolism is off the charts. For quite a few weeks I followed the program with a lot of determination. Consuming just under 2000 calories a day I was losing about 2 pounds every 3 days. I very quickly dropped to 240 pounds. Then I started to get a little bit cocky. Despite easing off the diet quite a bit I still managed to hit 237.5, but I have been afraid to get back on the scale since. But, we must endure.

Coffee - Andy and I are in the process of building a fluid air bed roaster out of junk from the thrift store. It has been a learning experience to say the least. If you think you know a lot about everything start perusing forums that deal with electronics and you will be quickly humbled. Last week we were able to set up a system that thoroughly agitates around a half pound of beans with only air. Now all we need to do it turn that air from 70 degrees to 400. Easier said that done.

Homebrew - Last Saturday, Earl and I brewed our fist all-grain batch. All we know so far is that it is fermenting. Good news. My homemade mash-tun worked wonders. I also purchased an 8 gallon stainless steel stock pot for boiling the wort. It is a beautiful piece of equipment. Tomorrow, forty-two 55 pound bags of malt will arrive on a semi. Only 4 of them are mine, but I organized the whole ordeal on this wiki to save money. If you live nearby and want to save mad money on malt, join us next time!

Beekeeping - You didn't know about this one did you... Well it is only a dream up to this point, but I do belive I am going to take classes from the Scioto Valley Beekeepers Association in a couple of weeks. I hope to build a top bar hive similar to the one here. The only major difference is that mine will have observation windows so Thor and I can learn all about how bees work!

Spiritual - Stephanie and I are praying together almost every night before we go to bed and this simple gesture does wonders for us. There is something attractive about a praying wife. We continue to attend Bible Study with friends every Wednesday night. I look forward to it more than anything else in a week.

Monetary - Dave Ramsey convinced me that whole life insurance is a waste of money. So, I am cashing out our policy. Add that money to our tax returns and in a short amount of time, we will pay off $6000 worth debt! There are few better feelings in the world. Praise Jesus.