There are a lot of misconceptions and myths about the charge temperature and many roasters link it directly with the final taste of the coffee. It’s really pretty far from it. By the fact that no chemical reactions occur during, say, the first half of the roasting process, you should choose your charge temperature for another reason, first of all how long you want to roast the coffee.
Higher Charge Temperature mean more accumulated energy in the roaster, so you reach the crack faster with the same gas settings. And the other way around. Roasters often change their charge temperatures regarding types of beans (‘I charge naturals way lower, cause they’re so much more delicate!’) – it’s almost always completely unnecessary and disrupts the in between batch protocol. So choose your charge temp mainly regarding your batch size and check if it’s optimal for your desired roast times. Consistent charge temps with a fixed value make life so much easier, and we’ll elaborate on that in the next Coffee Insight!
Our Roasting Tips are brought to you by Piotr Jeżewski (88 Graines Q Grader & Sourcing Director)
