Handheld Pan Coffee Roaster (CBR-P01) for Home and Outdoor Use

The conversation over coffee went something like this:Me: I'm really looking forward to spending more time out on the water when we get a bigger boat. We could go out two weeks at a time or more!My Long Suffering Spouse: We can't go out too long. How are you going to roast coffee out on the boat?As luck would have it, I got an email offering a discount on the Gene Cafe Handheld Pan Coffee Roaster (whew, long name!) a few days later. Even if I hated it, the price and Amazon Prime shipping made it a no brainer.I've been home-roasting for about three years now. I started with a Fresh Roast SR500, then moved up to the larger Gene Cafe CBR-101 a few months later. The SR500 does about 4oz, the GeneCafe about a pound. I love the GeneCafe, but both roasters a a little pricey to just buy on a whim.The Handheld arrived while I was roasting coffee for the week, so it was a great time to try it out. Here are my thoughts:Packaging -- well packaged and arrived without damage. Cardboard packaging is easy to open and there is only a small plastic bag covering the pan itself.Product -- the pan itself reminds me a lot of a veggie steamer without the weight. Nice bamboo handle that won't conduct heat. The embossing on the bottom is a nice touch.Instructions -- none. Zip. Nada. They aren't even online. If you're entirely new to coffee this might be a bit confusing. There are, however, a lot of good resources out there for beginners. The product description online indicates it can roast up to a third of a pound.One of the descriptions I'd read said that this is made primarily for outdoor use. Believe it. This is not a fault of the product. Coffee roasting produces chaff (the thin covering that sloughs off the beans as they roast) and smoke. You can't avoid it. Nevertheless, I tested this inside using my gas range and the vent hood on high -- it's only 7 degrees outside today!I weighed out 4oz of coffee, added it to the pan, and turned on the burner. You really do need to keep the pan moving or you'll get a very uneven, burned batch. If you've ever made Jiffy Pop popcorn in the old foil pan with the expanding foil cover...it's just like that. The rim on the pan does a good job of keeping the beans in the pan, and I only lost about 4 over the side. The stove top ended up littered with chaff, which was what I expected. It's easily cleaned up with a damp paper towel. The vent fan kept up with the smoke, but if you over-roast indoors prepare to have your smoke alarms go off. Another reason to do this outdoors.Unlike the electric-stove reviewer, my roasting was done in about five minutes and there was no appreciable heat by the handle. You need to remove it from the heat before the beans reach their desired color since the coffee will continue to roast while cooling. Keeping the pan moving produced an even roast, and I could easily see and hear al the indications (cracks and colors) to keep track of things. I enjoyed the hands-on more than I thought I would. Outdoors with a small butane burner (as they picture) would be an ideal setup for this product. That makes it viable for use camping and boating. I'm not sure I'd use this over a campfire because of that short handle.If you're a newbie, this and a good book will get you started. Some online instructions from the manufacturer would be even better. I gave it found out of five stars for this lack of instructions.I received this product at a discounted price in exchange for my honest review.

It surprised me. It works. For a pan that weighs about a half pound, it's solid enough. Can it break. Sure, but it will be your fault. It makes a surprisingly even roast. That is number one to me. It only takes a few poorly roasted beans to ruin a cup of coffee.Don't use this in your home. For that matter don't pan roast any coffee in your house. Chaff will go everywhere and your whole house will stink. Roasting coffee does not smell like fresh brewed. Works great on your BBQ grill or a camp stove. That is what it was made for.A few tips for newbies.1. Watch a bunch of vids on youtube.2. Weigh your beans until you get use to estimating. (150gm or so). Too much is hard to control.3. Set your flame as low as possible. This pan is efficient.4. Use a timer to help set your pace. You should be done somewhere around ten minutes.5. Hold the pan over the heat about 3 inches above the flame.6. Keep the beans moving while over the heat. No exceptions.7. Be patient. Not much happens the 1st three minutes. Did I mention, keep the beans moving.8. At around four minutes, it starts getting interesting.The beans begin to swell and chaf starts flying everywhere.9. You will start to see some beans browning more than others. Keep the beans moving,Keep the beans moving.10. About now, you should also be hearing what sounds like a little popcorn popping (1st crack).11. If you have been working your flame correctly it should be around 8 minutes. You are in the critical phase and seconds count.12. The popping will change to that of Rice Crispies.13. CAREFUL! You only want a few snap, crackle, pops. You can quickly make a pan of ashes at this point.14. Get it off the flame and start cooling the beans. They are still cooking. Lots of ways to cool them.15. Something around ten minutes.16. Important here. Pick thru the beans. If it's too different from the others toss it16. They should be allowed to rest overnight (degas Co2).17. If you will be steeping or boiling your coffee, then no need to wait.It does take some practice and you will likely throw away your first few batches. Nobody said it would be simple. That's why Maxwell House sells millions of tons of that crud each year. This works for me. Your results will vary.

I tried in different heat, time and ventilation (with/without rid) and got same bad results. It's very difficult to roast the coffee beans without burning. The taste is always too bitter and disgusting. I used small cooking pan and got much better result. Maybe OK for roasting nuts....

Neat idea, but not well executed. The handle length is fine for a small camp stove, but over a camp fire it would need to be much longer. The whole thing is fairly cheaply made and I doubt it will last long. I'm a daily coffee roaster and I prefer hand roasting over a stove. I usually use the Eco handy roaster. The pros of the Gene Cafe: This one can roast much more at a time while using much less fuel than the Eco. The perforation also provides some abrasion that keeps the beans turning over for a more even roast and removes more of the chaff while roasting. The cons: The perforation allows all of the chaff to fall through into the flame, causing significantly more smoke. Additionally, being open to the flame and the flame's exhaust might affect the coffee flavor. I'm not sure yet because I'm still in the learning curve with this new device. The pan is way too thin and warps with the heat. It will not hold up to being dropped, or even seriously bumped. Likewise, the handle is not very sturdy and I expect it to come apart sooner or later. Be gentle with this thing. I'm giving it three stars for a few reasons. It promptly arrived in perfect condition and the sellers were very friendly, it does work if you're in to hand roasting, and it is a good idea. However, It can be made better by making the pan thicker and the handle more sturdy, and perhaps by making the perforations smaller to keep abrasiveness but allow less chaff through.