In the world of coffee, industry professionals use some pretty fancy terms that might leave coffee enthusiasts scratching their heads. Our "Explain It To Me Like A Ten-Year-Old" segment is a coffee enthusiast's secret decoder ring to navigate the world of coffee. We'll break down industry jargon into easy-to-understand explanations so you can sound like a coffee pro the next time you visit your favorite café or roastery.
What Is Rate of Rise (RoR)?
Imagine you're baking cookies. You want them to be nice and golden brown, right? Similarly, the "rate of rise" or "RoR" in coffee roasting is kind of like watching how fast your cookies are getting brown.
In a coffee roasting machine, the coffee beans are getting roasted. The rate of rise tells us how quickly the temperature inside the beans is going up. It's like a speed gauge for the roast!
A good roaster wants the temperature to rise steadily, not too fast or too slow. If it goes up too fast, the beans might burn on the outside and be raw inside --- kind of like a cookie that's black on the edges but still doughy in the middle. Too slow, and the beans might not develop their full flavor, like a cookie that's pale and boring.
By keeping an eye on the rate of rise, the roaster can adjust the heat and airflow to make sure the beans roast perfectly, just like you checking on your cookies to make sure they're golden brown all the way through!
How Do Roasters Monitor RoR?
There are two main ways to monitor the rate of rise in coffee roasting:
ROASTING SOFTWARE: Most modern coffee roasters use specialized software that tr tracks the bean temperature throughout the roast. This software will often display a graph where the x-axis represents time and the y-axis represents temperature. By looking at the slope of the line on this graph, you can see how quickly the temperature is rising --- that's the rate of rise! Steeper slopes indicate a faster rate of rise, while shallower slopes indicate a slower rate of rise. Most modern coffee roasters use specialized software that tracks the bean temperature throughout the roast. This software will often display a graph where the x-axis represents time and the y-axis represents temperature. By looking at the slope of the line on this graph, you can see how quickly the temperature is rising – that's the rate of rise! Steeper slopes indicate a faster rate of rise, while shallower slopes indicate a slower rate of rise.
MANUAL TEMPERATURE MONITORING: Some roasters, especially smaller ones, might not use software and rely on manually monitoring the bean temperature with a probe. In this case, the roaster will track the temperature at regular intervals (e.g., every 30 seconds or minute) and record the data. By comparing the temperature readings over time, they can calculate the rate of rise. It's a bit more work than using software, but experienced roasters can still get a good sense of the rate of rise this way.
To end, just like keeping an eye on your cookies helps them bake perfectly, the rate of rise helps roasters make sure the coffee beans roast just right! This way, all the yummy flavours hiding inside the beans have a chance to come out, making your next cup of coffee super delicious!
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