SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper. Today’s focus is on roasting coffee beans at home.
Roasting Coffee Beans at Home
A consulting client asked me about coffee storage, in various forms. Unless you want to drink icky freeze dried coffee, then the three remaining options are: Storing ground roasted coffee, storing whole roasted coffee beans, and storing green coffee beans. These each have their drawbacks, but in terms of flavor, nothing beats freshly roasted coffee.
Rather than “re-invent the wheel”, I will defer to a great primer that was posted by The Art of Manliness site, a few years back. Here, they wisely did their roasting outdoors, using a gas grill and a steel popcorn popper with an agitator.
Coffee can indeed be frozen, with varying degrees of effect on flavor. You can freeze whole beans green, whole beans roasted, and ground roast. Most experts seem to agree that a fast freeze to a sub-zero temperature (“deep freeze”) is best. – JWR
HJL adds: I just use a dedicated cast iron skillet and a flat edged small metal spatula to roast my coffee. It takes a little skill to get an even roast this way, but that is quickly gained. The trick is to keep the beans moving in the skillet. If doing this over an open gas flame, I usually have to wear a leather work glove to protect the stirring hand from the heat. A great series of primers can be found at Sweet Maria’s
One thing to note when buying green coffee though is the political biases of many suppliers. Look at what the company openly supports on their website before you spend your hard earned money with them. Most companies do not stay neutral and lean hard left.
o o o
President Trump’s Back-Stabbing
President Donald J. Trump (DJT) delivered multiple stabs to the back of his voting base this week: 1.) He asked Senator Feinstein to add her ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban to the planned omnibus School Safety Bill. 2.) He asked Congressman Steve Scalise to remove his National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill from the Toomey-Manchin ban on private party guns sales bill, 3.) He spoke in favor of a law that would deprive “suspected unstable” gun owners of their guns before due process, and 4.) He also said that if Congress did not enact legislaiton to ban bumpfire stocks (and presumably and fast-resetting or light triggers) that he would ban them himself — I assume with either an Executive Order or rulemaking from the Justice Department, through the BATFE.
Words cannot describe my level of disappointment with DJT! If he thinks that “compromise” with the Democrats is going to wing him Brownie Points or salvage the upcoming congressional mid-term elections, then he is horribly mistaken.
