Coffeeclues

Processing coffee at home is a laborious process and involves six important steps. These steps are to be carried out with great care. This article gives the description of the criteria that have to be met in each step.

Processing Coffee- Procedure
procedure involves six steps:

Pulping: pulping involves the removal of pulp and skin and it should be carried out within 24 hours. At this stage, unripe berries should be removed as they lower the quality of coffee. Pulping can be done in two ways. The first method is to squeeze each berry by hand. The second method involves the addition of beans into a bucket and tampering them using a piece of wood. This procedure helps in the removal of skin.

After this is carried out, water is added to the bucket and stirred. Pour out the skins present in water. This procedure is repeated until all the beans are free from skin and pulp. Any floating beans if present should be removed

Fermentation: Fermentation procedure involves the breakdown of slippery layer of the beans. The beans are placed in a plastic bucket and water is added to it. It is kept for about 18 to 48 hours. Once fermentation has been completed a handful of beans are taken and washed. If they appear clean and less slippery, then it is a indication that fermentation has been carried out successfully. Now the remaining beans are taken and washed throughly with clean water. Repeat this procedure until water is clear. Three washes can be helpful.

Drying: The easiest method is sun drying. Home food dehydrator will also help. In case of sun drying, beans should be stirred three to four times in a day. The coffee bean should turn to straw color. Now, dryness of coffee bean is checked by removing the parchment of beans. If properly dried, bean should be grayish blue color and hard to break.

Hulling: This step involves removal of parchment layer. This is done by use of a blender with plastic blades. Blending should be done at a low speed to prevent damage to seeds. The lighter parchment is blown using a hair dryer.

Roasting: Roasting is done to improve flavor and aroma. Several changes occur during roasting. Changes include size increment, color change and loss of moisture. This step is carried out in a oven or popcorn machine. After this, the beans are cooled as quickly as possible.

Grinding: Coffee beans are grinded in a blender until it is finely ground.

Therefore, processing coffee will be a successful if all the steps are perfectly carried out.