Just how dirty is that burlap bag of green coffee beans you’re feeding through your roaster? Removing foreign contaminants early in the Roasting Process through proper green bean processing not only protects your Roaster, but also provides you with a quantifiable representation of the defects in your coffee.
Before feeding the system, you’ll want to weigh your coffee for a “starting weight”. You can use this value later to compare to the clean coffee weight you are expecting from your supplier.
Now you’re ready to start feeding your beans into the system. If you’re only feeding one mid-size roaster, you’ll probably be utilizing a single dump station. This dump station would then pneumatically or mechanically feed the cleaning process that leads to your green coffee storage solution. As you grow and begin to add a few new Probat or BURNS Roasters to the line-up, you may want to consider a dual or even triple dump station to process as many green coffee beans as possible.
With either a single or multi-dump station set up, as the burlap bags are slit open, the potential arises for strings or other contaminants to enter your system. If left in the product flow, these items pose the threat of a thermal event in the roaster or surrounding ductwork. Different pieces of Green Bean Processing Equipment can be introduced within the process flow to prevent such occurrences.
A “wind cleaner” (as seen below) is a great addition to remove burlap strings or light foreign particles from the product flow. These particles could cause fires during the roasting process if left in the system.
A “sieve cleaner” can also be used to remove sticks or other foreign parts. Through different screen sizes, it can remove foreign elements that are both larger and smaller than a coffee bean.
You’ll also want to be protected against more significant contaminants such as metallic items, i.e hardware. In the event that any of these items fall into the green bean flow, a downstream metal separator will save your equipment by removing these potentially harmful objects.
Once you have thoroughly cleaned your green coffee, you’ll want to take a weight measurement to see how much acceptable product you are left with. You may find it more cost productive to pay extra for cleaner beans from a different supplier. Upon being weighed, the coffee beans are sent to storage and await their shining moment in the coffee roaster.
The strong correlation between successful scalability of production and the ability to measure and remove any defects during your green coffee bean processing can make or break whatever growth aspirations you may have as a Commercial Coffee Roaster. No matter the size or set up of your Roastery, our engineers can customize a Green Bean Processing System to your exact specifications. Give us a call, or fill out the below form, and take the first step towards a more efficient and profitable roasting solution.
