How to Roast Coffee at Home on a (weber) Grill (sort of)

[G$]

You won't need much to roast coffee beans at home, but what you do need is rather specific. You'll need a gas grill, as charcoal is very hard to get hot enough for roasting. It also has to be a grill that has a side burner.

Anybody going to try to prove the author wrong?

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/06/20/how-to-roast-coffee-at-home-on-a-grill/

Photo from "Art of Manliness":

[Tim in PA]

Someone commented on that site and said you can use charcoal without a problem. I really want to try this but don't want to invest in any equipment in fear that I would suck at it. The commentor also said you can use a frying pan. I'm tempted to just wing it and give it a whirl. I already ground my coffee and use a french press. I'd love it if I could roast a decent cup of coffee.

[mike.stavlund]

I have a friend who roasts his coffee in a cast-iron skillet on his stovetop.  And I met a guy who used his gas grill with a kind of mesh rotisserie to turn the beans in the main cooking chamber.  I don't remember him saying that he needed especially high heat, either. 

Unfortunately, I didn't taste my frying-pan friend's coffee, but the gas grill guy's stuff was first-rate. 

[Tim in PA]

The article posted mentioned that for cooling, you want to use a baking sheet that you use just for that purpose as the flavor doesn't come off the sheet. I wonder if I'd have the same issue with cast-iron? Not sure how much I should believe the posted article as it is since I've already noticed a few holes in it.

[Troy]

i have yet to see a gas grill that can get hotter than my charcoal.

i'm still not ready to try roasting coffee though.

[Harbormaster]

There's a guy on some other major BBQ forum that roasts his coffee on a Weber gasser.
He makes a huge pot at comps and shares with all comers.
Other than the coffee I had while in Bogota, it is hands down the best coffee I ever had.
It's just one more hobby I don't need.

[mwmac]

For the past year I have been roasting coffee using a $3.00 thrift store popcorn air popper and a thermapen for temp monitoring.  I see the advantage of a rotisserie roaster for large batches but I have always wondered about temp monitoring and the introduction of off flavors to the roast.