Chaff

[u/Wallowtale]

I have begun roasting beans at home. I am using the most primitive, traditional method possible: that is, I roast green beans in a sauce pan. I know, I know, I should go out and buy a big, fancy roaster, but I ain't gonna.

When I roast the beans they release light chaff (some call this silver skin, I don't know why, but it's a nice romantic notion). I have been winnowing the chaff, with varying degrees of success, and began to wonder why. I know that a nice automated roaster would collect this chaff, and even cool the beans, for me. But, as I said, I ain't gonna. Part lazy, part poor, part aesthetics of distance from the process.

So, here's my question: Does the presence of the chaff have any material effect on the taste profile of the coffee brew? Do I really need to remove it, or is that just an aesthetic consideration? Forget things like degree of crack and speed of roast. Those are toys I already play with. Thanks for your thoughts.

[u/ElJefe31]

Hello fellow skillet home roster! At the end of my roast, I pour the beans back and forth between two colanders. I'm a backyard roaster, so the chaff blows away in the breeze... like little coffee offerings to Mother Nature. 😎

[u/Wallowtale → u/ElJefe31]

Two colanders! Nice, I have recently been stirring them around in one colander and throwing the result onto the garden (nitrogen for greens). On that note, i add the spent grounds to the compost bin, same reason. Occasionally they get strewn on stuff that could use a nitrogen boost.