Coffee roasting apparatus, coffee brewing apparatus and coffee roasting method
A coffee roasting apparatus is disclosed comprising a compartment for holding coffee beans, a heating arrangement for heating the coffee beans in the compartment during a roasting process of the coffee beans, a volatile organic compound sensor for determining a total concentration of volatile organic compounds residing in the compartment, and a controller for controlling the heating arrangement. The controller is adapted to determine whether a rate of change in the total concentration of volatile organic compounds exceeds a predefined threshold and control the heating arrangement based on a determination that the rate of change in the total concentration of volatile organic compounds exceeds the predefined threshold. A coffee brewing apparatus including such a coffee roasting apparatus and a coffee roasting method are also disclosed.
1. A coffee roasting apparatus comprising:
a compartment for holding coffee beans;
a heating arrangement for heating the coffee beans in said compartment during a roasting process of the coffee beans;
a volatile organic compound sensor for determining a total concentration of volatile organic compounds residing in said compartment; and
a controller for controlling the heating arrangement, wherein the controller is adapted to:
determine whether a rate of change in said total concentration of volatile organic compounds residing in said compartment exceeds a predefined threshold; and
control the heating arrangement based on a determination that said rate of change in said total concentration of volatile organic compounds residing in the compartment exceeds the predefined threshold.
2. The coffee roasting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is adapted to control the heating arrangement in response to inputs from the volatile organic compound sensor.
3. The coffee roasting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said rate of change exceeding the predefined threshold is indicative of a start of a first cracking phase of said coffee beans.
4. The coffee roasting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said rate of change exceeding the predefined threshold is indicative of an end of a first cracking phase of said coffee beans.
5. The coffee roasting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said rate of change exceeding the predefined threshold is indicative of a start of a second cracking phase of said coffee beans.
6. The coffee roasting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is adapted to control the roasting process in a predetermined manner after said rate of change exceeding the predefined threshold.
7. The coffee roasting apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the controller is adapted to control the heating arrangement in the predetermined manner by enabling the heating arrangement for a predefined time period.
8. The coffee roasting apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising a timer, wherein the controller is responsive to said timer for enabling the heating arrangement for the predefined time period.
9. The coffee roasting apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface for defining a degree of roasting of the coffee beans, the controller being responsive to the user interface.
10. The coffee roasting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the compartment comprises an inlet;
the heating arrangement comprises a hot air source coupled to said inlet; and
the coffee roasting apparatus further comprises a stirring element mounted in said compartment for stirring the coffee beans during the roasting process.
11. A coffee brewing apparatus including the coffee roasting apparatus of claim 1 .