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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: September 15th, 2023

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  • I have a home-modified air popper that I use to roast coffee and I don’t get first crack if I put too much coffee in, turns out that the limit of my machine is about a quarter pound at a time, otherwise, I don’t get enough agitation for a fast, even roast. Maybe try reducing the amount of coffee you’re roasting?

    Another thing that can cause an issue for me is too long of an extension cord. I’m right about at what the limit of my machine can handle and the slight drop in current caused by the long cord is enough to lower the air temperature about 20 degrees.




  • Water that’s boiling is 100 degrees C, as long as you’re reasonably close to sea level. Boiling it longer doesn’t make it hotter. If you want super critical water, you need to microwave it in a very smooth container. Please be warned that this is incredibly dangerous as s.c. water can cause horrific burns as it will boil and overflow when you try to pour it. It also doesn’t make good coffee, it over extracts.















  • Do magnetic test, put a magnet to it, see if it sticks. If it passes the magnet test, then you know it’s either carbon steel or magnetic stainless. If it fails, you need to find something that is harder than aluminum, but softer than steel, like an actual piece of copper. Scratch someplace out of the way with the soft copper, if the metal is scratched by the copper, you know that the metal is softer than the copper, and that rules out stainless steel. The scratch test isn’t super reliable because some aluminum alloys are significantly harder than copper, but it’s better than nothing If you don’t have chemical tests available.

    Good luck in your search. The Italians used to make quite a few kitchen implements out of aluminum, so it is possible that it is aluminum. I have an old Bialetti Moka that is aluminum.