Skip to Content

The Best Home Coffee Roasters for the Perfect Cup

The Best Home Coffee Roasters for the Perfect Cup

When it comes to the freshest cup of coffee, nothing can beat a batch made from scratch in the comfort of your home. That means you’re not just brewing the coffee fresh, but you’re making it using freshly ground coffee that you’ve just finished toasting and roasting yourself. The best home coffee roasters come in all shapes and sizes.

That’s right, a home coffee roaster is a must-have for the true coffee connoisseur!

Think about it: what could be fresher than a batch of beans you roast at the moment you want to drink the coffee? You roast the beans, grind it up, and put it through your coffee machine all in one go. There’s no time for the antioxidants and oils in the coffee to degrade because everything is made 100% fresh!

Bottom Line Upfront Best Home Coffee Roasters

  1. Behmor 1600 Plus Customizable Drum Coffee Roaster: Best Overall
  2. Gene Cafe CBR-101 Home Coffee Roaster: Best User-Friendly
  3. FreshRoast SR500 Automatic Coffee Bean Roaster: Best Budget-Friendly
  4. Wabash Valley Farms Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper: Best Unique Option

We’ve combed through hundreds of products and thousands of reviews to bring you the best home coffee roasters you could ask for:

#1 Best Home Coffee Roaster Pick: Behmor 1600 Plus Customizable Drum Coffee Roaster

Best home coffee roaster - Behmor 1600

This is a drum-style coffee roaster, one that looks a lot like a toaster oven but with a metal cylinder instead of oven trays. You simply pour the beans into the cylinder, turn it on, and roast the beans. You can use it in your kitchen or at the office, thanks to its countertop design and smoke suppression system.

The roaster can hold up to 1 pound of coffee beans, and you can choose from 5 different roast profile settings. There’s even a manual roasting override for those who want total control of the roasting process. The quartz roasting elements are controlled via a thermostat, and you’ll love how you can adjust the speed of the roasting drum for faster or slowing rotations.

The design is made to be very user-friendly. You’ll love how easy it is to load up the roaster, and the chaff separates from the beans for easy post-roasting cleaning. There’s even an interior light so you can see how the roasting process is progressing.

If you’re looking for a home roaster that gets the job done a large batch at a time, this is the one for you!

User Reviews

There are a lot of positive reviews about this roaster:

  • “A great price for a great product.”
  • “Excellent roaster overall. It’s got some really nice programs if you want to get technical/creative with your roasts. Beans cook evenly, and the light allows the user to check in.”
  • “The Behmor 1600 offers a lot of flexibility in roasting profiles and it is worth trying different settings in search of flavor.”

There’s also the occasional negative review:

  • “There’s no customer service number for the company. Only email and I’ve gotten no response back and it’s been 2 months and 4 emails.”
  • “We like the roaster but the auto functions shut down too early so we just use it on manual.”

Price

Is $350 too high a price to pay for a quality coffee bean roaster you can use at home? Definitely not! It’s the priciest of the roasters on our list, but it’s worth it if you want total control over the roasting process.

Top Pick: Gene Cafe CBR-101 Home Coffee Roaster

I include this roaster  on my list of best home coffee roasters due to its ability to turn half a pound of green beans into fully toasted coffee ready to grind and brew in just 15 minutes. It’s a classic cylinder drum roaster, with a roast chamber fully visible so you can keep an eye on the progress of the beans. The little machine comes with multiple airflow and temperature settings, giving you total control over the roasting process.

The roaster is good for small coffee shops or home use, as it can handle decent quantities of beans (8 ounces at a time). The speedy roasting ensures a fresh batch quickly. It’s also a very user-friendly, no-mess machine. The chaff collector is easy to empty, and there is a very limited amount of smoke produced by the roaster.

User Reviews

A lot of users have positive things to say about this roaster:

  • “I have never enjoyed coffee more since I started using this model roaster about 6 years ago.”
  • “It is easy to operate, produces nice roasts and it is good quality. It really works well.”
  • “The coffee roaster is very quiet and easily controllable with both time and temperature at the turn of a knob.”

Of course, there were a few drawbacks mentioned as well:

  • “The amount of smoke it accumulates can get frustrating. Be sure to clean out the chaff collector every roast in order to get consistent roasts.”
  • “Great roaster with great temperature control and usability but a weak heating element.”

Price

At $600, this is a bit of a pricey investment for at-home use. However, if you MUST have coffee your way, it’s worth considering. It may not be quite as good as the Behmor (our #1 pick), but it’s a close second. 

Gene Cafe CBR-101 Home Coffee Roaster | Amazon

Roast up to 250g of green coffee beans in about 15 minutes with the easy-to-use Gene Cafe CBR-101.

Buy at Amazon.com
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Top Pick: FreshRoast SR500 Automatic Coffee Bean Roaster

best home coffee roaster - FreshRoast SR500

If you’re looking for something a little simpler (and cheaper), this roaster is the one for you!

The roaster doesn’t use a drum; instead, it uses a fluid air bed chamber that roasts whatever beans are on the bottom of the container. You’ll need to stir the beans as they roast, else risk burning the coffee. However, the roaster is designed to quickly and easily separate the chaff. You also get full control over the heat and fan.

You’ll only be able to roast 4 ounces of coffee at a time, so it’s not going to handle large quantities of coffee. The lack of a cooling cycle means your beans need to cool on the countertop before grinding and brewing.

Be warned: the roaster does vent smoke during the cooking. You’ll need to set it near a window or under your stove’s smoke hood to prevent your kitchen from getting smoky.

User Reviews

There are a lot of positive things users have to say about this roaster:

  • “A really nice roaster with excellent results.”
  • “If you want an affordable roaster that you can get consistent results with provided you make a little extra effort then this is a good buy.”
  • “This item is easier to clean up then the drum roaster and the stove top popper. Coffee tastes great.”

Of course, there are a few negative reviews as well:

  • “I’ve purchased two of these and they both failed after a short time. Either the fan control, the heat control, or both.”
  • “Worked very well for six weeks. Then the fan quit.”

Price

The roaster will run you just under $180—not too pricey, but not the cheapest appliance, either. It’s a good alternative to the pricier Behmor coffee roaster if you’re looking for something a bit more affordable

Bonus: Wabash Valley Farms Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper

Wabash Valley Farms Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper

For those who want a unique option for roasting coffee, this stovetop popcorn popper does the trick! All you have to do is fill it with coffee beans instead of popcorn, place it on the stove, and let the fire roast the coffee for you.

The popcorn popper can hold a pretty good amount of coffee (up to a pound at a time), and the built-in stirrer will keep the coffee beans moving as you roast them. The pan is made of sturdy aluminum, with a lid that keeps the heat in for a more even roast. It’s beautifully easy to use and clean. Best of all, it will run you just around $30! 

Whirley-Pop Popper Kit | Amazon
$39.99

The Original Silver Whirley Pop Stovepop Popcorn Popper takes the guesswork out of creating delicious, perfectly cooked popcorn. 

Buy At Amazon.com
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.
05/31/2023 11:21 am GMT

05/31/2023 11:21 am GMT

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.