Well, I just cooled my very first batch of home-roasted beans.  Wow was that
easy!  My wife and I are anxiously awaiting tomorrow morning's cup of
coffee! (We decided to give it a couple of hours to gas off.)  For now, I'm
sitting in front of the TV, checking my e-mail and shoving my nose in the
jar every couple of minutes or so :-)
Specifics....
2 oz. Costa Rican beans (which have traditionally been my favorite)
Toastmaster Popcorn Popper (from Target)
I roasted for exactly 5 minutes.  I'm not exactly sure what that means - I
heard my first couple of cracks at 2:15 - I guessed that maybe I reached
"first crack" at 2:30.  When I stopped at 5 min. they were happily snap,
crackel and popping back and forth to one another.
I'm guessing Full City Roast? -- Sound right?
I have a question though.  What's the difference between a first and second
crack?  Do the beans actually stop cracking eventually and then start again
or is it actually a more violent cracking?
Anyhow...Yipee!
Grace and Peace,
  `tim

At 10:55 PM -0400 7/30/04, Knots & More E-Mail wrote:
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Hi Tim,
You might want to search the archives for my posts earlier this month about Toastmaster tips and techniques. First and second crack  SHOULD sound different. First crack is like popcorn popping and second crack is more like rice krispies popping in milk. HOWEVER, in a Toastmaster things can get going so fast that first and second crack run into each other.
There is no way from knowing if it is at Full City from the time. You need to examine the color and texture of the beans. I printed out the guide found on the Sweet Maria's site when I got started.
If you aren't getting a distinct period of silence between first crack and second crack, things are probably moving so fast that it is both hard to control the degree of roast AND you won't get as rich a development of flavors as you will if you slow things down.
Here are techniques that I use to slow things down.
1) I roast with the top off and use a tin can (that tomato sauce came in) that has had both ends removed as a sort of chimney
2) I either stir the beans every 10 or 15 seconds until first crack (with a lifting motion to ensure that the beans on the bottom get to the top) OR I tilt the popper at a 30 to 45 degree angle.
Both of these techniques will slow things down so that first crack starts 'rolling' at about 3 minutes or so (there will be some outliers before that) for about a minute or two and will result in a pause before second starts. I would also recommend stirring occasionally or tilting some during the time between first and second. For me, the result has been a more flavorful brew than if I don't slow it down a bit.
I have found that it can take more than 20 seconds into second crack to get a Vienna roast with this set up.
To slow things down even more in the middle, you can plug into an extension cord for a little while between first and second. Using a 75 foot heavy gauge extension cord, took my roast times up to 15 minutes. You can use it for just part of the time.
Of course, if you love how the roast you did turned out, follow your muse.
Another list member has a technique that I haven't tried. He lets the Toastmaster roast go full speed ahead and turns the Toastmaster off before second crack and lets the beans cool down in the popper.
Keep us posted with your results.
--Edward
p.s. I am a newbie minus one month.

As a toastmaster roaster, I can describe my experience...  It really 
doesn't take very long for some outlying beans to start snapping.  This 
will continue for a while as the quantity of cracks increases.  This, 
1st crack, is quite audible and crisp.  Just as the cracking tapered in, 
it will taper off.
If you are patient then a little bit after you've left 1st crack you'll 
start hearing a more muffled sounding cracks.  These are often 
(accurately) described as sounding more like rice krispies.  Like 1st 
crack, there is some ramp up time and fall off time on the cracks, but 
it's much more condensed.  There aren't as many outliers here...
I usually dump my roasts 5-10 seconds into full 2nd crack.  I've been 
rating mine as a full-city to full-city plus.  Typically the beans are a 
nice medium-dark brown and after a day might develop just occasional 
spots of oil.  Someone can correct me if I'm labeling this wrong...
Totally guessing based on reading between the lines of what you posted, 
I suspect you have a good city to full city roast.
LarryD
Knots & More E-Mail wrote:
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On Jul 30, 2004, at 9:55 PM, Knots & More E-Mail wrote:
<Snip>
First crack is a distinct pop sound and first crack is less pronounced 
and has often been described as sounding somewhat like Rice Crispies 
when milk is added.  Beans and roasting methods cause variation in the 
volume, amount, and how much of a pause there is between them.   It is 
often difficult to hear the second crack with a loud hot air popper.   
I recommend roasting in a wok to learn about cracks, smells, and the 
colors of roasting.
     Jim Gundlach