When Should You Stop a Coffee Roast? (Without Trusting First Crack)

Related videos: 👉 Stopping a Roast Is Harder Than People Make It Sound    • Stopping a Roast Is Harder Than People Mak...   👉 Gene Café CBR 301 at Full Capacity | A 300g Reference Roast    • Gene Café CBR 301 at Full Capacity | A 300...   When should you stop a coffee roast? Most advice says to listen for first crack — but in practice, it’s not always that simple. In this video, I share what I’ve been noticing while roasting on the Gene Café CBR-301, and why I’ve started relying less on first crack and more on overall roast progression — including time, colour, and how the roast behaves near the end. This isn’t a how-to guide or a fixed method. It’s part of an ongoing process of learning what feels consistent and what doesn’t — especially when first crack is quiet or unclear. If you’ve ever felt unsure about when to stop a roast, or struggled to hear first crack, you’re definitely not alone. ☕ Coffee | One Roast at a Time A calm, experience-led approach to home coffee roasting — focused on observation, repeatability, and learning through doing. 👉 Next video to watch: (ADD LINK) 3 Things I Trust More Than First Crack Chapters 00:00 Intro – When should you stop a coffee roast? 00:24 Why first crack doesn’t always work 01:14 A roast that didn’t make sense 01:52 Why first crack can be unreliable 02:19 Using time as a reference 02:47 Watching colour progression instead 03:24 Understanding how a roast “feels” 03:54 A different question to ask 04:13 A more reliable way to decide 04:36 Why this reduces stress when roasting 04:46 Still learning – what comes next