Roasting generates a lot of smoke, but if you have a top mounted range vent that exhausts outside, you could probably get away with doing it inside. We have a pop up range hood in an island range and ended up just roasting outside. If you use a cheap air popper, it also blows chaff all over the place, and if a bean falls out onto the floor or something they’re very hot, so you would need to keep kids/pets away.

i've been doing it without ventilation and i'm really surprised how mild it is. it definitely smells for a few hours, but not bad at all. if it's too bad, i open the door for a few minutes or a window while i'm roasting.

i can't recommend it enough! it's super fun, and a whole new domain to learn about :)

I use a popcorn maker (air popper) to roast coffee and do it in our yard. No one complains about smoke or the chaff.

i haven't, i've only ordered from sweet marias, but i'll check them out! i want a little more variety in my green coffee sources.

i didn't like roasting with the air popper, ever since getting a hottop drum roaster its actually been really fun instead of a chore. i have graphs and logs with data (manual recording), and i'm working on an arduino adapter for easier data logging.

i think i'm gonna keep with the hottop for a year then upgrade to an ailio bullet so i can get better logging/profiles as well as larger batches. the hottop does 225-250 grams per batch which is enough for a week, so i can roast on weekends. but for espresso it's hard to dial in and enjoy it before it's already gone while i'm also doing large french press brews.