Apparatus for roasting coffee beans

An apparatus for roasting coffee beans, the apparatus comprising:

• a roast chamber in which a supply of coffee beans can be received for roasting;
• a heater for heating air;
• a fan for passing heated air through the roast chamber to roast coffee beans received therein;
• a humidity sensor operable to provide signals that are representative of a humidity of the heated air that has passed through the roast chamber;
• a temperature sensor operable to provide signals that are representative of an air temperature within the roast chamber;
• and
• a control system operable to control the apparatus, wherein said control system is operable to determine that first crack has occurred in response to signals from said humidity sensor and said temperature sensor.

A humidity monitoring module for coffee bean roasting apparatus, the module comprising:

• a humidity sensor for generating signals representative of air humidity;
• an output interface coupled to the humidity sensor for outputting said signals;
• and
• a sample tube configured to be coupled to a roast chamber of the coffee bean roasting apparatus or to a passageway leading from an outlet of the roast chamber towards an exhaust of the coffee bean roasting apparatus, said sample tube being configured to direct air from said roast chamber or said passageway, respectively, to said humidity sensor to enable the humidity sensor to generate signals representative of the air humidity of that air and the module to output those signals via said output interface.

A roasting apparatus for roasting coffee beans, the apparatus comprising:

• roast chamber means in which a supply of coffee beans can be received for roasting;
• heater means for heating coffee beans within the roast chamber means during a roast;
• and
• humidity sensing means operable to provide signals that are representative of a humidity of air within the roast chamber means;
• and control system means operable to control the apparatus, wherein said control system means is operable to receive signals from said humidity sensing means and provide an indication of the humidity of the air within the roast chamber means during the roast.