What are you roasting today?

[floydpink]

Dom,

From the look of the pictures, you have a nice roast that looks to be city plus, but it's hard to be positive.

First crack is similar to the sound of popcorn and second crack is more of a crackling sound, almost like rice crispies in a cereal bowl.

You should be able to hear first crack very clearly and it sounds different than second.

From my experience, smoke usually indicates you are in second crack.

I personally roast a bit darker for espresso but occasionally roast lighter and always wait for the first crack to nearly complete before cooling.

A scale as well as notes on your roasts is a very good idea in the beginning, although I know a big dixie cup is about 3/4 of a pound and I always scoop like that into the drum and haven't touched my scale in a long time.