Coffee Bean Roaster
Display: Hearth to Cookstove
Culinary Technique: roasting
Date: c. 1880
Dimensions: 7" h x 24" w x 9.5" d
Watch collection donor Mel Mickevic demonstrate this object with
Dean Christopher
Koetke, School of Culinary Arts, Kendall College,
and Victoria Matranga, exhibition curator.
Coffee beans, grains, or spices could have been roasted in this skillet-style, cast-iron pan. The handle on top turned a propeller-shaped paddle underneath the lid that agitated the contents so the food would not burn. The slide-away door on the lid, ornamented with a maker's emblem, allowed the cook to monitor the activity inside, smell the aroma, or add spices. The pan fit into a ten-inch burner on a cookstove.