Given the American love affair with coffee, it's surprising more people don't roast their own beans at home.

Not only does home roasting ensure the freshest, most splendid cup of coffee, it's also a money saver and takes just minutes to prepare enough beans for several pots.

"Almost everyone knows how exquisite fresh bread is," says Kenneth Davids, author of "Home Coffee Roasting." "But the flavor and fragrance of coffee one day out of the roaster is a virtually forgotten pleasure."

Here's what you need to know to roast at home:

The basics

All coffee starts as green (unroasted) beans, which are the seeds of the coffee fruit. Taking those seeds from the plant to the coffee pot involves roasting them for several minutes between 400 and 500 degrees F.

During the first few minutes of roasting, green beans begin to turn yellow and develop a vaguely grassy or grainy smell as their water content causes them to steam from within.

As the internal temperature of the beans rises, the coffee gives off a fragrant smoke and begins to make a crackling noise as the sugars caramelize and the essential oils are released.

The beans puff up to almost double their size and the roast becomes darker until a second more volatile phase of crackling begins. At this point, the beans are done, or can be roasted further for a "dark roast" variety.

The beans

Green (unroasted) coffee beans are widely available, though you may not find them at the grocer.

Most coffee shops and roasting companies, such as Green Mountain Coffee and numerous other online retailers, will sell green coffee beans, often for several dollars less per pound than roasted.

Businesses such as Sweet Maria's, for example, offer many dozens of varieties of green coffee beans, including decaf, at prices 20 to 50 percent lower than the same coffees would cost roasted.

Green coffee beans resemble gray peanuts and lack the distinctive color and aroma of roasted coffee.

According to Maria Troy, who started Sweet Maria's with her husband Thompson Owen about 10 years ago, green coffee beans will keep for up to two years if properly stored.

Keep green beans in paper or cloth bags (which allow them to breath) in an area with no more than moderate heat and humidity. In short, if you're comfortable, you're beans are comfortable, says Troy.

Once roasted, beans (whether roasted at home or by a company) reach their peak in about 24 hours, then begin to lose flavor. For the best taste, coffee beans should be ground and brewed within two weeks of roasting.

Low-tech options

As with any hobby, it's easy to spend plenty of money on coffee roasting equipment, but it's hardly necessary.

Home roasting machines start around $75 and go as high as $900. These machines usually involve some style of hot air chamber that circulates and roasts the beans while removing the chaff (the papery outer skin of the bean).

But there also are plenty of low-tech home roasting methods that are less expensive. These may produce less consistent results, but are an affordable way to test whether home roast is for you.

Internet sites such as CoffeeGeek.com and HomeRoaster.com offer detailed instructions for home roasting, which can be done with cast-iron skillets, in the oven, with stovetop corn poppers, or a hot air corn popper.

There also are plenty of sites for building a roaster, such as converting a gas barbecue grill into a drum roaster.

The hot air corn popper is probably the best bet for an affordable, easy low-tech home option with good results.

It is important to use a machine with good side and bottom airflow. A machine that blows air only from the bottom won't properly agitate the beans, which could catch fire.

Hot air corn poppers can roast enough coffee for about two pots of coffee in about 5 minutes.

High-tech options

Once you've decided that home roasting is the way to go, you'll probably want to invest in a real roaster, which takes much of the guesswork and mess out of roasting.

There are two main types of home roasting machines (widely available online or at kitchen supply stores).

Fluid bed coffee roasters use a strong current of hot air to roast the beans and move them around for even results. These roasters have a small glass chamber that holds the beans over a heating element with a fan.

Fluid bed roasters produce a bright tasting roast in anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes, plus an added cooling period of several minutes.

Two popular fluid bed roasters are the Fresh Roast Plus ($75), made by FreshBeans Inc., which is relatively quiet and simple to use, and Hearthware's i-Roast 2 ($179), which has more sophisticated electronics for controlling the roasting process.

Both have effective chaff collecting systems but do produce quite a bit of smoke as the beans darken.

The Fresh Roast Plus can produce enough coffee to brew about 16 cups, while the larger (and noisier) i-Roast 2 produces about twice that amount.

The second type of machines are drum roasters, which use a mechanical rotating cylinder to move the coffee beans either next to a heating element or through a stream of hot air.

These machines tend to be larger and more expensive, but can roast as much as a pound of coffee at a time. These also offer more sophisticated controls. These can roast a batch in about 10 to 20 minutes plus cooling.

Genesis' Gene Cafe Drum Roaster ($495) and the HotTop Drum Roaster ($730), made by HotTop USA, can roast about a half pound of coffee, have sophisticated controls, and effectively deal with chaff.

The less pricey Behmor 1600 Drum Roaster ($299) is about the size of a large toaster oven, is quiet, can roast up to a pound of coffee, and has an after burner system that suppresses most of the smoke.

Davids says the drum roasters tend to produce coffee with more depth and body because of longer roasting times, but recommends starting with a less expensive fluid bed model which can produce bright, complex flavors.

The downsides

There are some downsides to home roasting. The process can be smoky and should only be done in a well-ventilated kitchen or outdoors when weather permits. A strong stove hood vent will help.

The other inconvenience is that when beans roast they release chaff, which tends to blow around, especially in low-tech roasting methods such as hot air corn poppers. Be careful to clean the chaff away from heating elements to prevent fire.

Hot air corn poppers also have a tendency to spit coffee beans out. Be careful; these are very hot.

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Add a quick jolt of flavor

By J.M. Hirsch | AP Food Editor

It's got to be good for something, right?

That's the question I had about instant coffee. The answer: It might not be worth drinking, but instant coffee actually can be a quick cook's secret ingredient, effortlessly adding deep, rich layers of flavor to all manner of sweet and savory dishes.

And don't limit yourself to coffee. Instant espresso is widely available and packs even more flavor.

In many cases, you'll need to experiment to determine how much coffee suits your tastes. Start small and taste as you add it. Too much instant coffee will produce bitter, off flavors.

The good news is that if you do add too much, it usually is easy to correct. A little sugar, honey, maple syrup or other sweetener will usually mellow the bitterness.

Here are some winners worth buying a jar for:

• Caramel sauce: Add a teaspoon or two to caramel sauce (a simmer of butter, cream, sugar and water). Or heat store-bought caramel sauce and stir in instant coffee. Try this over pancakes or drizzled on ice cream.

• Chili: Add a tablespoon or two during simmering. You won't taste the coffee in the finished product, but it deepens the savory flavors of the dish, adding a wonderful richness.

• Chocolate cake: Mix a teaspoon or two of instant coffee into the milk for the batter for an exceptionally rich chocolate cake. It also can be added to chocolate frosting.

• Pancakes: Mix a teaspoon of either instant coffee or espresso into your pancake batter for a delicious accompaniment to your morning coffee.

• Butter: Soften a stick of butter in the microwave, then place it in a food processor. Add 1 teaspoon instant coffee and pulse until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate. Use on toasted bread or muffins.

• Cream cheese: Use the same method as above, but substitute cream cheese for the butter. For an 8-ounce package of cream cheese, add about ½ teaspoon coffee, 3 to 4 tablespoons honey and 1 teaspoon cocoa powder. Smear this mocha cream cheese on a bagel and sprinkle it with a bit of sugar.

• Seafood or meat rub: In a blender or food processor, combine 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon instant coffee. Process until well combined, then use to dust or rub broiled or grill meat or salmon.

• Mocha shake: In a blender, combine 1 cup each of vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream and milk. Add 1 tablespoon of instant coffee and blend until smooth. Top with whipped cream and a cherry. Serves two.