Abstract: Coffee beans and the like are roasted in an enclosed, pressurized roaster under conditions which provide rapid heat transfer and close control of roasting time-temperature profiles. The roasting chamber desirably has a bottom screen, a top screen and a shutter adapted to momentarily occlude flow through the various portions of the top screen. Roasting gas passes upwardly through the beans, entrains some of the beans and forces them against the top screen. The beans drop back into the chamber when the shutter occludes a particular portion of the top screen holding the beans. Time-temperature profiles can be controlled by monitoring process conditions such as inlet and outlet gas enthalpies.