I've been single dosing out of the freezer for years & have yet to see any moisture on the cold beans.

ira wrote:And at some level, how is condensation different from RDT where we add water on purpose?

Ira

I was going to ask this very question. A little condensation might help tame some of the crazy out of control static I get with my Mahlgut grinder.

I have a Foodsaver (vacuum bagger) with an attachment that will vacuum seal a standard canning jar (Mason or Ball jar). I vacuum pack beans and freeze them with no ill effects. Normally, I set the jar out and let it warm up before unsealing it. Otherwise, sometimes I re-vacuum it or just dump it in a standard cannister. The jar itself will build more condensation than the beans.

So far, no negative effects on the beans. They brew good after storage.

JohnB. wrote:I've been single dosing out of the freezer for years & have yet to see any moisture on the cold beans.

I don't see moisture in green beans, but it's there nonetheless. I imagine the porous nature of coffee would help reduce visible moisture.
Frozen beans feel slightly more slippery to my touch and I suspect there's some effect of the local humidity on that, too.

aecletec wrote:I don't see moisture in green beans, but it's there nonetheless. .

That's because it's inside the green beans waiting to be roasted out. Hardly the same as condensation on roasted beans. My point was that it's a non issue. As was mentioned earlier if spraying water on the beans before grinding to reduce static isn't a problem why is anyone worrying about invisible condensation on cold beans?

I think condensation is awesome. It's like auto-RDT. But I've never seen any condensation on my beans from the freezer. I just keep them in the bag I bought them in.

SAB wrote:8-32 oz Mason jars, 16 oz most common, no foodsaver. A pound of coffee (pre-roast) generally is more than two 16 oz jars, by a little. I seal the coffee immediately post roast, and generally leave the jar I plan to freeze unopened (the degassing CO2 increases pressure and decreases the relative O2 concentration). When the coffee reaches it's "peak", I'll freeze the unopened jar.

Gee, I was just about to do this. I bought 12 8oz Ball jars and put 2-3day old coffee I bought into each. For me, 8 liquid oz of coffee will last a week. BTW, coffee is roughly 0.5oz weight to each liquid oz. I am letting them sit as the pressure increases at room temp. I was considering "cracking" the lids to purge the oxygen from the surface (figuring CO2 is heavier than O2). Then freezing.

After reading this thread, I will try grinding frozen beans each morning. I wouldn't think that would work that well, but seems from a lot of you this works quite well. Thanks for the tips!

I like to use either the 4oz mason jars or my test tubes and weight out each dose once I get a shot I really like. Then I throw it all in the freezer to sort of lock the coffee in at what I think it's peak is. Usually take it out the night before I plan to make it. But I've had good shots with grinding cold too. Just that my test tubes like to break if I do that as I learned this morning. Which is a shame since I like them better than the jars in every other way.

As a bonus I don't end up having much dialing in since the coffee doesn't change much once frozen.

JohnB. wrote:That's because it's inside the green beans waiting to be roasted out. Hardly the same as condensation on roasted beans. My point was that it's a non issue. As was mentioned earlier if spraying water on the beans before grinding to reduce static isn't a problem why is anyone worrying about invisible condensation on cold beans?

As I wrote before, the concern seems to be if single dosing containers aren't used and moisture affects the beans which are frozen again - the suspicion is that this accelerates degradation. I haven't experienced this unless using large jars. The porous nature of coffee may absorb the small amount of moisture involved.

Maybe. I think that it's more likely that the coffee is simply aging thanks to the air in the jar that gets refreshed each time you open it. Larger jar, more air as the coffee gets used up. Freezing coffee slows the aging process but you won't see a dramatic slowing of that process unless you also vacuum seal the container. If you just put roasted beans in a jar in a freezer & open it one or more times a day you have to expect that the coffee will age. Personally I don't mind this as I like to follow my roasts through a 6-8 day arch of normal aging. Typically I have 3-4 different espresso roasts in the freezer & I'll be pulling at least one dose from each every day or two. The roasts go in the freezer after 4-5 days of aging on the counter & that 6-8 days of normal aging takes about 3 weeks with the beans in the freezer.

If I roast something I won't need for a while I vacuum seal the jar before freezing & that roast will be fine for several months frozen.