drdna wrote:
To the point, I will again say that if the OP is using batches up in less than two weeks, no special storage is required.

+1, with the stipulation that whatever method is used, it be as air tight as possible (jar) or a 1 way valve type bag. Out of direct sunlight as well.

I haven't read every post in this thread, so I am sorry if this has already been discussed. I think jars are better for a couple reasons. One, they are much easier to clean and there is no question when they are sealed. If you are not reusing ziplock bags, you should.

I've been using the Ziploc vacuum seal bags for a while now. You use a small hand pump to draw the air out of the valve on the bag, and then I just keep reusing the gallon size bags for freezing pounds from my local roaster.

drdna wrote:Aaron, of course not, I am not quite that obsessive.

Ok, good. I thought that was your daily routine and I thought wow you have a lot of free time. It must be nice

I don't roast my own but I do have a good roaster nearby (thank you Counter Culture Coffee) and do end up with a considerable amount of coffee from time to time.
If the coffee is in a small valved bag I just tape over the valve pop it into a zip lock and freeze it. If the coffee is in a larger bag I split it up into quart mason jars and freeze them. I bring out the coffee the night before I top up my hopper (about 8 oz at a time).
I haven't done any definitive experiments but from my own personal tastes and experiences freezing does slow down the degradation enough for me to enjoy my windfalls when they happen.

Here is what you need to try. Roast (or buy fresh roasted) coffee. Let it sit in the open air for about 24 hours to degas. Put the roasted beans in a ziplock bag and put the bag in your car overnight. The next morning when you go out and get in your car, it will have a wonderful coffee smell.
Now do the same thing with roasting and degassing, but then put the roasted beans in a sealed glass jar and put that in your car overnight. In the morning you will barely be able to smell the coffee.
The point of this test is to show (as noted several times above) that plastic bags are permeable and some of the coffee flavor is being lost through the bag. And I know through my experience that the coffee gets stale faster in the plastic bags.
I have stored roasted beans in plastic bags and glass jars and would positively recommend glass over plastic, especially for longer term storage.

Jim from N Dakota wrote:Here is what you need to try. Roast (or buy fresh roasted) coffee. Let is sit in the open air for about 24 hours to degas. Put the roasted beans in a ziplock bag and put the bag in your car overnight. The next morning when you go out and get in your car, it will have a wonderful coffee smell.
Now do the same thing with roasting and degassing, but then put the roasted beans in a sealed glass jar and put that in your car overnight. In the morning you will barely be able to smell the coffee.

Hi Jim...
Thanks for the proposed experiment...

Actually been doing just that experiment for over a year when my quart mason jars were dedicated to our home made Yogurt production...but an interesting thing happened. ZipLock came out with a thicker freezer bag with a double seal at the mouth...a seal I used to hate...

Interesting thing, if I put the beans into a ziplock and seal them right out of the roaster, they swell up like a puffer fish and I have to purge them several times over the first day or two...and I actually prefer their aroma after a few days not freshly out of the roaster...they pretty much just live on the counter till they calm down - then off to the cupboard they go.

Interestingly...
We keep 4-6 quart ziplock freezer bags with roasted espresso and single origin beans in one cupboard, and when the door is opened, it doesn't smell like coffee. I'm going to assume for the present that this improvement of their bag is better in many ways for all my food storage not just my coffee (we store partially used onions in the cheese bin of the fridge without leakage too), and not worry about replacing the ZipLocks with mason jars right now.

Mason jars look way more cool, but with the rapidity we plow through beans around here, not sure they are a pressing need...

But your test had we not inadvertently performed it would sure be a good one...

Larry,

The reason I went to glass in the first place was because of the look. My wife did not like all the plastic bags full of beans sitting around the kitchen (or in the cupboard). So, we went to mason jars. However, they were kind of commercial looking. So we went looking for something else. We have found lots of storage jars (ones with a glass top and a seal) that look cool sitting right on the counter. You can get various shapes and sizes at Ikea, Walmart, etc. Also, they are typically a topic of conversation when we have friends over since they are right out in the open in the kitchen.

Back on the plasic bags, I roasted some beans for a friend of mine for Thanksgiving. I put the beans in a one quart Ziploc storage bag. But I knew the smell would come through one bag, so I double bagged them. I gave them to him but told him to put them in a glass jar if he had one because the aroma gets kind of strong even in two bags. He ended up taking them with on a trip to Colorado (driving), but before he left, he put them in another bag (triple bagged). When he got back he mentioned that he and his wife noticed the wonderful smell of the beans in the car all the way to Colorado.

I have not tried anything heavier than the Ziploc "storage" bags (no "freezer" bags, etc.). I guess if you found bags that work and they do not impart a plastic element into the beans, why not use them. It sounds to me like you are going through your supply fast enough so that you could just set them open on the counter and just grab a handful whenever you need them (ha, ha).

Happy New Year!!!!

Larry,

Just one question. Did you happen to get a wiff of my beans when my friend went through Cheyenne on his way from North Dakota to Greeley, CO?

Jim

This is how I use Mason Jars. I am lazy and do not use gas chromatography every time.
It also only makes sense to do this if you are not going to use the beans for 10+ days or you hate buying or roasting beans every couple weeks. I think you will find it is better than any other method but it is not some kind of miracle either.

1. Get some pint sized mason jars, with the two-piece lids
2. Save those little "do not eat" packets whenever you get them
3. Buy a can of nitrogen flush here:
Buy Nitrogen Spray Here

4. Drop a "do not eat" desiccant packet in the bottom of the jar.
5. Fill the jar with beans
6. Insert the nozzle tube of the Wine Spray past the beans to the bottom of the jar.
7. Apply a medium spray for 5-10 seconds.

As the oxygen is purged, you will initially notice the aroma of the coffee beans with the exiting oxygen. Then, this will stop, as clean deoxygenated gas completely displaces the air in the jar.

8. Seal the jars immediately and tightly.
9. Store in any area that has minimal temperature fluctuation and exposure to light.
10. Repeat this process any time you remove beans from a jar.