Quick guide to freezing coffee?

by **cruzmisl** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:21 am

Hi All,

I am planning on buying 5lbs of black cat, keeping a pound out and freezing the remainder. I have a foodsaver and was planning on vacuum sealing them in 1lb bags. Is this a good idea?

Secondly, how do you thaw the beans without causing any loss in flavor or quality?
Thanks,
Joe

by **EricC** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 3:02 am

Have a look here:-

From the FAQ's

Refrigerator or Freezer for Coffee Storage?

Eric

by **Bob_McBob** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:58 am

I'm kind of interested in specifically how well the Foodsaver units work for coffee. There are definitely a few users on HB, going on posts in coffee freezing threads here. I was thinking of buying a cheap Foodsaver unit for sealing large orders of green coffee. I freeze roasted coffee in valved bags right now, but a few of those 3/4 quart canisters would probably work quite nicely. For $100, it wouldn't be a huge outlay...

I see Cook's Illustrated mentioned that with most of these units, pockets of air appear in the bags after a month, and ice crystals/freezer burn set in after two. I've read about people freezing coffee for several months on here, though.

by **GC7** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:36 am

I am a huge fan of my foodsaver unit both for coffee and for food.

I store all of my green beans that will not be consumed within a few months in sealed bags. I'm experimenting with refrigerator, wine cabinet and room temperatures but I doubt I'll be able to tell any difference.

I have not experimented with freezing roasted coffee in the bags and I don't think the canisters will hold the (partial) vacuum long enough. However, I have had success using the canisters for storage of roasted beans at room temperature in a cabinet over the course of using them daily and re-vacuuming. I will on occasion notice a canister has lost vacuum but not that often. I have been using one way valve bags more these days for my roasted beans.

I do think the unit is a good investment even if used only for food so you don't have much of an investment to lose.

by **JimG** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:56 am

Bob_McBob wrote:... but a few of those 3/4 quart canisters would probably work quite nicely.

Save your money. The canisters don't hold their seal reliably. Instead, I use glass Mason jars, along with the Foodsaver jar sealing gizmo. (You can also use a large canister to vacuum the Mason jars, but the jar attachment works for me).

I love the Foodsaver for storing greens at room temperature and for freezing roasted coffee. For greens, I use Mason jars for short term storage of beans that will be roasted in a few months. I use Foodsaver bags for longer term storage in 5 lb lots. It is convenient, but a little wasteful, to bag-seal greens in 250g batches for the roaster.

For roasted coffee, the Foodsaver bags are a little more convenient. They fit in the freezer more easily and take less time to thaw before brewing.

To answer the OP's other question, I thaw frozen roasted beans by setting them on the counter in room temperature. A couple of hours is plenty for bag-stored beans. Mason jars take longer. Just be sure and leave the container sealed until the beans have reached room temperature to keep the condensation on the outside.

Jim

by **JohnB.** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:10 am

I've been freezing roasted coffee in Foodsaver vac bags for 2 years now & my green coffee for the past 5 months. I haven't experienced the problems with loss of vacuum or freezer burn that Bob mentioned from the C/I article. Every once in a while the sharp edge of a bean will perforate the bag but that shows up pretty quickly. Some of my greens have been in the freezer (0°f) for over 4 months & I've seen no sealing failures.

I freeze my roasted beans in small lots; 42g for the 5c vac pot, 1 or 2 days worth of espresso shots, 80g for the Hario cold brewer,ect. Using the sealing bar you can make any size bag you need out of the wide bag roll.

As for "thawing" the roasted beans I find they come up to room temp in 10-15 minutes in the small bags I use. The green beans which contain moisture & are actually frozen take much longer.

by **Bob_McBob** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 3:21 pm

Sounds like $100 Foodsaver unit might be a good investment. I don't keep roasted coffee frozen for more than a couple of weeks. I just find it a lot more convenient to roast a few pounds at once over a weekend, rather than trying to predict my future usage several days in advance. I've been without any espresso since Friday because of this

I'm planning a huge SM order when a friend can drive it up here, so I'll definitely be wanting to vac seal a large portion of the greens. When you vac seal roasted coffee in bags, I assume you transfer them to a container after defrosting and opening the bag, right? Which size rolls are best for sealing a pound of coffee (8", 11"), and what length do you use?

Any reason why I should consider a unit other than this one?

by **JohnB.** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 3:59 pm

Bob_McBob wrote: Which size rolls are best for sealing a pound of coffee (8", 11"), and what length do you use?

Any reason why I should consider a unit other than this one?

If I was sealing a lb at a time I'd use the 11". Normally I pick up the 6 roll pack which gives you 4 11" & 2 8" rolls. You will have to experiment as far as length goes, you want about 2.25" extra length above the beans. That 2840 is the newer version of my 2480 & $99 Can or U.S. is a good price.

How long does it take you to go through a lb.?

by **Bob_McBob** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:08 pm

Under a week to go through a pound (6-8 lbs/month?), but there's another person drinking it as well. It's mainly because I mostly drink Americanos instead of regular coffee nowadays. Also, my "pounds" are probably actually about 15% less because of weight loss during roasting.

Roasting in advance with espresso is rather unpredictable, because of the several day resting period. I find pulling shots with coffee fresher than 3-4 days very inconsistent and annoying. This means unless I freeze, I have to predict my consumption several days in advance. I blew through 1-1/2 pounds of coffee in two days playing with my new grinder

I kind of figured you'd want the 11" rolls for whole pounds. Approximately what length do you use? A foot, more?

by **JohnB.** on Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:29 pm

Bob_McBob wrote:Roasting in advance with espresso is rather unpredictable, because of the several day resting period. I find pulling shots with coffee fresher than 3-4 days very inconsistent and annoying. This means unless I freeze, I have to predict my consumption several days in advance. I blew through 1-1/2 pounds of coffee in two days playing with my new grinder

I kind of figured you'd want the 11" rolls for whole pounds. Approximately what length do you use? A foot, more?

You are preaching to the choir as far as roasting & freezing goes. I was just thinking that you might want to consider vac bagging smaller then 1lb portions so that the beans you are using are always in their prime. Can't help you with length on a 1lb vac bag of roasted beans as the most I put in one bag is 80g.


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