There's been a lot written on this site about freezing coffee, but virtually nothing about refrigerating it. I do remember reading somewhere (I can't remember where, but it might have been here) that refrigerating coffee is not a good idea because doesn't really slow staling all that much and the beans can pick up off flavors from other stuff in the refrigerator.

Not long ago, due to a mishap with vacation scheduling and coffee defrosting, I found myself with the better part of a Mason jar full of very good defrosted beans just before I had to leave town for a week. This particular coffee was already about a week past roast and doesn't do particularly well after two weeks. So I threw the jar in the refrigerator. When I came back, I was pleasantly surprised that the coffee was still good, right to the bottom of the jar. Although I can't be sure, I believe it would have been quite stale had I left it in the cabinet where I usually keep my coffee.

Of course, this wasn't a scientific test at all, no blind tasting, etc. But it seems to me that if you 1) ensure an airtight seal, and 2) use an opaque container so the beans will not be affected by the refrigerator light coming on frequently, then on the theory that heat and light accelerate the staling process, the refrigerator is a better place to keep one's current batch of beans than elsewhere at room temperature.

Opinions?

I would expect it work. To suppose that airtight freezing preserves coffee very well, that airtight room temperature preserves it somewhat, but that airtight refrigeration spoils it, seems counter intuitive. Refrigeration may not slow down staling any better than room temperature, but it shouldn't make it worse.

An exception is bread, which freezes well but does not refrigerate. But I think this "non-linearity" is because starches get stiff in the cold and need to recover a long time at room temperature before their texture returns to normal. Coffee is ground and dissolved, and it doesn't contain much starch, so the starch texture is probably not a factor.

another_jim wrote:An exception is bread, which freezes well but does not refrigerate.

We usually refrigerate bread from large commercial producers to make it last longer. It significantly delays the onset of mold formation and seems to slow staling as well. I haven't detected any degradation of flavor, but these breads aren't exactly known for their exceptional taste. We don't refrigerate really good bread, such as locally-baked artisinal breads and home-baked bread.

Thanks for confirmation of my logic on refrigeration. Think I'll try it for a while an see (taste) what happens.

Coffee is as adept as baking soda when it comes to absorbing odors, so the storage suggestions we offer to customers recommend against refrigeration. Not so much because of any lack of ability for the fridge to preserve the coffee, rather due to my suspicion that many will neglect the part about needing a perfectly air-tight container. The home pros at H-B clearly understand the need for proper equipment, but for others, a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I'm sure you'll be fine.

I've experimented casually with putting coffee beans in the fridge and it certainly works. Not nearly as well as freezing, but still useful. If I end up defrosting too much coffee from the freezer, I'll often put the extra beans into the fridge (in an airtight container). This appears to work better than letting the excess sit in a grinder hopper for a few days.

I don't freeze bread, so no experience there. The common advice is to not refrigerate bread and certainly it doesn't work well if you use the bread shortly after removing it from a refrigerator. But I sometimes end up with extra bread that I know I won't be able to use for a few days. I've had good results with refrigeration, as long as I let it recover at room temperature overnight before using it. It may not be harmless, but it's markedly better than bread that is left to stale on the counter for several days.

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I've found more rustic German breads keep fine in the fridge if you let them warm up before eating. Much, much better than leaving them to stale on the counter.

Peppersass wrote:We usually refrigerate bread ... seems to slow staling as well.

It makes it more durable but when you cool your bread your actually are accelerating staling. Jump in the oven or toaster to refresh it...