mitch236 wrote:I just fill the bottles (put the lid on) and freeze. No need to boil anything.

Simple enough. How do you go about thawing them? Do you simply let them sit at room temp for a few hrs or do you use them right out of the jar, meaning, pull out of the freezer>open jar>take bean>use right away to make a espresso?

I usually will take a jar out each night and let it defrost overnight with the lid on. I can't back this statement up with any facts but it makes sense that using frozen beans in your grinder would wear out the burrs faster since the beans are harder. Plus, as they warm, there will be condensation making weighing grinds error prone.

dgasmd wrote:How are you using the jars? Do you simply put the beans in, close the lid by hand, and put in the freezer? Or, do you fill jars, close by hand, boil jar in water, put in room temp until the lid pops (like in canning foods), then freeze?

You're just freezing them, not canning them. Fill. Close. Freeze.

dgasmd wrote:How do you go about thawing them? Do you simply let them sit at room temp for a few hrs or do you use them right out of the jar, meaning, pull out of the freezer>open jar>take bean>use right away to make a espresso?

Take the jar(s) out the night before; let them come to room temperature overnight; use in the morning.

Having previously used freezer bags, which worked but not all that well, I switched to wide mouth mason jars and after using them for a couple of months, I doubt that I'll use anything else.

As other posters have alluded to, if you're not going to store your beans for an extended time, you can simply fill the mason jars to the top, screw on the lid and put them in the freezer. However, a friend of mine on these boards suggested that in order to keep my beans really fresh I might consider using a vacuum sealer; which removes most, if not all, of the air from the mason jars. When you think about it there's a heck of a lot of air in a mason jar, even when it's chock fill to the brim with beans.

Anyway I did a little dd and found that a handheld vacuum sealer and a jar sealer, which you have to use to insure that the lid seats properly and maintains its seal, can be purchased for $34.99 (including shipping).

FYI, I check the seal on all of my mason jars after removing them from the freezer and have yet to find one that's lost its seal, nor have any lost their seal after being left out overnight in order to come up to room temp.

The way I figure it $34.99 is cheap insurance, especially when you consider the cost of good beans these days but to each his, or her, own.

Keith

Thanks to everyone for the great responses. I have some coffee beans on order on the way home already. I also have a bunch of these mason jars my wife uses for other stuff, so I'll put a few to good use. Given I am just starting out tasting some different blends, I don't know that I will be stocking any real volume any time soon, but once I do find some blends that I really enjoy, I will certainly stock up a few week's (2-4) worth of them.

Thanks again