Coffee Freezing Best Practices - Page 2

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
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Compass Coffee
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#11: Post by Compass Coffee »

Long ago Michael Sivetz proved that roasted coffee hermetically sealed then frozen completely halts aging at the magic number -40f. Not gonna hit that in a home freezer! I've personally tested Foodsaver vac'd 1 year frozen home freezer with excellent 85% crema shots (100% arabica of course) and great taste. I'd estimate home freezer stored coffee ages about 1 day equivalent per month frozen.
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JohnB.
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#12: Post by JohnB. »

Peppersass wrote:Freezing greatly slows outgassing (and staling), but when I've frozen vacuumed-sealed bag with the beans tightly packed together in a solid immovable mass, I've found the beans rolling around loosely in the bag after about 3-4 weeks. In other words, the beans have outgassed and there's CO2 in the bag.
If the bags are expanding from outgassing in your freezer then your freezer isn't set cold enough. You really need a storage freezer which maintains a set temp to achieve ideal results.
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cmin
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#13: Post by cmin »

Compass Coffee wrote:Long ago Michael Sivetz proved that roasted coffee hermetically sealed then frozen completely halts aging at the magic number -40f. Not gonna hit that in a home freezer! I've personally tested Foodsaver vac'd 1 year frozen home freezer with excellent 85% crema shots (100% arabica of course) and great taste. I'd estimate home freezer stored coffee ages about 1 day equivalent per month frozen.
Sounds abut right, I've been freezing in jars for years. A deep chest is better, but mine is full of other stuff lol.

DavidO
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#14: Post by DavidO »

Compass Coffee wrote:Long ago Michael Sivetz proved that roasted coffee hermetically sealed then frozen completely halts aging at the magic number -40f. Not gonna hit that in a home freezer! I've personally tested Foodsaver vac'd 1 year frozen home freezer with excellent 85% crema shots (100% arabica of course) and great taste. I'd estimate home freezer stored coffee ages about 1 day equivalent per month frozen.
I don't change beans often and I certainly won't carry more than 6 months worth, so if in a home environment it's about 1 day per month, that's a reasonable trade off. I just don't have the space for a chest freezer.

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MB
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#15: Post by MB »

I used to freeze my purchase of two or three varieties 4 or 5 days post roast in 8oz Mason jars filled to the lid, no vacuuming. Then, as I would finish off the current jars I kept out, I'd pull out a couple of varieties and not open those until the following day. Same thing at work. It was great for having a few fresh choices on hand and drinking everything as it peaked.

Washing all of the jars set aside every month was kind of a pain, especially at work. So, when a respected member or two said that they pulled from a bag kept in the freezer and then grind the beans frozen, I was skeptical but willing to give it a shot. I'm not sure if it's that there is no significant difference in the storage methods over a short period (1 to 2 months), or if grinding frozen offsets any difference, but I am having success. I am enjoying very tasty cups by opening ordered bags on day 6 or 7 and keeping the coffee on the counter until the improvement from the previous day narrows, then freeze the bag. I pull it out of the freezer and pour out the measured grams and put the bag back in the freezer. The grinder adjustments are small and the taste pretty consistent.

It seems like I am actually having more enjoyment in the flavor, but not having to wash all of those jars could be an influence. :D
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borisblank
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#16: Post by borisblank »

Peppersass wrote:I freeze batches of about 4 days worth in vacuum-sealed mason jars.
How does one vacuum seal a jar, at home? The "FoodSaver" device?

I'm sure this has been asked/answered elsewhere, but while we're at it: it seems that vacuum sealing should increase the rate at which gas is evicted from beans. Is that right? I'm sure "aging" is much more than just CO2 loss (oxidation, loss of volatile organics, etc.), but that seems to be the proxy for "aging" used by most, including in the discussion in this thread.

sprin001
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#17: Post by sprin001 »

So many variables at play here. I attempted first freezing of beans recently with 5 lbs intelligentsia "black cat." I froze on day 4 of post-roast. I froze them in 4-5 oz bags. I typically let it sit out in the bag for 2-3 days before adding it in and so the equivalent should be ~7-8 day post-roast and it is consistently delivering positive results. I should note I always pull two shots at a time (one for me and one for my wife) so I typically make any needed grinder adjustments at that time. This method is working for me for now but I'd like to hear from someone who has done this for a long time what they have found to be the easiest and most effective way - I'll probably do 5lb bags from now on.

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bettysnephew
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#18: Post by bettysnephew »

I buy 2 pounds of locally roasted coffee at day 1 or 2 and age in the paper bags until 4 days. I break the pound bags down into Mason jars. Seven or eight pint jars are completely full. The remainder that won't fill a pint jar goes into smaller jelly jars in 17 gram doses. These are all then vacuum sealed in my Vacmaster 210 sealer. To vacuum the Mason jars I put the sealing lids in position and lightly tighten the screwdown rings.These are then put in the sealer and after vacuuming I tighten the rings firmly and place them in my freezer. I tried to vacuum without the rings but the lids jumped off when the vacuum cycle completed, it is rather violent when it is released. I have never lost the vacuum in any of my jars with this method as I have to pry the lids up and the vacuum hiss can be heard when doing this. When the first batch of jelly jars are used up, I open one of the pint jars after it reaches room temp and divide into the jelly jars predosed for daily use and vacuum those. The sealer lids can be used several times and I always check that they are properly sealed before freezing. If I have a jelly jar that does not have a vacuum when opened I will discard that sealer lid but so far no failures if I gently open the lids.The aroma when the jars are opened is that of fresh coffee.
FWIW, when I used seal in bags I would randomly get one that lost vacuum but not very often. With the ability to repeatedly use the sealer lids I don't think this is any more expensive than the one time use bags. If I recall there is an attachment for the Food Saver machines to vac seal the lids on Mason jars.
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nuketopia
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#19: Post by nuketopia »

borisblank wrote:How does one vacuum seal a jar, at home? The "FoodSaver" device?

I'm sure this has been asked/answered elsewhere, but while we're at it: it seems that vacuum sealing should increase the rate at which gas is evicted from beans. Is that right? I'm sure "aging" is much more than just CO2 loss (oxidation, loss of volatile organics, etc.), but that seems to be the proxy for "aging" used by most, including in the discussion in this thread.

Foodsaver has an attachment that works with mason jars. Put the flat lid on the jar, put the plastic adapter on and pull the vacuum. Then you put on the metal ring on the jar. They can pull a vacuum that's about equal to 20,000 feet of altitude. Not a hard vacuum, but it reduces the partial pressure of oxygen to about 40-45% of sea level.

It may accelerate CO2 outgassing. I usually freeze rested beans that are just hitting ready to use state. Not much left to degas at that point and the jars hiss when I open them.

Ily coffee is packed in slightly higher than atmospheric pure nitrogen and can be stored at shelf temperatures. It does work. Maybe not for the 18-24 months that Ily claims, but it will hold the beans in a usable condition for quite some time. I believe they also can rested beans. Their own research says it works even better with inert gases like argon. But nitrogen is cheap and easy.

One could do a similar thing with an oxygen absorber packet (fine iron powder). It will quickly absorb oxygen in a closed container, leaving essentially 97% nitrogen with some residual argon, co2, and other gasses. Would be a good experiment. :)

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marlodmb
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#20: Post by marlodmb »

I'll have to pick up some mason jars. Am I able to just throw the bag that they came in into the freezer? Just got 2 bags of hayes valley espresso today.