Questions for those who freeze coffee still in the bag... - Page 2

#11: Post by **Marshall** » July 24th, 2008, 1:53 pm

JohnB. wrote:I break the 1lb bags down into 2 double shot portions, vacuum bag & freeze when it arrives. (usually 2-3 days after roast). This way I only remove what I'm going to be using within a few hours & it will come up to room temp within a few minutes. The small bags are much easer to deal with in my freezer (space wise) then jars & I never have to worry about dropping one.

What is the advantage of using a vacuum bag?

#12: Post by **JimWright** » July 24th, 2008, 2:02 pm

Yeah, I've been thinking about this (re: vacuum bag) - ever since that thread from a few days/weeks ago on coffee freshness, and reading that positive pressure in a can is the best way to keep the coffee fresh, I've been wondering. Why would you put coffee in a vacuum bag? I've seen beans roaster-packaged in bags that appear to have been vacuum sealed, with one way valves, and I'm guessing that I must be missing something, but wouldn't the vacuum actually accelerate the degassing process, rather than preserving the coffee?

#13: Post by **Marshall** » July 24th, 2008, 2:15 pm

JimWright wrote:I'm guessing that I must be missing something, but wouldn't the vacuum actually accelerate the degassing process, rather than preserving the coffee?

I think it either makes no difference (because the contents are frozen) or is a negative (because it accelerates outgassing).

#14: Post by **JohnB.** » July 24th, 2008, 2:18 pm

As with anything you freeze removing the air in the packaging will extend the shelf life. Vacuum bagging meats extends its freezer life from 6 months to a year. As air is the enemy of fresh roasted coffee removing it, even if its only stored for a week or two is a good idea.

#15: Post by **JimWright** » July 24th, 2008, 3:12 pm

Hmmm. I get the whole "air is bad" thing (reacts with oils), but to the extent a vacuum would accelerate degassing (esp. when on a shelf, before freezing) and its attendant effects, this seems like a significant tradeoff versus packaging with an inert gas under positive pressure. I guess it's not possible to do this in a bag? (Cans are presumably substantially more expensive, although they can be recycled, and I'd guess the readers here would happily pay the difference...)

#16: Post by **JohnB.** » July 24th, 2008, 5:37 pm

Well as I understand it the crema is CO2 & since I can still get good crema from a shot pulled from vacuum bagged beans stored in the freezer for 6-8 weeks I have to wonder how much CO2 is actually removed by the vacuum process. The foodsaver is not exactly sucking the life out of the beans when you process the bag. It is a slow, gentle process that stops as soon as the air is removed.

#17: Post by **roblumba** » July 24th, 2008, 6:36 pm

a bunch of 8 ounce mason jars are cheap and those jars are extremely durable. I drop them routinely. Each jar holds about 3.5 double shots.

I suspect the food saver is overkill considering you have to heat seal the ends and spend money on buying their special plastic bags. A bunch of full mason jars should only take up slightly more space than the bags, it's just a matter of stacking them efficiently. And they are reusable over and over again. Half of my mason jars have one way valves on them that I use for fresh coffee that I plan to use without freezing.

#18: Post by **JohnB.** » July 24th, 2008, 9:22 pm

roblumba wrote:I suspect the food saver is overkill considering you have to heat seal the ends and spend money on buying their special plastic bags.

I suspect many consider the GS3 overkill but people still buy them.

The thing I like least about the mason jar full of beans is that once you remove it from the freezer you have a jar full of beans sitting there slowly getting staler each time you open & reseal. The more beans you use the more air in the jar. If you can use a jar full in a day or so thats not a big issue but I prefer to use up what I take out of the freezer within a few hours.

#19: Post by **JimWright** » July 24th, 2008, 10:18 pm

Wait, you make less than 3 doubles at a time?

#20: Post by **darrensandford** » July 25th, 2008, 4:13 am

Thinking about the whole vacuum bag thing.

My personal thought is that it is a good idea. I don't imagine that a vacuum bag creates a large negative pressure on the beans, and the amount of "space" for the vacuum to occupy in the bag is very small compared to the amount of CO2 that is outgassed as the coffee is stored, so the amount that outgassing is accelerated will be minimal. There must be a net benefit to removing the oxygen.