guydebord wrote:Every time you will bring the 1lb canister out of the freezer and open it at room temperature there will be condensation inside the canister, this means that you are de facto wetting your beans and that humidity over many openings will degrade the bean substantially. I advice against this. If you want to do it the proper way, you need to freeze single dose containers, I don't think there is a middle ground here.

I've tested this theory and found that it was false. The beans did not measurably increase in moisture content. And the taste was not detectably different compared to sealed single doses. It might be a different story in a very warm, humid environment. But for me, where it's usually 60-80% humidity and 60-70°F in the morning, it's not an issue.

Thanks, based on the suggestions here, I'll separate the 5 lb pounder into 3-5 separate airtight canisters (I think 3 canisters should fit 5 pounds of coffee beans). I'll do either of the following:

1) Take out one canister and grind out the frozen beans for a single dose, then return the canister to the freezer again. I'll go thru my 5 cansisters using this method.

2) Take out one canister and let it thaw out, then this canister will stay on the kitchen countertop for single dose. I'll use up the canister then I will take out another frozen canister.

jpender wrote:I've tested this theory and found that it was false. The beans did not measurably increase in moisture content. And the taste was not detectably different compared to sealed single doses. It might be a different story in a very warm, humid environment. But for me, where it's usually 60-80% humidity and 60-70°F in the morning, it's not an issue.

I would be interested to know how you measured humidity concentration in the bean. Do you have any graphs you can share?

Hopefully that was supposed to be funny?? I've been single dosing right out of the freezer for years & have yet to ever see any condensation form on the beans I've poured into the container on my scale or the beans in the canning jar.

To freeze or not is best answered personally by experimentation. It's almost impossible to prove it's efficacy to others but easy to judge for yourself.

guydebord wrote:I would be interested to know how you measured humidity concentration in the bean. Do you have any graphs you can share?

For each measurement I took a small sample of beans from the freezer and quickly placed it in a ziplock bag to allow it to come up to room temperature. Then I ground it, weighed the grounds, dehydrated it in an oven at 215°F, and weighed the grounds again. I compared this to a similar measurement of the beans when they were first purchased.

I didn't make any graphs. I could dig up my data if you like. The bottom line was that the moisture content of the beans did not increase significantly. I was opening the bag, weighing out a dose, and then returning the bag to the freezer. I was able to measure the weight to a precision of about 0.1%.

I also tried simply exposing freezer cold beans to ambient air and then returning them to the freezer, repeatedly. In that case the beans did indeed slowly increase in moisture at an average of about 0.1% per exposure. So I think it might be the act of removing the top layer of beans means that those beans that are most affected get used, rather than accumulate moisture over time. That's just my guess though.

Even if the beans were to absorb a few tenths of a percent of moisture, does that really matter? Roasted coffee isn't perfectly dry to begin with. Typically it will have a moisture content in the range 1-5%. And while moisture is associated with more rapid deterioration, how much does it matter when the beans are kept very cold? I don't know the answers which is why I also did taste tests along with the measurements, comparing coffee from the bag that I repeatedly opened to get doses with single doses that were separately sealed. Blind tastings (by me) resulted in no apparent difference.

I did all of this twice, with two different coffees. It may not pass scientific muster but at the same time it left me unconvinced that I needed to go to extreme efforts to protect my beans from moisture degradation.

And I'm not alone in this practice. Even if one supposed my taste buds were dead there are others who do the same and are happy with the results.


Try it.

JohnB. wrote:Hopefully that was supposed to be funny?? I've been single dosing right out of the freezer for years & have yet to ever see any condensation form on the beans I've poured into the container on my scale or the beans in the canning jar.

You don't see it. But there is condensation. Beans taken from the freezer and exposed will gain weight in a very short period of time.

There is less condensation on previously frozen beans that are soon ground(immediately) than the amount of water added from spritzing to cut down on static cling. I have found that this invisible condensation is inadequate alone to reduce the static cling. Unless you are in a 80% Rh environment it is likely a nothing burger.

OldNuc wrote:Unless you are in a 80% Rh environment it is likely a nothing burger.

The humidity has been around 80% here the last few mornings and it's still a non-issue. But it's cool here. In a warm and humid place a larger fraction of the heat needed to raise the beans to the dew point would come from condensation versus heating from the air or dish/container. I spent a summer in Orlando years ago. One weekend the A/C went on the fritz and under those very uncomfortable conditions I could imagine soggy coffee beans.