Maybe I'm missing something here, but is there a reason that airtight lids for hoppers are not manufactured/offered? The only potential problem I can foresee is one where having an airtight seal up top ends up having a harmful effect on the burrs/motor/etc. Still, what about just remembering to open the lid/release the seal??

I'm only asking about this because of something that happened by accident. I was recently getting some beans out of an airtight container I bought years ago on Amazon; I can't find the exact one anymore, but it has a rubber seal and a latch and such. Anyway, without thinking about it, I put the airtight container lid on my Rocky rather than the hopper lid. It fit perfectly!





Thoughts?

Best,
Mike

The remainder of the grind path is not air tight. A sealed top would likely make little difference.

You could seal Rocky's beak, though...

- Jake

The damage to the beans caused by exposure to air in the hopper would likely not be the quality limiting factor in this scenario.

They do make nitrogen flushed Illy cans designed to screw right into a grinder, but the beans need to be used quickly as in a cafe environment since they age quickly once opened due to the age if the beans.

CO2 is heavier than oxygen (that extra carbon is heavy!). So whatever outgasses (and would protect the beans a bit) would be heavier than air and therefore pour out through the grind chamber and chute. It would then be replaced by regular air.

The breville smart grinder does have a lid that you could consider airtight and is fitted with some kind of compressible material to achieve this. The entire hopper would be as close to airtight as you reasonably achieve at the point that the hopper removal dial is turned which then acts to lock off the base of the hopper too. Whether or not this approach gives you anything noticeable in terms of freshness I am not sure

Even if the lid and grind chamber were airtight would it make any difference? Some air would have to get in whenever the grinder was used, otherwise a vacuum would form eventually. The solution would have to be some sort of inert gas system and sealed doors of some sort which would open and close to let beans in and then let the grounds out. It could be accompanied by a recorded "whoosh" like the doors on the original StarTrek Enterprise though! That would be cool!

Six years ago I looked into the claims of the Friis Coffee Vault, a bean storage container. Some of my findings there might be of interest due to the similarities of a sealed grinder hopper and the Friis product and their questionable benefits.

I've been around espresso for like 6 years and I've come to the conclusion that it's not worth stressing over a little air assuming you use the beans within 15 days post roast. I have not noticed a difference between now and when I was more vigilant. in fact its better now but I assume that's for different reasons (technique and knowledge).

I just freeze my freshly roasted beans right away and let the beans age in the hopper

Randy