5 lbs of coffee

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
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iploya
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Joined: 12 years ago

#1: Post by iploya »

This is a good, economical way to purchase and use coffee. I learned the general approach from emradguy. This 5 lb bag fills 10 of these canning jars, with enough left in the bag to fill the hopper. It's good to start with a full hopper because you'll waste some beans dialing in the grinder. I use the hopper as a funnel to fill the jars. Then I use the frothing pitcher to top off the jars before putting the lids on. The jars go straight into the freezer. Whenever my hopper is low, I pull out another 16 oz jar from the freezer, which about halfway fills the hopper.




elbertfunkleberg
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Joined: 5 years ago

#2: Post by elbertfunkleberg »

1 quart Ziplock freezer bags work well too. You can get about 1 lb of coffee into each one. I use the bags to refill 1 jar that I keep in the fridge and use to single dose. Some people recommend grinding the beans directly from the freezer.

I recently contacted Vivace Coffee to ask if they sold 5 lb bags, explaining my reasoning. I got a (snooty) reply telling me that they don't recommend freezing their coffee and that I should enroll in their subscription program (for some astronomical $$$). I prefer to work a little harder and find companies with good products who want to meet their customer's needs.

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Prescott CR
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Joined: 9 years ago

#3: Post by Prescott CR »

That's quite a bit of room in your freezer, but if you can spare the space and like the coffee it works.

I've had customers vacuum seal coffee to achieve the same thing. I think that may be a little easier to squeeze into a freezer than jars but it is more wasteful and $$ no doubt.

I use jars for just about everything so that pic brings a smile to my face.

Those lids will wear out, and are pretty inexpensive to replace. Freezers share odors/ tastes freely so keep an eye (or a taste bud) out for lids wearing out.

There are plastic lids that you can get for those jars, but I can't vouch for how air tight they are. I use 16oz jars to bring home samples after roasting each week and it seems to me that the suitcase I use for this purpose always smells like coffee no matter how tight I seal the jars. So something is getting out, don't know if that means something could get into them.

Consider letting the jars come up to room temp before opening them, this will help prevent condensation on the beans. Or grind directly from the freezer and see how you like that!
-Richard

Jabberwocke
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#4: Post by Jabberwocke »

I had the same experience with Vivace. Enjoyed their coffee but poor customer service made me go elsewhere. Snooty is not a good public face.

I buy 5# and store in Mason jars too. I let mine warm to room temperature. It seems the grind setting on my flat is different between frozen and room temperature beans.

RNAV
Posts: 80
Joined: 11 years ago

#5: Post by RNAV »

Question for you folks regarding what to do with freshly roasted beans (i.e. 1-2 days post roast). Should I:

A) Let beans rest until 7-10 days post roast and then freeze them for later use
B) Freeze beans immediately, then thaw and leave out ~5 days (to roughly equate to 7-10 days post roast)

Or is there some other factor, such as 7 days frozen = 1 day of non-frozen rest?

Typically I get 5 lbs of beans 1-2 days post roast and freeze it immediately. Then pull beans out of the freezer the night before I'm going to use them. Now I'm wondering if the beans aren't rested enough.

Espresso_Junky
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#6: Post by Espresso_Junky »

Really depends on your taste, roast level, etc. In the past, before I started home roasting, I'd buy 5# of Blue Jaguar from Redbird, which was pretty good/consistent 3-4 years ago. I'd let it sit in the bag for 4-5 days post roast, then vacuum pack/deep freeze in wide mouth pint Mason jars. I'd thaw one overnight as needed and each jar regardless of how long frozen still tasted/extracted like it was around 5 days post roast.

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yakster
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#7: Post by yakster »

Prescott CR wrote:There are plastic lids that you can get for those jars, but I can't vouch for how air tight they are.
I store coffee in canning jars (primarily because they're reusable vs. bags) and use plastic lids for short-term storage. They are not air tight, there's no need to "burp" a jar with a plastic lid to vent any pressure generated by outgassing CO2. I like the plastic lids because it limits exposure to air but allows CO2 to vent.

I use the two piece air tight metal band and lid for long-term storage in the freezer.
-Chris

LMWDP # 272

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iploya (original poster)
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#8: Post by iploya (original poster) »

elbertfunkleberg wrote:I recently contacted Vivace Coffee to ask if they sold 5 lb bags, explaining my reasoning. I got a (snooty) reply telling me that they don't recommend freezing their coffee and that I should enroll in their subscription program (for some astronomical $$$). I prefer to work a little harder and find companies with good products who want to meet their customer's needs.
I listened to that debate with an open mind and finally settled on advice/opinion from a source in Kona who I really trust (I toured in person and purchased from for years). My response to Vivace would be the following.

https://www.huladaddy.com/articles/plea ... -beans.htm

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JohnB.
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#9: Post by JohnB. »

RNAV wrote:Question for you folks regarding what to do with freshly roasted beans (i.e. 1-2 days post roast). Should I:

A) Let beans rest until 7-10 days post roast and then freeze them for later use
B) Freeze beans immediately, then thaw and leave out ~5 days (to roughly equate to 7-10 days post roast)

Or is there some other factor, such as 7 days frozen = 1 day of non-frozen rest?

Typically I get 5 lbs of beans 1-2 days post roast and freeze it immediately. Then pull beans out of the freezer the night before I'm going to use them. Now I'm wondering if the beans aren't rested enough.
I buy 5lb bags, let the beans rest until they pretty much hit their prime, load into canning jars, vacuum seal & freeze. Some take 6-7 days, some only 5. I start sampling around day 5. I use them right out of the freezer, single dosing/no hopper.
LMWDP 267

akirapuff
Posts: 59
Joined: 7 years ago

#10: Post by akirapuff »

anyone try 1 kg airscape jars? just bought 2 of them to store a 5lbs bag of coffee. Debating whether or not I should freeze them.

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