I know this subject has been discussed to death, but a lot of posts are quite old so I wondered what are some current best practices for storing coffee in the freezer? First, I don't like the term "freezing coffee" since you can't freeze something that's already solid at room temp by putting it into the freezer. What you're doing is just storing it at a colder temperature, which slows down oxidation and increases the time the beans will stay fresh. Vacuum packing seem to almost completely stop oxidation as well so this is another tool that can be used. However I'm curious if anyone utilizes both and has come up with an easy to use plan as vacuum packing coffee after each single use seems like it would be quite tedious and wasteful?

Currently I'm storing all my beans in the freezer, take out what I need, grind straight out of the freezer and then put it back again. I do still notice coffee staling and losing its aromatics after a week or two, so this is still not ideal, but it definitely stays more fresh compared to room temp.

I single dose into mason jars, vacuum them out in my chamber sealer, and put in freezer. Then take em out, pop em open (actually pretty tough when sealed, have something besides fingers), RDT in the jar, and grind frozen. Also if you were vacuum packing in bags, just use one with extra headspace and you can keep sealing in the same bag, nothing more wasteful than sealing once.

I think freezing without sealing is helpful too, but only if you absolutely never open a container and put it back and absolutely never open a container without thawing first unless you intend to grind the entire contents frozen right then.

My advice is the same as I posted in all those other threads.

CwD wrote:I single dose into mason jars, vacuum them out in my chamber sealer, and put in freezer. Then take em out, pop em open (actually pretty tough when sealed, have something besides fingers).

I fill 16 oz Ball brand mason jars to the top and don't evacuate them before closing. Filling them completely (tapping, shaking, etc to optimize distribution) leaves very little air, of which 80% is nitrogen anyway. Dropping the temperature from 70 to 0 lowers the pressure of the remaining air far enough to suck the top on just as described by Mitch. I can usually pry it off with my fingers, but it's held on pretty tightly and the "pop" when it lets go is impressive.

The flat top inserts have to be straight and unmarred to seal properly. A 12 pack of lid inserts is $2.99 at BB&B, so it's no big deal to replace them if the red sealing ring looks irregular or uneven, or if you accidentally bend one. Even if you miss it on visual inspection, you'll know because it will simply fall off without effort or a pop when you unscrew the top.

CwD wrote:I single dose into mason jars, vacuum them out in my chamber sealer, and put in freezer. Then take em out, pop em open (actually pretty tough when sealed, have something besides fingers), RDT in the jar, and grind frozen. Also if you were vacuum packing in bags, just use one with extra headspace and you can keep sealing in the same bag, nothing more wasteful than sealing once.

I think freezing without sealing is helpful too, but only if you absolutely never open a container and put it back and absolutely never open a container without thawing first unless you intend to grind the entire contents frozen right then.

What's the reason for opening a container and never putting it back again? I have been doing this and didn't notice any bad effects such as condensation, so far, but it's probably not effective as vacuum sealer. I ordered a sealer now (a cheap, compact one rather than a chamber sealer..) and will start using vacuum sealed bags soon though.

namelessone wrote:...I don't like the term "freezing coffee" since you can't freeze something that's already solid at room temp by putting it into the freezer.

Just to be pedantic, the oil in coffee is a liquid at room temperature. So putting it in your freezer (or even most refrigerators) will result in solidifying that component of the bean.

namelessone wrote:What's the reason for opening a container and never putting it back again? I have been doing this and didn't notice any bad effects such as condensation, so far, but it's probably not effective as vacuum sealer. I ordered a sealer now (a cheap, compact one rather than a chamber sealer..) and will start using vacuum sealed bags soon though.

It's just an opinion, likely based only on his subjective experience. That's why the old threads on the subject haven't themselves staled. They've been in the deep freeze of a lack of any sort of scientific rigor.

CwD wrote:
I think freezing without sealing is helpful too, but only if you absolutely never open a container and put it back and absolutely never open a container without thawing first unless you intend to grind the entire contents frozen right then.

I do all of this with all my beans every day. No problems here.

namelessone wrote: I ordered a sealer now (a cheap, compact one rather than a chamber sealer..) and will start using vacuum sealed bags soon though.

Test your assumptions. Give it a side by side try, vacuumed versus non-vacuumed containers (or bags). Use the same beans and do blind tastings.

I did that experiment a couple of times and found I couldn't taste the difference. But some others do, so you need to find out for yourself if it's worth the extra effort.

jpender wrote:Test your assumptions. Give it a side by side try, vacuumed versus non-vacuumed containers (or bags). Use the same beans and do blind tastings. I did that experiment a couple of times and found I couldn't taste the difference. But some others do, so you need to find out for yourself if it's worth the extra effort.

I agree completely, John - I can't tell the difference. As I posted above, what little space is left in a jar full of beans contains 80% nitrogen anyway, so there's not much oxygen to affect them. And a 70 degree fall in temperature really sucks down that top - in fact, I suspect a vacuum sealer won't get the pressure much (if any) below the pressure resulting from the temp drop.