I usually go through 2 lbs of beans in 3 weeks. I currently place beans in my freezer in ziplock bags.

I am thinking about buying a food sealer so when I get my beans in from roasters, I can seal them in small packages and use them over time. Is this a good idea? Would they still need to go into the freezer?

It is a good idea but you'd still need to freeze them. Do an H-B search on "freezing roasted coffee" & you will find lots & lots of info.

linuxAndJavaScript wrote:I usually go through 2 lbs of beans in 3 weeks. I currently place beans in my freezer in ziplock bags.

I am thinking about buying a food sealer so when I get my beans in from roasters, I can seal them in small packages and use them over time. Is this a good idea? Would they still need to go into the freezer?

You might want to also do some leg work on good bags. I tried to switch from vacuum packed mason jars to the bags and found that they ruptured in the freezer. Maybe it was while I was moving them around? I assume they get brittle and the corners are sharp or bean fragments poke a hole.

Im sure its likely just the bags I used but didn't like that I jeopardized a lot of coffee on them. Went back to jars.

I'm not sure it's worth it for only keeping 3 weeks.

I usually do vacuum seal but sometimes I get lazy and I can't tell a difference if I use it within a month or two.

No evidence here, but before you get a vacuum sealer, I'd try putting the beans in enough different bags that you're not reopening the bag ever so as not to introduce fresh air into the beans. If you fill your hopper every three days, put three days worth in a single bag. Or use mason jars. I've liked that route, especially when I single dose (usually I put two doses in a small mason jar and use both doses in a day).

But there is a price difference often in buying 5# bags... and it's fun to have several types of beans on hand... so get a sealer and fill your freezer!

They do keep very well in the freezer after vacuum packing.

I use Mason jars and have an adaptor for my FoodSaver vacuum packing machine that works with Mason jar lids.

Definitely better to go with mason jars if you buy an external sealer like a FoodSaver. The special quilted bags for that kind of sealer end up costing a lot over the long run, and I believe they're not thick enough to resist punctures, as has been pointed out.

I use a VacMaster chamber sealer, which uses very cheap bags that come in a variety of thicknesses, most of which are very durable. The machine is much, much more expensive, but in the long run it evens out with the cost of the bags. The reason I went that way is because I also use the sealer for sous vide as well as sealing for food storage. One thing you can do with a chamber sealer that you can't do with an external sealer is seal liquid or semi-liquid foods.

That said, I had to repair the cheap power supply in my VacMaster 115, and now the sealing bar isn't working, so yet another item to repair on my work bench. Customer service from that company isn't great, so if I ever buy another sealer I'll be looking at other brands.

+1 for mason jars. I recently started buying a 5-lb bag, fill the hopper and about 10 jars, immediately into the freezer with no special sealing tools. Every jar opens with a POP and smells like fresh roasted. Really saves on repeated shipping costs. And the jars are re-usable too, no bags to use up.

If you choose to go with a chamber sealer you can also use Mason jars for freezer storage. I also buy 5 lb. lots of roasted beans and it takes about 6 one quart jars to store them. Those are vacuumed and put in the freezer. Works great and keeps the exposed quantity of coffee relatively small. If you use coffee at a slower rate, pint jars could be an option. The lids generally last for about 4 cycles before replacement if you are gentle in popping them loose, but if one doesn't hold vacuum, in the trash it goes.

A few times I blind tested coffee that was vacuum sealed and in the freezer versus in a ziplock bag in the freezer. In each case I couldn't taste a difference even after months. So I don't bother pulling a vacuum. Freezing seems to be enough.

For vacuumed sealed jars, does it matter if the jar is only half full? Also, is it better to have several small jars or one large jar that I take some out of, repump air out, and place back in the freezer?