Nitrogen Flushing

BeanGrinder

New member
Aug 11, 2004
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North Georgia, USA
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I was reading about one coffee roaster who "flushes" the bags with nitrogen to remove oxygen harmful to coffee.

Does anyone know about this process and whether it is cost effective? I would guess it makes sense if the coffee is going to sit on the shelf for a prolonged period of time, but I'm not sure I would make much difference in our case - our customers drink our coffee faster than we can roast it! :wink:

But I'm curious to know what kind of equipment is used in this process and who manufactures it. Are there less volatile alternatives to nitrogen?
 

coffeedirk

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Mar 30, 2005
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Des Moines, Iowa
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BeanGrinder,

We started using nitrogen flushing about 6 months ago when we began packaging coffee for grocery/retail sales. One way gas valves in bags and nitrogen flushing are about the only way to be able to achieve maximum shelf life for whole bean (and especially) ground coffee.

My understanding is that you move your product pretty fast, so if shelf life of no more than 2-3 weeks in a sealed bag is all you need, then forget the nitrogen flush idea. With a combination of processes and procedures we are using with our packaging machine, we've been able to achieve a nine month shelf life for our product line.

Feel free to contact me offline by e-mail with any other questions or needs.
 
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