How do you guys store your coffee beans?

aaron15

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How do you guys store your coffee beans to keep them fresh and flavorful? Is there a special kind of container you guys use or is it ok to keep them in the bag they come packaged in? Thanks
 

CoffeeLovers

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Not to harm the freshness of your beans, don’t expose your beans to moisture, air, heat, and light. To avoid those enemies of the freshness of your beans, buy your coffee in small quantities as needed and store in an air tight canister or vacuum canister in a cool shady spot.

Don’t store in a freezer because cold can’t keep your coffee fresh and your coffee can become a deodorizer and dehumidify your refrigerator. But if it is reasonable to freeze, just make sure to wrap it well, it is in the original packaging, and put them all into another bag like a grocery pack to keep out the light.
 

Surfer

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Not to harm the freshness of your beans, don’t expose your beans to moisture, air, heat, and light. To avoid those enemies of the freshness of your beans, buy your coffee in small quantities as needed and store in an air tight canister or vacuum canister in a cool shady spot.

Don’t store in a freezer because cold can’t keep your coffee fresh and your coffee can become a deodorizer and dehumidify your refrigerator. But if it is reasonable to freeze, just make sure to wrap it well, it is in the original packaging, and put them all into another bag like a grocery pack to keep out the light.
You just totally contradicted your self saying don't store in a freezer and then yes you can store in a freezer. The freezing cold does keep coffee fresh as it stalls the staling process, you do know you can place meats in a freezer and defrost after X time and have just as nice a cut as fresh if store right..... right? And if in an air tight container it won't become a dehumidifier or take on smells or anything... b/c ----> air tight ;) . If you use a deep freeze chest you can go even longer, just look on the others boards where people pull shots 4-6 months out from a deep freeze chest.

OP - Freezing works perfect if it's done right, Ball Canning Jars (I break my batches down into zip bags and stick in each). Stick in the freezer and take one out as needed to defrost. Each time I scoop beans out to weigh/dose I squeeze the air out of the zip and place back into the Ball jar and into my cabinet. How coffeelovers mentions to do it is the about the worst way you can freeze coffee, never use the original pack even if you tape over the valve, and you don't need some bag to keep out light, there's no light in a fridge, except for the split second you open it which isn't going to do anything. If you have a good fridge freezer then it'll work, I've made shots 2 months out that were just as good as when ordered fresh in taste/smell/looks.

Otherwise if you order very small amounts, you can use the Ball Canning jars still as they are literally air tight and cheaper then Vac canisters. Just keep the beans in a cabinet.
 
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PinkRose

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It seems like this is an ongoing discussion.

If you do a search (up at the right top corner of your screen) and type in the words (store coffee beans) you will see a variety of discussions that we've had in the past. There are people who say to never freeze your coffee beans, and there are people who say it's okay to freeze them.

The best option is to buy what you need for the week, and use it without freezing.
Freezing works nice if it's done right. You can't just take the opened bag and put it in the freezer!

I freeze my coffee from time to time. I scoop out pot-size portions of beans and put them in sandwich bags and close them tight. Then I put those bags into a freezer bag, and then put the freezer bag into a Tupperware container. Then I put that Tupperware container into a larger freezer bag and freeze it. It's a bit of overkill, but it works for me. I just take out each pot-size bag of beans whenever I want them, and the coffee has always tasted fine.

Rose
 

CoffeeJunky

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I actually met a person who told me to never freeze their coffee. And I had him try mine. He absolutely assure me my coffee was horrible. When I tasted same cup, I didn't find anything wrong with the cup.
I think its all depends on your preferences as well. Don't take any words from anyone. If you enjoy coffee from your freezer and you are fine with it, I don't see anything wrong with it. I personally won't freeze mine ever again but I am not against anyone who does.
 

PinkRose

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It's really about how you freeze the coffee beans, and for how it's been frozen, and how soon you use it after thawing it out. I seriously don't taste much of a difference.

But I have a deep chest freezer that doesn't self-defrost. Most things, like ice cream, stay nice for a longer time in the chest freezer than it does in my refrigerator's freezer section. I never store my frozen coffee beans in my refrigerator's freezer. I wonder if that makes a difference.
 

Surfer

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It's really about how you freeze the coffee beans, and for how it's been frozen, and how soon you use it after thawing it out. I seriously don't taste much of a difference.

But I have a deep chest freezer that doesn't self-defrost. Most things, like ice cream, stay nice for a longer time in the chest freezer than it does in my refrigerator's freezer section. I never store my frozen coffee beans in my refrigerator's freezer. I wonder if that makes a difference.
Depends on the fridge type. I have a newer Kenmore and the freezer is awesome. On the same token, my friend I got into coffee wanted to try how I store beans. Used the same exact beans I have before and stored same way, zip bag inside a ball canning jar, and it didn't work as well. He has an older fridge like 10 years old, and seems on CG/HB the people who had trouble doing so some said they had older units. So my guess is older ones don't have the efficiency and better defrost cycles of newer units (some really really old lol). Tried again with a different batch of beans I gave him and same result, wasn't bad, but you could tell a difference. Mine unit, I can make shots like 1-2 months out and their the same as when fresh, fiance and friends that have been over can't tell a difference. If I wanted to store more though and go longer then 2 months I would get a deep freeze chest no doubt.
 

Hankua

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I use a food saver with the plastic bags, but there is an attachment for ball canning jars.
It's a cheap one V420 and going on 4 years; out of production though.
Still works but the pump is slowing down.

WebRestaurant has the Ary VacMaster Pro110 for 59.99; think I'll get that one next
or the Sinbo DZ-280 snorkel which uses mylar bags, runs @99$
 
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CoffeeLovers

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Depends on the fridge type. I have a newer Kenmore and the freezer is awesome. On the same token, my friend I got into coffee wanted to try how I store beans. Used the same exact beans I have before and stored same way, zip bag inside a ball canning jar, and it didn't work as well. He has an older fridge like 10 years old, and seems on CG/HB the people who had trouble doing so some said they had older units. So my guess is older ones don't have the efficiency and better defrost cycles of newer units (some really really old lol). Tried again with a different batch of beans I gave him and same result, wasn't bad, but you could tell a difference. Mine unit, I can make shots like 1-2 months out and their the same as when fresh, fiance and friends that have been over can't tell a difference. If I wanted to store more though and go longer then 2 months I would get a deep freeze chest no doubt.

That is why I stated in my second paragraph with the conjunction “but” because I want to stress my opinion that if possible, avoid storing your coffee beans in a freezer by buying only small quantities as needed to assure freshness. Maybe my opinion is not contradicting because I stated that “But if it is reasonable to freeze”, meaning you have bought in excess of what you needed “then you can freeze the extra pack provided it is wrap well and in original packaging”.

You know cold doesn't help retain its freshness because the moisture in the refrigerator can damage coffee. Extreme cold or heat is the greatest enemies of fresh coffee. Yes, I accept that it must be properly stored, then if what you are doing can maintain freshness, just do what you are doing.
 

namballe

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i just simply keep the coffee in the bag they were packaged in. after opening the bag, i fold the top of the bag several times and use box sealing tape to hold shut. keep in mind that the original package contains all the essential properties of the coffee, oils aromas, coffee bits and pieces, etc. i then just put it in a cool, dry dark place.
 

Gmbaltrusitis

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If I might offer you guys some ideas. As the previous poster stated, Foodsaver has an attachment for Ball jars. You could vacuum out the Ball Jars with the filled jars of beans or you could just place them in the bags and vacuum out as well. I agree with the fact that placing it in a deep freezer would be fine. My freezer is not a self defrosting model so once it is in there it is frozen and safe.
 
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