Degassing

[Spice]

Good Morning, an early one for me. Just poured my first cup of coffee.
I was wondering, in general, how long do you allow your fresh roasted
coffee to degas? Do you leave the bag open or if there is a one way
valve, do you seal the bag. Currently, I leave the bag open for a couple
of days.:images: Thanks.

 

[chast]

I use a 5lb bag with degassing valve. releases CO2 keeps O2 out. One way valve if the term fits.

 

[JumpinJakJava]

I like to let my coffee degas for 72hrs. I know the standard is at least 24hrs. Found best results waiting for the 3 days. If you use valve bags, you will have to
heat seal, unless they have a zip lock for proper degassing. Have to admit that for a number of years I acquired Folgers containers which are actually great for
the degassing process. I now use(before bagging and shipping) food-grade buckets from Uline-2 Gallon Plastic Pail S-9941 - Uline
They have from 1gal-5gal. I believe. I still have to "burp" the Uline containers a while after roasting(maybe 2 or three times because they form a good airtight seal)

 

[expat]

Spice, the way you pose your question I'm assuming you've bought someone's coffee and then have opened the bag/can and are allowing it to degas.

If you are buying my coffee you open the bag and make a pot. We roast, rest it for two to three days (if possible), grind, bag, seal, and let the freshness valve keep the bag from becoming a total blimp, just a semi-blimp. You also reseal the bag since oxygen and light are deletrious to coffee freshness.

If you're opening bags and letting them degass then you're not doing the coffee or yourself any favours.

If you're buying Folger's or another factory coffee, chances are it degassed way before it was packaged.

 

[PinkRose]

I read some old posts, and saw that a few months ago Spice was learning how to roast coffee with the intention of selling it at Farmer's markets.

I may be wrong, but I'm guessing that the question is about degassing the coffee that she recently roasted.

 

[CoffeeLovers]

Degassing of roasted coffee emits carbon dioxide which is needed to protect the delicate flavor and aroma of the coffee. Don’t degas for one week otherwise you lose some flavor and aroma, and best recommendation to do it shall be for 24 hours.

In addition, fresh roasted coffee can be kept in one-way degassing valve bags to emit carbon dioxide but keeping oxygen not to come in to spoil even is several days.

 

[topher]

I just read an article about a new company that is trying to make a coffee maker that roasts grinds and brews. The whole process takes only 15 minutes. What about the degassing time? Whole bean coffee tastes grassy if you drink it within the first 24 hours....
Cool beans: New coffee machine roasts, grinds, then brews - NBC News.com

 

[PinkRose]

I like the way they use the word probably in the article when they say: "Naturally, it's going to take longer than putting a "pod" into a machine in which all that needs to happen is hot water passing through the grinds — but if you can wait 15 minutes for your coffee, this will probably be a better brew."

To me, probably means maybe it will be a better brew.

Most ordinary people don't know about degassing after roasting. They're probably going to love their fresh-roasted coffee no matter how bad it really is.

Rose

 

[peterjschmidt]

I think coffee should be allowed to rest, but also think most people make a bigger deal out of it than necessary. Granted, coffee that has rested/de-gassed for 3 days might taste better than it would at 1 day, and at 24 hours it will taste better than it would 1 hour out of the roaster. But that's not to say that the coffee right out of the roaster will be bad; it will simply be better, with more developed flavors with more rest. If coffee is tasting grassy or bad when it's straight out of the roaster, it probably wasn't roasted properly.

 

[eldub]

I agree with Peter.

 

[Spice]

Thanks everyone, and yes Rose I am a coffee roaster. I thought I posted last night but I don't see it. Anyway, I am learning
in this biz there are not hard and fast rules. Good for us.

 

[JumpinJakJava]

About 3 years ago, I purchased 10lbs. of extra fancy Kona,(yeah I splurged!). Really took extra care in roasting it. Could not wait more than 1 day after roast to brew a cup. It was very good. So I did the same thing every day for 5 days, and believe me it peaked at 3 days. My son came over after just brewing in a Chemex,(3 days rest) he said, "what's in the pot"? I said just try it. He did, and he replied, this is the best cup of coffee I ever tried. I told him it was Kona.
He said dad, 'you have to get more of this"! I noticed it was not as good the following days. Not that I was disappointed, but it was not as good. So after same measure, grind, I believe it peaked in 3 days rest after roast. May sound crazy but, I have found this with other coffees as well. May sound crazy, but I found Monsooned Malabar Gold tasted best at 14 days after roasting(FC+). Yeah, I have been called "'cracked", but I tell everyone that is how the "light got in". I do enjoy my coffees.

 

[PinkRose]

Yeah, I have been called "'cracked", but I tell everyone that is how the "light got in". I do enjoy my coffees.

I like that! I'm going to borrow it if you don't mind!

By the way, everyone has their preferences in when roasted coffee is just right for them. I've found that I enjoy my Papua New Guinea coffee best when it's around 10 days after it was roasted. I buy it in small quantities, so I don't always get to the 10 day point, but I seem to like it the best then.

Rose

 

[topher]

Here are some more threads on this topic...I knew we had discussed this before. If you drink coffee straight from the roaster you are telling me that the co2 does not make the coffee have a grassiness?
http://www.coffeeforums.com/forum/coffee-roasters/3691-do-beans-need-degas.html
http://www.coffeeforums.com/forum/coffee-beans-espresso-beans/7587-how-soon-after-roasting-can-you-grind-enjoy.html

 

[topher]

The roastery I was at last had air quality control people come in and make sure everything was safe. We roasted, ground and packaged every day leaving now ground coffee over night. They tested the air in and outside of our coffee storage containers. They made us add fans in the production area due to the amount of co2 that was admitted. They said that if someone was in one of the 44 gallon storage containers with the ground coffee they would be dead within 1 to 2 hours.