Storing Roasted Coffee Beans

[JerryB]

Hello everyone,
I am just setting up to start and what to know if anyone can share with me the systems that works well to store and then package their roasted beans.
I am wanting to know what type of containers (sealed or non sealing) should I keep my roasted beans in until I ship them? Where is a good place to purchase these containers. Will moisture in the air effect the beans? Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Jerry

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Jerry,

After the roasting, I would put in the air tight bad with release valve. Any fresh roasted beans will have degasing process.
Or you can store them for 2-3 days after the roasting and package them in the air tight bag...

I would not store any beans in high humidity room or area and also you have to remember after the roasting, coffee is like carbon, it will absorb any time of smell so be careful with it.

About 2 weeks after the roasting, coffee will start lose its integrity, so make sure you do not store them for very long period of time....

Good luck

 

[eldub]

We use food grade plastic buckets w/ lids and food grade liners. After roasting, place the lids on the containers without sealing tightly. They can be sealed after a couple of days of degassing. The buckets and liners can be purchased at most any restaurant supply store.

 

[PinkRose]

Hello JerryB

Welcome to the Coffee Forums.

If you want to take a look at some containers to store the roasted coffee, here is an on-line place that has them. They're not cheap, but you'll need to make sure you have something sturdy and that seals right so you can store the roasted coffee properly.

Ingredient Bins - The WEBstaurant Store

Rose

 

[JerryB]

Thanks CoffeeJunky, eldub, and PinkRose! and the link you gave me was most helpful. Sometimes seeing what other people are doing and using can help me decide what will work in my place.
I am still trying to make sure I take precautions where needed, like with respect to the humidity. I know down south around parts of Georgia and Florida it can get pretty humid but I'm not sure how much humidity is tolerable. In my area, it is very dry and therefore air conditioners (evaporative cooler) which produce moisture in the air are very common, especial in larger buildings, they are a lot cheaper to operate then a traditional freon type air-conditioner. I use them and I'm not sure if it is going to cause me any problems. If anyone can tell me how much humidity is acceptable, I can monitor the rooms where I keep my coffee production.
Thanks again!

 

[JerryB]

Is there anyone on the forums from back east in a humid climate that can tell me the humidity level that may effect the coffee?

 

[eldub]

I'm not sure what, if any problems you would have with humidity. Heat might be a concern, but if you keep the roasted, degassed beans stored in air tight containers any issues with humidity should be minimal, imo.

 

[PinkRose]

If you store the roasted beans in air tight containers, you'll be okay.

I would worry more about how humidity affects the green beans when you store them: Here is an article about that:

Green Coffee Storage Issues Scroll down tho the part about humidity.

Rose

 

[JerryB]

Thanks again PinkRose! This site sweetmarias.com has a lot of information. Do you know it to be a reliable source?

eldub, That is what I'm thinking too. However, I just didn't want to ignore that it could possibly cause me problems. I am just going to monitor my humidity and see if I notice any effects. I wouldn't want to loose a batch of beans if I could have helped it. My containers I have are not 100% air tight but I can replace them so to minimize the risk.

Thanks again everyone. Cheers!
Jerry

 

[PinkRose]

Yes, Sweet Maria's is a reliable source. They have a lot of information on their website that will be useful to you.

 

[chast]

Roasted bean containers

I have been using Vittle Vaults for the last 4 years and they work great. You can buy them in all different sizes from Amazon.com and other places. Originally designed for grain and pet food they work great on cereal and other household staples. These are 100% air tight!
Charlie

 

[JerryB]

Thanks chast... these are cool and I looked at some and I like that they seal with a gasket. It looks like just about anything I look at that seals AIR TIGHT and is of preferred size will cost me at least $20.00 to $25.00 for each container. When planning the needs of storing 20 to 25 different types of roasted coffee it is good that I looked into this... it could easily cost me $500.00. I think I will need different size containers depending on how much of what kind of roast that people request. Can anyone tell me how they govern the batch size that one keeps on hand?

Jerry

 

[SingleMaltKaffe]

I know this thread's a couple of years old, but since it's on storage of roasted coffee beans; I'm wondering if the Vacu Vin Winesaver will do just fine in a cleaned out/dried out wine bottle?

 

[JohnD18]

Very useful link, thanks for that.

If you store the roasted beans in air tight containers, you'll be okay.

I would worry more about how humidity affects the green beans when you store them: Here is an article about that:

Green Coffee Storage Issues Scroll down tho the part about humidity.

Rose

 

[thCapn]

You can get various capacities of food safe plastic buckets and lids from U-Line.