Coffee freezing skills?
OK, so Ive been on an espresso quest of sorts over the last 6 months, and during this quest ive acquired more coffee than i could drink in 10 to 14 days. So I decided to test the old "its ok to put whole bean coffee in the freezer, as long as you only take it out once" technique. My opinion thus far is its B.S.
Ill put coffee in the freezer 3 days off roast, then take it out 2 weeks later, and there is a huge loss of aromatics, which then translates to a lack of flavor in the cup. Some times its just the loss of aromatics and other times the coffees sour. Some coffees seem to fare better than others. It just sucks loosing half a pound of amazing coffee cause I couldn't drink it in time.
I generally put the coffee in a plastic freezer bag, then put that bag in a gallon ziploc, then put it in the freezer. Am I doing something wrong? Is my freezer not cold enough? What gives? Does anyone have any tips when freezing coffee?
Thanks
Dustin
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shadow on
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What I've done when buying 5 lb. bags is split it up into 6-8 oz. increments and vacuum pack/seal each package using a FoodSaver device. I don't vacuum out as much air as possible because doing so can pull oils to the surface of the beans, so I'd guess 90-95% of the air is being removed. Leaving a little room for expansion might be a good idea when really fresh beans are vacuum packed and still in the degas phase. I then put them in a deep freezer (-20 or lower) and simply thaw out a pack as needed, letting them come up to room temperature before using, which is only a few hrs. at most.
I will say I was pleased that the flavor and aroma seemed to be there for me and definitely much better than if the beans were simply left to stale for weeks in a kitchen cabinet. Of course fresh is best, but if beans are properly prepped/frozen I think this option is a close second when you simply have more than you can consume/sell.
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Will also add I watched a video awhile back in which the lovely ladies over at Seattle Coffee Gear did a freeze vs. fresh test and they didn't seem to like the frozen option at all. But it appears all they did was freeze the beans in the bag(s) they were originally packaged in from the roaster and probably not vacuum packed. Dunno if this would make a huge difference, but like I stated I was quite pleased with my results.
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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I've only every frozen a pot's worth of "emergency coffee" at the house and decaf espresso for the shop. The decaf wasn't an ideal situation, but it was better than room-temperature storage. Will have to try some side-by-side experimentation to see what happens.
One thing to watch out for - some bean-freezers have experienced nasty side effects, like being dropped by your roaster and/or coffee grower :).
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Permalink Reply by Casey Loseth on
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I live up north, and by up north I mean northern canada. So I don't get alot of chance to buy good coffee, When I do I buy enough to stock me for atleast 2 months. I freeze mine, I do also roast a bit of my own at home, So I don't always get to what's in my freezer right away. I haven't had any experience with long term freezing, I can almost always get all mine down within 2 weeks after the 10-14 days. I haven't had any real problems with it, yes I loose some aromatics but not enough for me to complain about. I don't know the science behind coffee, but I can imagine that it would be similar to bread. You are not necissarily stopping anything from happening you're just slowing it down. With bread i will throw dough in the freezer that I plan to bake 3 days later after letting it sit out for an hour, If I plan on baking the next day I let it sit for 3-4 hours then retard it. So I imagine that when you put the coffee in the freezer the fresher it is the longer it will take for the carbon to release, and all your wonderful oils and aromatics to go with it. Also I've had no experince with freezing espresso. I can imagine it being dramatically different, not the process but the final product.
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Permalink Reply by Dustin DeMers on
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Ive thought about flushing bags with N20 or just something other than Oxygen before freezing, but that just seems like over kill for something im going to pull out of the freezer 2 weeks from now. Vacuum packing sounds like a good idea, but i dont have access to one.
Shadow said:What I've done when buying 5 lb. bags is split it up into 6-8 oz. increments and vacuum pack/seal each package using a FoodSaver device. I don't vacuum out as much air as possible because doing so can pull oils to the surface of the beans, so I'd guess 90-95% of the air is being removed. Leaving a little room for expansion might be a good idea when really fresh beans are vacuum packed and still in the degas phase. I then put them in a deep freezer (-20 or lower) and simply thaw out a pack as needed, letting them come up to room temperature before using, which is only a few hrs. at most.
I will say I was pleased that the flavor and aroma seemed to be there for me and definitely much better than if the beans were simply left to stale for weeks in a kitchen cabinet. Of course fresh is best, but if beans are properly prepped/frozen I think this option is a close second when you simply have more than you can consume/sell.
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Freezer temp is... well i dont know. It not a deep freeze, just a normal "sits on top of a fridge" freezer. Good question though, I will add that to the list of "things to test the temprature of" when my digital thermometer and thermocouples come in.
Next batch of coffee I get in 1/3 will be left out to drink, 1/3 will go in the freezer, and a 1/3 will be left in a ziploc bag in the cupboard. To test the freezer theory. Im honestly not being nit picky either(thats what i would think if reading this) There really is a substantial difference, and i could pick out which coffee was in the freezer without even tasting it, as it has lost all most all of its sweet smell.
Its really painful throwing away once amazing coffees cause i couldnt drink them in time, it also sucks for the wallet as shipping coffee is expensive.
Brady said:I've only every frozen a pot's worth of "emergency coffee" at the house and decaf espresso for the shop. The decaf wasn't an ideal situation, but it was better than room-temperature storage. Will have to try some side-by-side experimentation to see what happens.
One thing to watch out for - some bean-freezers have experienced nasty side effects, like being dropped by your roaster and/or coffee grower :).
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What type of freezer are you using? Just a normal in your kitchen sort of thing?
Casey Loseth said:
I live up north, and by up north I mean northern canada. So I don't get alot of chance to buy good coffee, When I do I buy enough to stock me for atleast 2 months. I freeze mine, I do also roast a bit of my own at home, So I don't always get to what's in my freezer right away. I haven't had any experience with long term freezing, I can almost always get all mine down within 2 weeks after the 10-14 days. I haven't had any real problems with it, yes I loose some aromatics but not enough for me to complain about. I don't know the science behind coffee, but I can imagine that it would be similar to bread. You are not necissarily stopping anything from happening you're just slowing it down. With bread i will throw dough in the freezer that I plan to bake 3 days later after letting it sit out for an hour, If I plan on baking the next day I let it sit for 3-4 hours then retard it. So I imagine that when you put the coffee in the freezer the fresher it is the longer it will take for the carbon to release, and all your wonderful oils and aromatics to go with it. Also I've had no experince with freezing espresso. I can imagine it being dramatically different, not the process but the final product.
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Ideally you'd want to store beans in a deep freeze in which temperature never changes much. The typical home over/under and side-by-side units have auto defrosting and I can't imagine this will help the coffee in any way. Ever see how foods can get "freezer burn" after spending some time in your freezer OR how ice cubes not used often will slowly get smaller and less clear? That is the defrosting/freezing process over and over.
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You can get one of the units shown in the attached pic. I used one of those for various vacuum sealing jobs and it worked OK. Of course not as good as the FoodSaver, but this unit is maybe $10-15.
Dustin DeMers said:Ive thought about flushing bags with N20 or just something other than Oxygen before freezing, but that just seems like over kill for something im going to pull out of the freezer 2 weeks from now. Vacuum packing sounds like a good idea, but i dont have access to one.
Shadow said:What I've done when buying 5 lb. bags is split it up into 6-8 oz. increments and vacuum pack/seal each package using a FoodSaver device. I don't vacuum out as much air as possible because doing so can pull oils to the surface of the beans, so I'd guess 90-95% of the air is being removed. Leaving a little room for expansion might be a good idea when really fresh beans are vacuum packed and still in the degas phase. I then put them in a deep freezer (-20 or lower) and simply thaw out a pack as needed, letting them come up to room temperature before using, which is only a few hrs. at most.
I will say I was pleased that the flavor and aroma seemed to be there for me and definitely much better than if the beans were simply left to stale for weeks in a kitchen cabinet. Of course fresh is best, but if beans are properly prepped/frozen I think this option is a close second when you simply have more than you can consume/sell.
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