RoyceRuiz Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2012 Posts: 50 Location: Hollister, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Wed Dec 26, 2012, 10:36am Subject: Re: Bought a Brazen.. (new to home brewing) Now what?
This may spur a tangent conversation but IMAWriter said that fresh roasted coffee can be frozen. I have personally never had success freezing coffee but I was living in South Carolina the last time I tried. Maybe the humidity had too much condensation. I don't mean to cause debate or anything but would just like to hear others opinion on the matter. Every time I have had coffee that we frozen it has tasted "damaged" (for lack of a better word) even if it was vacuum packed or sealed in an air tight container.
TheEther Senior Member Joined: 24 Dec 2012 Posts: 8 Location: Lexington KY Expertise: Just starting
Posted Wed Dec 26, 2012, 11:24am Subject: Re: Bought a Brazen.. (new to home brewing) Now what?
Not a tangent at all. I've been wondering the same thing. I've researched and found ample confirmation on both sides of the argument but nothing definite. Interested to hear more for sure from the pro's.
Posted Thu Dec 27, 2012, 2:21pm Subject: Re: Bought a Brazen.. (new to home brewing) Now what?
RoyceRuiz Said:
This may spur a tangent conversation but IMAWriter said that fresh roasted coffee can be frozen. I have personally never had success freezing coffee but I was living in South Carolina the last time I tried. Maybe the humidity had too much condensation. I don't mean to cause debate or anything but would just like to hear others opinion on the matter. Every time I have had coffee that we frozen it has tasted "damaged" (for lack of a better word) even if it was vacuum packed or sealed in an air tight container.
Not sure if this should be broken out into new subject or not.
When faced with a question, always ask the "why". When someone says never freeze coffee, ask "why". The answer should be more than just experiential.
I've heard people say the condensation makes the coffee stale or start to extract. I've heard that freezing causes freezer burn like it does to meat (which is a process of cell rupturing from ice crystals).
Full disclosure: I freeze-store my coffee. I experimented quite a bit because I was always told it never works. There are some fairly well-run blind taste tests that support storing coffee in the freezer, and that it has minimal to no effect. There are several threads here and on home-barista.com about freezing coffee.
The main reason to do it is that it delays (note: not "PREVENTS" - delays) staling of coffee. Staling is a process that happens with coffee that is exposed to oxygen and temperature. This means that if you store coffee in a hot environment in an airtight container but without oxygen, it will still stale. If you store coffee in the presence of even 5% oxygen, but low temperatures it will stale. If you store coffee in the presence of oxygen and above freezing temperatures, it will stale quickly.
Moisture also can speed this process along, but it doesn't do as much as people suspect. Ever try brewing whole coffee beans? The little bit of condensation is not nearly enough to accelerate staling of coffee - there is so little that it can't penetrate the hull of the bean (especially if they are darker roasted and have oil on the surface).
The little moisture that is present in roasted coffee is not in a state to create crystals, so the thinking that it's like meat is wrong. I used to store homemade jerky and dehydrated fruits in the freezer, some of which may have been in there for a year or more - with no ill effects. The difference is the amount of water in dehydrated products is also similar - of so little content (generally less than 5% by mass) and distributed in small amounts or emulsified in the material that it doesn't cause "freezer burn".
I have had some issues with VERY freshly (like less than 2 hours) post-roast. This period is fairly high off-gassing period, and putting just-after roasting coffee into the freezer slows off-gassing, and possibly has some effect on distribution of oils or slowing other reactions that are supposed to continue to happen in this off-gassing period.
I vote for freezing. YMMV.
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
Posted Thu Dec 27, 2012, 7:47pm Subject: Re: Bought a Brazen.. (new to home brewing) Now what?
TheEther Said:
Not a tangent at all. I've been wondering the same thing. I've researched and found ample confirmation on both sides of the argument but nothing definite. Interested to hear more for sure from the pro's.
Actually, it IS a bit of a tangent, but as my thinking has been tangential since having double cataract surgery, no problem the tangent stops HERE. :>D
Our own Mark Prince had very favorable comments about the excellent drip/press/vac pot grinds from the Preciso, with MORE than a favorable comparison to the Vario. Back on topic, one thing to remember when using the permanent filter (an excellent filter, IMO) is grind slightly coarser, especially with beans fresher than 3 days post roast. This will eliminate any chance of over-blooming. I suggest just a bit finer than Kosher salt to start with. YMMV
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