PortafilterProcrastinator I prefer grinding frozen beans. The pour feels a bit thicker and the flavor, maybe, a bit fuller. And of course instead of the beans lasting up to three weeks after vacuum sealing alone, they are still producing peak flavor after months. Now if only I could convince my wife to move the freezer next to the coffee island …

These days I mostly have the pouches of beans (18g doses) in a small cardboard box on a shelf under the machines on the coffee island (therefore, not frozen, just vac sealed). The vacuum seal keeps the air out of course and the cardboard box keeps the light out. From my reading it seems that air and light are the two biggest degraders of fresh coffee.

Here is the article that started me down the frozen coffee beans path, and caused me to buy a vacuum sealer. https://www.beanscenemag.com.au/ona-coffee-introduce-frozen-coffee-menu-act-venues/

    tompoland Now you just need to hire a 16 year old for £4.62/hour to roast and pack your beans for you and you got a nice set-up 🤣👍

      DavecUK sure thing Dave, if you want to come out of a cryogenic state in a couple of hundred years, just ping me here.

        20 days later

        Personally, I can see no point. I have 4 kg bagged up. Sometimes the beans degass a little at which point I would snip the top of the bag off and reseal. The Dave said why? CO2 is widely used as a preservative. I often drink beans that are 10 to 12 weeks past the date at which I vacuum packed them, plus the standing time.

        https://www.suddencardiacarrestuk.org/2024/02/thank-goodness-for-madeira-cake/

          dfk41 Meldrew

          If the reusable bags lose their vacuum due to de-gassing and it is true that carbon dioxide is used as a preservative (which it is) then this might not be as much of an issue as thought, particularly if you are not freezing and using disposable vacuum bags. You can re-vacuum in both cases.

          The issue is obviously air getting in, rather than de-gassing from the inside. How you would identify that I don’t know, doesn’t seem possible for the normal person.

          So maybe, depending on ones thoughts about CO2, vacuum bags aren’t such a bad idea.

                Sounds good to me, just a vac pack it will be.

                14 days later

                Got yourself a bargain there. Best way to keep your beans fresh. If you buy in kilos, the vac sealer will pay for itself in no time.

                  I am just going to be passing Lidl tomorrow and just happen to spot these. Oh these would be good to try and they are cheap. Wonder if the wife will fall for it.Bet they don’t have them. Lol

                  DavecUK Less than the price of a kilo of beans. I’d been looking at more expensive versions on line. Only negative is that this cheap one doesn’t have a cutter built in. But, I presume that like me you own scissors. :-)

                  PS - looking at the pictures on Amazon this seems to be exactly the the same bar cosmetics.

                  • LMSC replied to this.

                      I’ve had one for a couple of years & it’s still going strong. Just have to take a little break between each seal as there’s an interlock to let the element cool

                      I have had this one from amazon for a couple of years. I chose it for being very compact. It feels flimsy, but works great.

                      However, one time I grabbed a pack of vacuum bags (3 rolls) for it from Lidl and most of the time they leak and lose the vacuum a few seconds after sealing - this never happens with other bags. Might just be a bad batch, but maybe something to be aware of?

                      I have a couple of vacuum processors, only because we process a couple of cattle carcasses a year.
                      The heat sealing strips overheat after a few minutes of continuous use so we use a couple at a time and pre-cut and seal bags from rolls.
                      For coffee I roast 4×100g with my Nano, use standard bags with a one way valve and either, pack them in one bag and vacseal it or….
                      I bought a set of vacuum containers and I put two 200g bags in the container and suck the air out of it.
                      The containers are not as efficient as the sealed bags but they are reusable.

                      I have wondered just what I am sucking out with the high suction system.