Been a fan of this method since picking up a cheap second hand vac sealer a year ago. If you buy in bulk which can reward with useful discounts, it’s well worth considering. My second hand machine died so I picked this one up from Amazon Warehouse - was around £30.00. Has a powerful 140 watt motor - probably overkill. Great for keeping beans from staling. This morning’s work

How much do you spend on the vacuum bags themselves? I am really trying to resist getting this involved in bean storage, but my freezer solution does need work.

IMO, vac packing is better than freezer storage. I use these Last a long time if just used for beans

I have been looking at these for some time now. I used to see quite a few of the industrial ones in hotel kitchens. The two which I have been looking at are Luvele and Zwilling. The Zwilling use reusable bags and both have solid containers. https://www.zwilling.com/uk/fresh-and-save/ https://www.luvele.co.uk/collections/vacuum-sealers

Zwilling looks like a decent piece of kit but it’s pricey. Like the idea of reusable bags.

This is what I use. pretty awesome machine.

After I pack 18g pouches with this

That looks seriously heavy duty.

Bags are recyclable at the local supermarket

tompoland Thats some setup you have. Nice.

Meldrew I started with the vacuum thing after reading an article about grinding frozen coffee. Apparently the trick is to not let it defrost prior to grinding because all sorts of chemical reactions start up, the end result of which is a less than full bodied, full flavored pour. Therefore, trialling freezing meant, for practical purposes, trialling vacuum sealing too. I started with a pair of Acaia Orion dosing machines which were cool but slow. When I saw the packing machine for AU$400 I took a punt and bought it off e-bay. It works incredibly well and is as accurate as the Acaia’s. My method is to roast, let the beans rest for eight days or so and use them from the zip bag with the one way valve, each day until I think they have hit peak flavor. Then I vacuum seal them. These days though I don’t freeze them unless I roasted too many. Through a lot of trial and error, I have found that a medium to dark roast will hit peak flavor around the 14 day mark (some as early as 8 days though) and will stay at peak flavor if vacuum sealed with a good machine, for another three weeks. But after that they decline surprisingly quickly. I’ve tested over 100 roasts now and kept a flavor log on the majority of those roasts, day by day as I sampled them. I write the “Best Between” dates on every bag of roasted coffee, typically being between 14 and 35 days, assuming that they are vacuum sealed at the 14 day mark. That’s the story behind the vacuum sealing machine and the weighing/packing machine. Not that I am obsessed :-)

Vacuum packing beans

Meldrew

Would you believe it. Walked int Lidl today and there were two vacuum sealers one with my name on it. And I also managed to bag some spare vacuum sealer bag rolls.

prezes

Went up today and there was one waiting for me as well… been busy testing obviously !

Meldrew

prezes Nice one

Pompeyexile

I’ve had a vacuum sealer for years but I moved away from that due to my concern with the plastics the food is sealed in not being recyclable. I see now that recyclable ones are available I’ll start using it again… for food.

As for coffee… Now I know I’m being a bit of a dunce here (yes I know, what’s new) but Tompoland are you making the tiny bags to hold just 18g of beans, cutting to size from a roll, sealing edges to make a pocket ready to take the beans? Because I’ve not seen any that small and if so, it must take you ages because you’d need 55 bags for every kilo of beans. Then once opened you just throw them away?… sorry recycle them and start all over again?

I usually buy aboout 4 × 250g bags of different types of beans at a time because I like to try different ones. Even if I only have 2 cups a day at 18g per cup that will still only take me about 3 and a half weeks to get through and more often than not is is less, as my other half likes a cup too. I guess if like you I was roasting a lot then it might make sense, but for the likes of me it seems a lot of work and whether or not my taste buds could tell the difference between vacuum sealing and just freezing for a couple of weeks is debateable.

dutchy101

So I’ve picked up a vacuum packing set of bags and pump and I am about to dip my toe into the world of vacuum packing. (I also have about 2kgs of beans in the freezer).

I have a couple of questions for those who do this regularly if you don’t mind.

1 - I like to alternate my beans and use them in 250g batches each time (stored in an Airscape or Coffeevac container) I tend to get through 250g in about 10 - 12 days. At a rough guess, it might take me up to 3 months to finish the last of this latest kilo. Would it stay fresh vaccum sealed for this long?

2 - Is vacuum packing and then freezing a bad idea / pointless exercise if the beans won’t stay fresh for 3 months?

3 - How do people store the beans once vacuum packed? Dark cool place?

4 - (Perhaps the most stupid question) the bags that came with my vaccum packing set are of various sizes. The smallest fits 250g and there are 4 bags of this size, which is perfect for me. Presumably since the beans and bags will be vacuum packed, there’s no problem putting 250g in the larger bags - or should I look to get more of the smaller bags?

5 - Do you vacuum pack beans as soon as you receive them from the roaster, or do you let them rest first?

LMSC

dutchy101 - I like to alternate my beans and use them in 250g batches each time (stored in an Airscape or Coffeevac container) I tend to get through 250g in about 10 - 12 days. At a rough guess, it might take me up to 3 months to finish the last of this latest kilo. Would it stay fresh vaccum sealed for this long?

Max 3 months IMO. A KG of our decaf lasts for max 2 - 2.5 months for 2-3 of us. Once opened, it goes south very fast.

To address this, I vac 125g, put them 4 canisters for each opened bag. I have often 4 beans opened at a time; 2 standard bags in 2 × 4 canisters lasting 2 weeks at least; 1 × 125g of decaf opened from vac and frozen for daily use lasting a week at least; 1 × 125g of standard beans for filter lasting 1.5 weeks.

dutchy101 How do people store the beans once vacuum packed? Dark cool place?

In a garage cup board, which we don’t open daily.

dutchy101 should I look to get more of the smaller bags?

I get this

https://www.luvele.co.uk/products/luvele-vacuum-bag-roll-22cm-by-12m

dutchy101 - Do you vacuum pack beans as soon as you receive them from the roaster, or do you let them rest first?

I rest them for 3 or 4 weeks depending on the beans. Decaf is longer.

Amberale

dutchy101
I roast my own and only do about 400g green/340g roasted and that lasts me about a week.
So I vacpac and leave for a week and then use.
Some beans, eg yemeni, need a bit longer ageing.

In your circumstance I would pack into 250g lots when I get them and then pop three of the bags in the freezer.

dutchy101

Thanks LMSC

This is what I’ve bought, which is different to having a sealer system, so I am a little more compromised by the size of the bags I have with the set. I might buy another set of bags, so I’ll have 8 of the smaller size.

Wondering whether I should consider smaller containers than what I’m using - which will easily hold 500g of beans in each.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/vacuum-bag-sealer-and-bag/p/000000658501500?utm_source=awin&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=259955-Genie+Shopping+CSS&awc=19523_1663840496_47465650339e49f9db38fcd21d29eacf

Cuprajake

its always interested me this, very tempted,

how much was the sealer from lidl?

LMSC

Cuprajake 20 quids.

Has it come back in stock ?

https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/kitchen-kits/silvercrest-vacuum-sealer/p54623

dutchy101

So just cracked it all open and had a go. The smallest bags, which do hold 250g are probably a little too small to hold 250g and work properly with the vacuum pump, so I’ve split 500g between 3 of the smallest bags and put 250g each in bigger bags. I’m going to freeze the 2 × 250g bags and one of the smaller bags and keep the other 2 smaller bags in the cupboard where I keep my coffee. Looking forward to seeing the results.

Will pick up another pack or 2 of bags as well.

Doram

dutchy101 So just cracked it all open and had a go. The smallest bags, which do hold 250g are probably a little too small to hold 250g and work properly with the vacuum pump, so I’ve split 500g between 3 of the smallest bags and put 250g each in bigger bags. I’m going to freeze the 2 × 250g bags and one of the smaller bags and keep the other 2 smaller bags in the cupboard where I keep my coffee. Looking forward to seeing the results.

Will pick up another pack or 2 of bags as well.

If it’s a standard vacuum sealer, you can get bags in rolls. They have a set width of course, but you can cut them to the desired length and seal both ends to a custom size.

From my experience, vaccum bags + freezer (defrost in the bag before opening) gives excellent results and the coffee can be kept for a really long time (months and longer). I read somewhere that someone did an experiment and found that deterioration in 90 days in the freezer equals 1 day at room temp. Not sure how accurate this is, but I had coffee that was vacuum frozen for 9 months and it flowed and tasted like fresh to me (much better than 4 weeks old coffee that wasn’t frozen).

I may be wrong on this, but common sense is to rest the beans to the begining of their peak and then freeze them. This way they are ready to go when you want them.

Cuprajake

oh, not sure,

just sent the mrs out for one

LMSC

Cuprajake Not sure! We already have one. Won’t be checking! Hope she finds one as it gets sold off quickly.

dutchy101

Doram

Thanks - my kit is a hand held pump and bags with valves - so a little different to the sealing kits others have. It seemed to do the job well. The beans I’ve just vacuum packed were roasted on 14th September, so just over a week ago. I will definitely leave to defrost in the bag before opening - I do this with the bags I freeze already, although these are standard coffee bags, which I squeeze out as much of the air as possible from and then cover up the valve with sellotape before freezing. To be honest - this method has always seemed to keep the coffee fresh, but I am sure the vaccuming will take it all up a notch.

prezes

I am keeping my vacuum packed parcels in the freezer although some say it’s not necessary and could sit in a cook cupboard etc.

started packing into around 80g bags as it’s roughly our daily use. So just remove next days supply in the evening and pop it into a vacuum container and next day split into dosed vials.

Cuprajake

So not in stock. Just been to Aldi

Can anyone recommend one from Amazon?

LMSC

Cuprajake I got this as new for about £27-28 I think months ago. Please scroll down, you can a find a used (minor scratches, …) from Amazon Warehouse for £30.

Bonsenkitchen Vacuum Sealer with Built-in Cutter & Roll Bag Storage, Lightweight for Dry and Moist Food Fresh Preservation, Vacuum Roll Bags & Hose Included, VS3802 (White) https://amzn.eu/d/5yIC1UM

coffeealex

Meldrew Good find. The zwilling looks good. Pump a bit pricey. You would have to look at it as a reusable investment

LMSC

I am reviving this thread again.

I happily vacpac! It serves well. A bag of 125g lasts a week as I always have 2 different bags for me, one for my wife and another one, if we have quests.

The problem is I start seeing it going south within a couple of days. I don’t freeze anymore as it is often produces turbo shot. Freezer space is a premium.

Has anyone tried storing the beans in a cupboard as is - plastic or paper bag delivered ? This would be after getting all the air out, seal the one-way valve and throw the bags in the cupboard. How long does it last?

I only buy 250g bags.

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