Does storing ground coffee in a freezer make it stay fresh longer? If so, how long will it remain fresh?
-
Related: How long can I store ground coffee in the fridge?– hardmathCommented Jan 28, 2015 at 5:30
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
No. In fact it's likely to make your coffee taste bad, and gum up your grinder. You should store your coffee in an air-tight container, at or just below room temp (about 25 degrees Celsius).
Coffee can and will absorb all kinds of odors, and while your freezer probably doesn't smell like much, there are odors that will (at the minimum) dull the taste of the coffee. Additionally, when you take your coffee out to room temp, condensation kicks in which further degrades the beans and messes up your grind. Depending on your climate, the condensation can also invite mold. Yuck!
The only time you should be freezing or refrigerating coffee is when you're doing so because you've created a desert with some :) Otherwise, dark air-tight containers are the best way to go, just store them in your cabinet.
A good rule of thumb: Store anything you buy the way it was when you bought it, unless the label tells you to do something different once you open it.
-
3While I agree with most of your answer, I have heard of people claiming limited return on storing vacuum sealed beans in deep freeze. Among other caveats, the beans are recommend to be thawed naturally before being used and the freeze / thaw cycle is not recommended to be repeated. Commented Jan 28, 2015 at 18:23
-
@ChrisinAK That could be, as a deep freeze is much colder and faster. And, theoretically, there's less humidity in a vac-pac that beans packed in the air they were roasted in, hence less condensation. I'd just (as you said) thaw naturally, and consume quickly after doing so. It'd be worth some experimenting. A conventional freezer? Nah.– user101Commented Feb 12, 2015 at 16:31
-
Deep freeze chest freezers are very common where I live. Because a moose will not fit in a conventional freezer. Commented Feb 12, 2015 at 16:44
-
+ 1: As a reference; a fresh coffee distributor recommends not storing in the fridge as it will cause condensation to form: support.pactcoffee.com/hc/en-us/articles/… Commented Feb 25, 2016 at 12:03
Freezing coffee is fantastic, but only if you do it correctly, and if it's not going to be consumed within the first 2-3 months after the roast date. It's surprising how much fragrance and flavor is kept when done correctly even after sever months past roast. If you freeze coffee, make sure it's as air tight as possible. Ideally you would want to vacuum seal individual packets of coffee, so that the rest of the coffee isn't disturbed once opened. After the coffee has defrosted in the slightest though, it can not be refrozen.
Here is in interesting article from Home-Barista about doing blind tasting of frozen coffee versus fresh: Coffee: To Freeze or Not to Freeze
