Coffee, do you store it?

Was thinking about this thread this morning , so btt....

And yes, it's here in plenty. Don't want to live without it...

 

Well, since I'm still sort a newbie here, this is the first time I've read this thread. Lot's of good information, thanks to all who have posted here.

I read that once roasted, coffee beans emit gas that requires venting to prevent the vacuum bag from eventually inflating and possibly rupturing. I read that green coffee beans do not have this problem, and they also have a much longer shelf life.

This doesn't make sense to me. I've seen bricks of coffee that are hard as a rock. If they were emitting gas, the bricks wouldn't stay hard for long, would they? Also, plastic and metal cans are not vented.

I would rather stockpile ground coffee if possible, in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. What kind of shelf life could I expect?

 

Here's a bump to this thread.

Back then, I don't they had invented unroasted/green coffee beans yet a prepper larder for long-term storage.

Thanks to JABECmfg for the link in this morning's Shoutbox: http://www.sweetmarias.com/index.php

I think I'm going to order their 4lb sampler pack and see what I like. When I find the bean type I prefer, I'll buy more in bulk. There are many other vendors out there.

 

No problem CATO , glad I could contribute.

www.happymugcoffee.com looks good too, they sell both green and roasted beans. Wide selection of both, and flat rate shipping costs. Only $3 to ship roasted beans!

For storing coffee, do green or roasted beans keep better? It's generally agreed that fresh roasted coffee tastes best, but do you lose anything by storing the fresh beans for an extended period of time before roasting them?

 

Of what I have read recently, green coffee beans will store for much longer than roasted beans. This month's issue of Backwood's Home goes into this. But, there's a bunch of other info on the 'Net about it.

 

Good stuff to know, thanks!

A quick search on the net yields various roasting equipment, ranging in price from under $100 to several thousand $. My buddy who told me about Sweet Maria's uses a popcorn popper, says it works just fine.

Looks like there are several methods for roasting, any suggestions on where to start?

 

Dave Duffy, the publisher of Backwood's Home just uses a cast-iron skillet. This takes more skill though. The popcorn popper seems to get everything more even from what I've read.

On the other hand, if I'm using green coffee beans...that means we probably don't have electricity anymore or I'm camping. So, having the skill with the skillet would be more pragmatic. Otherwise, I get my coffee out of a bag ground at the store. I just don't have the time.

One possibility is to roast on weekend mornings and use throughout the week. Lehman's has this grinder that you could store your grounds in the fridge during the week in a Mason jar.

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitchen___Coffee___Canning_Jar_Coffee_Grinders___1140815#11408151237120

 

Good post info on the roasting & coffee.
Here's our manual grinder, Spong # 1 size .Bought in the 70's , still works without any problems.
You can adjust the grind from fine to course.



Sloth

 

Sweet grinders!

A little online research lead me to this - it's a rotisserie type roaster for use with a BBQ grill. Apparently it's nothing new, and can be used for things other than coffee. Looks like a lot of fun, I might have to try this.



Found the above for sale on ebay, here's the link - http://stores.ebay.com/Metal-Craftsman?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

Also found this site - www.homeroaster.com - has assorted info, including how to build your own roasters.

 

Here's an informative post over at TSP

Home roasting coffee beans = success!

 

Hey, that's me!

I looked into home roasting when I heard green beans store for many years. We are roasting small batches for family and friends every week along with our own batch. The Whirly pop on a propane camp stove works great.

My wife made espresso brownies for a potluck at an office party. Big hit.

You can buy quality green beans from 1 - 20 lbs bags for $5 - $9 lb. ours was 8 lbs for $39.

 

Pics? Links?

Just this week I received an 8 lb package in the mail (8 flavors, 1 lb each) of green coffee beans. I hope to be experimenting tomorrow...

 

Did you check out the link at TSP--there are some pics there.

 

Yeah . . . I didn't want to blow your cover for not sharing over here.

 

Roger that, I'll dig deeper tomorrow. Figured I'd try the skillet method just or the heck of it, ala suggestions from earlier in this thread.

And you're right, there is a lot of good info out there... just earlier today, I saw an OP that listed 49 good prepper sites - lots of good stuff included - but for some reason, I tend to trust the advice I find here in the monkey tree, more than anywhere else...

 

I like that roaster NWPilgrim used. I was thinking of getting a popcorn popper, but now, I think I'll get one of those.

 

Let me know how it works for ya, I'll do the same. This should be fun!

 

I am roasting to just start if second cracking. First cracking starts in about 4-5 mins. Sounds like popcorn. Finishes most of the popping after about 1.5 mins, brief lull and then around 6-7.5 minutes you hear a much quieter second cracking which is described mire like paper rustling than popping. I roast to just as second cracking starts and this gives a medium roast with just a few darker beans.

 

Digging deeper (reading past the first post) in the TSP link, I found the pics and a ton of other good stuff. @NWPilgrim - awesome info!

I was able to try my hand at roasting on the skillet today, on the stove top. First batch seemed to be roasting very slowly, so I was progressively turning up the heat until it was almost all the way cranked. I'm drinking a cup of that batch right now, and it turned out OK. Didn't pay much attention to the time, though, as I was more concerned with not screwing it up.

For the second batch, the skillet was already hot and the beans began cracking around the 5 minute mark, just as described above. However, unlike the results posted above, I found that they were still cracking at the 15 minute mark - and it sounded as if they could have kept going for a while - but for the most part, they were pretty dark by that point. (Already had 2 cups of that batch, very tasty!) I suspect that the reason they kept cracking for so long is because using a skillet and a whisk, some beans probably heated faster than others. Sounds like I need to try the whirly popper...

Here's the skillet in action, and the 2 batches cooling outside. 1st batch (Indian) on the left, 2nd batch (Sumatran) on the right.




This was approx 7 hours ago, and I'm still noticing an interesting side effect - when I smoked a cigarette, the smoke tasted like the roasting coffee smelled. I thought maybe it was from having my smokes in my pocket while roasting, so I opened another pack about 10 minutes ago, but I still got the same effect - which, since I love coffee, isn't all that bad, just a little weird...

Roasting coffee for the first time was surprisingly fun, and using the skillet makes it easy to get started. Can't wait to continue this experiment, I'll post back with anything worthwhile.