Storing Green Beans.

Brett_H

Divey wrote:

Can you buy new ones that are different sizes. :question: I'm guessing I should do some googling. 😉

A quck search revealed: http://ministrygrounds.com.au/other-products/ http://www.beangreen.com.au/product-list.php?Accessories-pg1-cid35.html

Divey

Fairdinkum, how good are you blokes and gals. :coffee2: I reckon a whole bunch of those 150 grams jobbies will be on the order list real soon.

shape_shifter

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: I'll forgive you because you are new Divey :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: I'm the queen of popper roasting!!! The problem is more that I was buying from CS and when they only sell in 2.5kg bags you end up with a lot. I'm getting through them slowly.

Divey wrote:

Where do you get them. :question: My God! How come you have that much green beans and you don't roast them. Get into it, it's no Rocket Science stuff. Breville Crazu popper, can of salmon with both the top and bottom removed and your in business. 😉

Divey

Hmmmm, I think this discussion has taken a bit of a side step. :-\ Head me in the right direction.

UNM

Best to store them in your roaster until done, then brew and drink. :coffee2: I keep mine in the bags they came in (either cs canvas, or ziploc mylar), in a dark place, even temp. Don't lose sleep over details. Logic suggests: Cool, but above freezing. Even temp, rather than varying. Humidity as close to bean moisture content as possible to prevent any changes there. Dark to prevent damage from u.v. Or I.r. I have no real world experience to back this up, just an educated guess. Maybe someone else will add their thoughts.

coffeehorse

My feeling is that the one way valve bags aren't great for damper coffee, but are perfect for roasted coffee. traditional ziplock bags I use for amounts <2kg, while I'm still looking for a good solution for larger amounts. Possibly a cotton bag with a one-way valve bag outside it. Either way, I'd store them somewhere dark, cool and stable - in this case I use a chinese 'buffet' type cabinet. best, CH

Bottom_Line

coffeehorse wrote:

Possibly a cotton bag with a one-way valve bag outside it.

???? I am sure cotton breaths and the one way would be useless. What about GrainPro bags? Be nice if they came in smaller sizes.

mycuppa

I wish all green beans would arrive in grainpro or vac-pac packaging. Some of my greens arrives this way and I can tell you they are insanely fresh compared to the jute bag coffees. When you open the bag, it's sensational. There is a very detailed article in Roast Magazine from a few years ago (I think about 2008) that went through highly scientific, controlled tests over time to actually measure green bean state using the common packaging materials. From a hazy memory, it showed grainpro did assist in preserving green character and integrity. Grainpro and Vac-pac have a dual purpose. Not only do they help "lock-in" I think the original intent was to prevent absorption of other odours and pollutants from the environment during storage and transit. The Co-ops, export warehouses, ports, etc. all have things like diesel fumes and other particles in the air that can make their way through the open weave jute.

coffeehorse

mycuppa wrote:

I wish all green beans would arrive in grainpro or vac-pac packaging. Some of my greens arrives this way and I can tell you they are insanely fresh compared to the jute bag coffees. When you open the bag, it's sensational.

Totally agree with this! Look at a picture of a green coffee in a jute bag on day of receipt vs day 366, and you'll see the colour has turned distinctly yellower in most if not all cases, a sure sign of moisture loss.

Grainpro and Vac-pac have a dual purpose. Not only do they help "lock-in" I think the original intent was to prevent absorption of other odours and pollutants from the environment during storage and transit. The Co-ops, export warehouses, ports, etc. all have things like diesel fumes and other particles in the air that can make their way through the open weave jute.

Bottom Line - why useless? Jeff is entirely right that the double-bagging (and gas barrier technologies) are designed to provide a lock-in/lock-out solution. I have seen a couple of wet-hulled parchment coffees which have been supplied as 'cotton-inside-grainpro' bags, presumably to deal with issues deriving from moisture content.

Divey

I wonder if it's a breath-ability issue. Do you think that if they lock up the beans with their residual moisture might have a detrimental effect on the green beans. :-\

mycuppa

Divey wrote:

I wonder if it's a breath-ability issue. Do you think that if they lock up the beans with their residual moisture might have a detrimental effect on the green beans. :-\

I have a tendency to agree. Particularly about mold and bags of coffee needing to breathe We have to remember that the bags may sometimes travel through multiple transitions of climate. Hot, cold, wet, dry, hot, cold, etc. All this change results in havoc for moisture levels, etc. When I speak to brokers, it's always about how grainpro adds up to $0.50 a kilo to the price of coffee. This seems a bit on the high side to me, but it seems to be the common excuse why grainpro bags are not used for often. The other factor is that most origins are very basic in their infrastructure, so more complex bagging is unavailable. Some parts of Africa are very poor and cannot even get hold of new jute bags, having to reuse corn and other product bags. I think storing green beans in a product that allows some level of breathing whilst at the same time can offer some basic filtering of airborne particles, etc. is likely to be more than sufficient. As my roastery is in a commercial area, there are many panel beaters around, so I'm ultra careful to keep my pallets sealed at all times and any open pallets have pvc tarps over them as we all know 2-pac can travel great distances.

Koffee_Kosmo

Although all the above posts are relevant in a broader sense I think we are getting a litle off topic, as the original poster just wanted to know about storage of a few kg at home Cotton or Mylar bags are fine for home use Stored in a cool dry place KK

Divey

Yes, I agree with KK, we've gone a little off topic, including myself. 🙂 It looks as though we need another thread on International packaging of Green Coffee Beans which is akin to flogging a dead horse IMO. What can be wrong with sealing these little gems in a ....... Sunbeam Food Saver (SFS) for example. :question: I am simply asking this question as I do have a SFS. What detrimental effects could be caused to the beans by applying a vacuum and eliminating oxygen. :question:

Muscles

Many months ago I vaccuum sealed all of the greens I had on hand at the time, I opened a few of the bags last weekend and couldn't help but notice that the smell of the greens was a lot stronger than any of the beans I currently have stored in one-way valve bags. I am convinced there is a benefit re preservation of the greens from vaccuum sealed storage. Are there any adverse affects that I should be considering before I seal up the rest of my acquired stash? I mean I have enough green on hand to last me a year so I obviously want to preserve the greens in their "just bought" state for long as possible...

Divey

I think you have convinced me Muscles, I will pack some up and vacuum and see what the difference is. 🙂

mycuppa

I'd be a bit careful about what materials you place the beans into - especially plastics. Beans can sweat via rapid temp up & down conditions, etc. Grainpro undertook literally 1000's of hours of R&D and then years of controlled testing to develop their product. If you are going to use a material, something with foil laminates like those found in coffee bags may be best. You can also buy the coffee bags without valves - so that might be an option. We have a bean that we use over 2 ton a month that arrives in a Poly bag that is not grainpro and quite recently we undertook some additional research at the potential affects of the liner on the bean. Accurate moisture and density meters are something that can record the technical characteristics of the bean over time. I have 200+ kg of a bean that is 3 year old in our greens area and I roast it every 3 or 4 weeks - it's still superb and unmatched. My take on it.......don't go overboard folks.......greens will emit aromas and vac sealing helps concentrate these aromas.

Divey

But, would you not agree that the sealing of beans in food grade vacuum bags is preventing the aromas from escaping. After all, how long can green beans emit aromas before there is no aroma left to emit. :question: :question: We all know the story of dog poo don't we. Given time........ there is no aroma. 🙂

Muscles

I am using commercial food grade plastic rolls designed for extreme temps ie freezer and cooking sous vide, cook-chill etc not just the cheapest around town so I am not so worried about contaminants but I hear ya Jeff re the research done already. Could the strong aroma be due the vacuum seal process itself? Also of note, I have compared the same bean type stored in a) vac sealed bags and b) cloth bags and can say there is a difference with more than just the aroma. Vac sealed beans took less time to roast for same mass and tasted stronger too on top of being more aromatic. Of course I don't have a laboratory to verify my claims but I can say I won't use cloth bags for my greens as most will be in storage for a while given the qty I buy of one bean and the stock I hold.

shape_shifter

Here is how I store my green beans 😃 Fish tank was cleaned and moved so it's settling... [attachimg=1]

Koffee_Kosmo

I see green beans from all over the country :thumb: And more than my current stash I use a bar fridge (unplugged) for my bean storage at present Beans contained in cotton or Mylar bags KK