Many of us probably remember our grandparents keeping coffee in the freezer. And because of this our parents kept it in the freezer and nowadays we keep it in the freezer. But is it best to keep in the freezer or should you be storing your open packages of ground coffee or coffee beans in a container, or simply just in the packaging?
You definitely don’t want to be keeping your coffee in the freezer, unless you are storing it for the long-term and will not be opening it daily or even weekly basis. Opening and closing a package stored in the freezer will cause the coffee to actually change and your coffee beans will lose the oils that are present on the surface, and it is those oils that give coffee its unique flavor and scent.
Instead, the ideal way to store coffee is in one of those canisters that seal tightly. The best canister is one that is not clear, you want one that is opaque or darker colour, so the light doesn’t affect the beans if you are storing the beans outside of any other packaging. Then you want to keep that canister in your dark Pantry, don’t leave it sitting out on the counter where the light and possibly sunlight could be hitting it.
If you don’t have a canister, You can kind of make your own by using the original coffee packaging and a ziplock bag. Leave the coffee in the original packaging, and if it does not have a resealable feature on the coffee bag, use a rubber band to tightly seal it. Then put this bag into a regular Ziploc bag, squeezing the air out. And again, you want to store this in your pantry.
For storing coffee you are not using right now, it can be kept in the freezer for up to a month without losing any flavor, as long as you are not taking the packaging in and out of the freezer or opening it. For best results, you want to vacuum seal your beans first.
