One of our customers gave us a 7 lb. bag of Columbian coffee beans. It will take us FOREVER to use them up!! Can I freeze them and if so, how long can they be kept in the freezer?? Also, how many pounds of beans will grind down to one pound of coffee? Since I don't have a coffee grinder, I'm hoping that my blender will do the job. Any other suggestions for grinding? Thanks!

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

Answers

What a nice present! We go through a lot of coffee around here. When we've had surplus beans, we've kept them in the freezer (we keep the ones ready to use in the fridge). If you have them in something airtight (usually not the package they come in, but something like a Ball jar or freezer bag), you can probably keep them for a year, anyway.

We go through about a pound every two weeks.

I think your blender on "pulse" would probably work. Don't grind too fine. I'm not sure about the ratio of beans to ground beans. I guess I don't pay attention!

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

When I go the the Cities I always buy really good, really expensive coffee beans. I drink maybe a few cups a week. I freeze the beans whole and I have kept them for quite some time like that. One pound of beans will grind down to one pound of coffee grounds. I would freeze them whole and grind them as needed. Not too sure a blender will work unless you like a fairly course grind, but it might. Most super markets have grinders (the big industrial kind). I bet they might let you grind a pound at a time if you drink it often.

You have great customers!

Susan

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

My mother gets Kona coffee in the bean and keeps it in the freezer. When it needs grinding, she goes to one of the local stores and asks to use their grinder. She used to tell them that she was given the coffee as a present -- don't know if she does that anymore. I don't drink coffee, so I only know this stuff second hand.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

Getting these beans ground at a local store sounds like a plan! We have a little general store here in town (happens to be one of our customers, too!) so maybe I'll ask him about grinding. But first I'm going to try some in my blender...it has a "grind" setting. Thanks guys :-)!!

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

I have heard that freezing destroys the volatile oils in spices and coffee and that purists don't freeze it. I guess it depends on how much of a purist one is! Refrigerating too would slow down the coffee getting stale, one would think, with less damage to those volatiles -- if you've got refrigerator space, that is. Don't grind the beans in any event until you're going to use them, the whole ones keep better.

Do you have a vaccuum pack thingie? It would be interesting to try storing a pound or so in the vaccuum pack and see if that makes a difference.

I have a little $20 coffee grinder that does about enough for two cups of coffee at a time, put the beans in, press the lid down and it whizzes around and grinds the beans. You can do pulse grinding this way so that it doesn't get too fine. I'm wondering if one of those other little food choppers would work, since the business parts of the little Oster grinder look awfully similar. I actually keep mine for grinding up whole spices, cardamon specifically. Keeping cardamon is very similar to keeping coffee in many ways, and so is the grinding as you need it bit.

As Joy mentioned, my mom just takes her coffee beans in their original container in to the store when she shops, grinds them there, puts it back into the bag it came out of, puts that bag back into the plastic shopping bag she came in with, and continues on her shopping. No one has ever even questioned what she was doing, and since she is doing her regular shopping at the store, they don't seem to mind either, since she's spending money with them. I've taken it in for her a few times and done the same thing, and no one seemed to even notice, altho you could stop at the courtesy counter and tell them you were given it as a present and would it be okay to grind it while doing your shopping. I'd be willing to bet that your store wouldn't care either.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

I buy my beans in 40 pound bulk burlap bags and roast them as I need them for grinding.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

As a coffee "purist" I can tell you that freezing the beans works fine for me. We buy organic coffee from Chiaps "Indians", fresh roasted in Eugene Oregon by Royal Blue Organics. Ten pounds at a time, usually.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

Jay...if you store your beans in the burlap bags they came in where do you keep them? Somewhere dry and cool or dry and warm? My freezer space is somewhat limited right now!! And our beans are already roasted...will that make a difference?

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

Put the beans in something reasonably air tight and they'll keep indefinitely in the deep freeze. They'll keep best unground. We're drinking coffee that's been frozen for three years now and it still tastes just fine.

........Alan.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2002

Marcia,

I keep my coffee with my other dry stuff in the metal cabinet in my pantry to keep mice out of it. I take a couple scoops and roast them for about an hour, then grind it.

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002

A couple of families I know have hand grinders and grind their beans that way.

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002

Alison...do you mean the the type of grinder one would use to grind meat, etc? I have one of those!! I like that idea better than putting them in my blender. I use my blender constantly for making butter and I'd hate to ruin it by trying to grind beans. Great idea!!

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002

Marcia,

You actually need a finer grinder than a meat grinder. A good electric unit can be purchased for about $12 at Kmart, Wal Mart or Target.

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002

Someone gave me some beans once and I just smashed em with a hammer! (Finer blend just smash em more)! Ha Course up till a few years ago I just bought anything on sale then boiled it. Now I'm more a snob and buy Yuban and filter it. Also a pinch of cinnamin just cuz I like to feel uppity!......Kirk

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002

Kirk,

Was rht coffee "Hammer Hill's" or "Sledge Brothers" brand :>)

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002

"that" not "rht". I think my keyboard is getting dyslectic or needs cleaning. :>)

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002

Ya know, Kirk...my first thought as to how to "grind" these beans without a grinder was to put them in a large freezer bag, smash them a little with a hammer, then finish the job with my rolling pin (Yankee ingenuitity??)!! Good way to take out my frustrations :-)!! But come to find out, my MIL has a little electric grinder! So I gave her the whole bag of beans and told her to make herself useful...more or less!! She is thrilled to have something to do to "fill her days" and we get our coffee ground :-)!!! But I will be going to Walmart or Kmart to look for the $12 grinder that Jay mentioned!

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002

Ya know Marcia, a hammer is a beautiful thing!!!!.....Kirk

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002