Storing coffee...

A few years ago I came across a storage container for roasted coffee that was being sold by Sweet Maria's in Oakland, CA. It's a stainless steel can with a a plastic seal and an additional plastic lid. It is designed and made by Planetary Design Products in Bonner, MT.

The AirScape storage can is used for any food storage purpose but was originally conceived for storing coffee. It has a valve in the handle plus a seal around the body that acts like a one-way valve. The handle rotates 1/4 turn to allow air to escape as I push the inner seal in place, then I rotate the handle back to the flat position and it blocks air from getting to the beans. I reverse the process to get access to the coffee. The drawing below shows you how it works-

 

The principal is to minimize the oxidation of the bean oils when air has access to the bean surface. It's on the bean surface that the oil collects as beans rest. The oil leaches out of the wall of the bean after it has roasted... all very much natural to the roasting process. The darker the roast, the greater the presence of oil on the surface, so dark roasted coffee (that's what I do!) is particularly vulnerable.

The design has evolved over the years and now is also offered in ceramic as well as the original stainless version (below). With either container the concept is the same- a vented lid that can be closed to keep air from circulating around the beans (or food or ???).

So that's what I have used successfully for a few years now. Previously I left the beans in the bag which has a one-way valve, but they get pretty abused by the time the coffee is gone. The AirScape container serves the same purpose but is rugged and doesn't look as ugly as a tired, half-empty bag. 

And it's Admiral approved.