Stu808 Senior Member Joined: 17 Jun 2012 Posts: 1 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed Jul 18, 2012, 7:43pm Subject: Volume of coffee beans and storage
Hiya all, I think this is my first post here.
I'm curious, does anybody know what the weight-to-volume of coffee beans are?Meaning how many litres of space does one kilogram of beans take up? I'm in the process of kitting out and I need some storage jars for the beans, but I'm not sure how big the jars need to be.
Also, screw top jars (glass) or wire retention with seal; like found on Stella Artois bottles?
I measured this once, with just one type of bean. Loosely packed I got 0.37 kg/L, but when I shook the beans I got 0.43 kg/L.
But this was just one type of bean. I have some coffee at the moment that is surprisingly dense. I always overestimate how much I need to get to a particular weight. My 1/4 cup (60ml) scoop that usually holds about 22 grams (loosely packed) registers around 26 grams with this coffee. On the other hand, dark roasts tend to be a lot less dense.
It wouldn't surprise me to find two coffees that varied in packing density by 50%. I see something not too far from this with the ground coffee (same grind size) that fits comfortably in my moka pot (50ml basket, very lightly pressed), with 16 grams at the low end and 22 grams at the high end.
But 0.4 kg/L is probably a good starting point for estimating.
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,679 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Fri Jul 20, 2012, 1:20pm Subject: Re: Volume of coffee beans and storage
Welcome. Feel free to use glass jars if you wish but they are not mandatory or even best. I use zip top plastic bags and store for up to a month in the freezer with no ill effects. Regardless of the container, only freeze in lots that you can use in a few days, only freeze and defrost one time for each bag/jar, ALWAYS let the beans thaw to room temp before opening the container to prevent moisture from forming on the beans.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
D4F Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2012 Posts: 1,192 Location: USA Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID Grinder: Preciso
Posted Fri Jul 20, 2012, 1:43pm Subject: Re: Volume of coffee beans and storage
I had the similar question when I was getting 5 lbs of roasted beans. I looked up density of coffee beans. It was somewhat variable, but around 0.4 is a useful number. I also note that I put about 5 lbs of beans in 13 - 14 "pound' containers by volume. Have about a 2.5+ expansion ready by volume.
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