[Jspence1]

How do you store your ground coffee? I just keep mine on the counter top, but I've heard you should keep them in the fridge or freezer.

[Austin]

Freezer. Ground or whole I keep it in the freezer.

[bigmike787]

I grind for each particular use, so I don't store ground coffee. My weekly beans are kept in an air tight container in the pantry. I rarely have enough roasted coffee on hand to require freezing, but I've done it before. Just make sure that you're able to keep moisture out of the container.

[Jspence1]

Thanks, This might be another use for my food saver.

[homeslice]

I use a resealable sandwich bag and bleed the air out. Easy and cheap.
Then again, I use them with two days grinded.

[Stryker777]

I have one of those food saver containers I like to use. I look forward to roasting my own and storing in them!

[Vlas]

why do some stores, like Whole Foods, keep them in huge open air bins?

[bigmike787]

Vlas, they either don't know about oxidation of the oils or don't care. It's been many, many years since I've bought coffee from those bins. How do you know that the Ethiopian beans in that bin are indeed Ethiopian? The high school kid who's got a wicked hangover on Sunday morning might have filled them all up with the same Colombian coffee and you would never know.

[Vlas]

Exactly, and the few that I've seen have been from "reputable" places.

[MyCoffeePro]

Originally Posted by Austin

Freezer. Ground or whole I keep it in the freezer.

The only time you should keep beans/grounds in a fridge or freezer is if they are in a proper, un-opened, vacuum-packed coffee bag or a completely air-tight sealed container. Coffee (especially ground) is similar to baking soda in that it readily absorbs the flavors and odors around it.

Often when coffee is stored in a fridge or freezer even properly, the coffee can go stale faster because the act of removing then restoring the beans/grounds (cold to room temp and back to cold) will cause expansion and contraction and fluctuate the humidity levels of the container. Therefore the only time I suggest you store coffee this way is when you'll be using the entire contents at a point in the future and you'll be permanently removing it from the fridge/freezer to a counter-top container for complete consumption within 1 to 2 weeks.

Your best option is to grind the beans as needed and store in an air-tight container in room temperature, out of direct sunlight (same for whole beans storage).
Coffee is very sensitive to light, temperature and humidity.