How to freeze dry coffee at home?
In this short article, we will provide an answer to the question “how to freeze dry coffee at home?”, the industrial freeze-drying process and will also discuss how spray drying is different from freeze-drying.
How to freeze dry coffee at home?
Coffee cannot be freeze fried at home as it is a technical process performed by industries.
This is referred to as the Freeze-Drying Process
- The process of freeze-drying coffee is an important stage in the production of instant coffee. After the coffee beans have been roasted and ground, they are dissolved in hot water to make coffee. A highly concentrated liquid is produced as a consequence of this technique, which removes the flavor, aroma, and color of coffee from the grounds.
- The solid soluble coffee is dried after it has been filtered from the coffee extract. The liquor is frozen to a temperature of about -40°C to form a thin covering, which is subsequently broken into tiny pieces after freezing. They are then placed in either a batch or continuous freeze-dryer to dry them further. When the capacity is modest (typically between 50 and 7,000 kg of powder per day), a batch technique is used; when the capacity is large (typically more than 7,000 kilograms per day), a continuous process is used. This method is more difficult, takes longer, and cannot produce the large amounts needed by the coffee industry’s behemoths. It is not recommended for beginners. Spray drying, for example, is divided into three steps rather than a single process.
- Brew coffee freezes when it is exposed to subzero temperatures. Umeko, our Head of Coffee, prepares the freshly roasted coffee using a Sudden-exclusive technique that is only available at Sudden. As a result, the product freezes at temperatures lower than zero degrees Fahrenheit, and the freeze-drying apparatus creates a vacuum to decrease pressure in the product.
- A small quantity of heat is used during the “primary drying phase.” To sublimate the water in the frozen coffee while maintaining a temperature of fewer than zero degrees, a little amount of heat is applied to the coffee. In essence, ice moves directly from the frozen to the gaseous state, skipping over the liquid phase entirely and leaving behind only dry coffee crystals as a byproduct of the process.
- A little increase in temperature is implemented. An insignificant amount of extra heat is used during this “secondary drying process” to transform any remaining water molecules into gas. In this environment, the remaining coffee crystals are dehydrated, and temperatures are hovering around 0 degrees.
For a variety of reasons, this technique produces instant coffee of better quality than other methods.
At a lower temperature, the aromas are better preserved. Because of the high heat, the aromatic chemicals are allowed to remain within the coffee crystals rather than being vaporized. This results in better flavor.
The chemical composition is preserved due to the reduced temperature. Without the use of heat, acids may remain acids, sugars can remain sugars, and the complexity of a good coffee can be preserved.
What’s the spray-dried instant coffee, and why should you care?
Instant coffee is most often prepared in this manner, and it is the most popular technique.
Through the use of this method, coffee beans are brewed and reduced to a thick concentrate. In the next step, the solution is misted in a chamber filled with hot air that is spinning at high speed (400-500 degrees F). Upon rapid evaporation of the water from the concentrate, clumps of coffee are formed on the floor, which may be difficult to remove.
Using big, high-capacity equipment, this is a rather fast process that may be completed in a short time. It’s simple to understand why big coffee companies prefer this technique over freeze-drying when it comes to coffee beans.
There is, however, a major drawback
The flavor of the coffee concentrate is lost when such a high level of heat is applied to the concentrate. Coffee odors vanish when the chemical structure of the coffee changes, resulting in a change in the flavor.
This method causes a substantial reduction in flavor, and as a result, the vast majority of companies that employ it must extract aromas from other pre-ground coffee and include them in the instant coffee container. Even though the fragrances you smell upon opening an instant coffee packet come from the coffee itself, they were added to the bag by a chemical process that causes them to evaporate rapidly when exposed to air.
Other FAQs about Coffee that you may be interested in.
How long can vacuum-sealed coffee last?
Can you put espresso in a coffee maker?
Can you put hot coffee in the fridge?
Conclusion
In this short article, we provided an answer to the question “how to freeze dry coffee at home?”, the industrial freeze-drying process, and also discussed how spray drying is different from freeze-drying.
