container for ground coffee
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Hi,
I want to make a nice container from wood to hold my ground coffee instead of using tupper ware. In the past, they had wood coffee grinders, but this will just be a box more or less. My question is, is there a better wood to use, or woods to stay away from? Woods I have easy access to are Purple Heart (which I hate using because it is so dang hard) pine, cedar, teak. Other woods I can get but not so easily would be Maple, Walnut, or other similar woods from Rockler.
I don’t want to finish the inside. So I wonder about Cedar because of the strong but plesant smell. I’m still learning about woods with lots of oil, so help there also.
Thank you in advance.
Unless you enjoy the aroma of cedar infused coffee I shy away from aromatic woods. The tea boxes I am familiar with are made of bamboo. Makes sense. What would make sense for coffee? Maybe olive?
Anything with a scent will tranfer. I might be tempted to consider making a wood box to be used as a cover for you container. tupperware or whatever plastic you are using would protect the flavour of the coffee.
Ontario, Canada
Thanks @mxbroome1 and @brianj for the info.
I’ll definitely stay away from aromatic woods. I looked on line and found lots of pictures, but no mention of the wood used. Looked like maybe pine or oak on some, but that’s really hard to say. I did forget to mention Oak is available here too. I think I will try that first. If it doesn’t work as I hope, then it becomes another catch all box. I will also see about finding some Olive wood too.
Pine and oak are good choices, and they have a long tradition in the making of food vessels. And they are quite neutral, so the coffee can add its smell to the wood instead of vice versa.
I would consider using animal hide glue instead of PVA, because it is closer to foodstuff (actually, it is digestable). Similar thoughts about any kind of finish.
Have fun with your box! I think, wood and coffee are going together very well.
Dieter
If you don’t have a local lumber dealer… you should be able to find a larger selection and lower prices online. Google or eBay should work. Oak, maple or cherry should all work well.
Hi @rickgugg
That is how I get most of my good woods, on-line. I live in Colombia and getting wood here is difficult at best. You would think with southern Colombia being in the rain forest, they would have all kinds of great woods available here, but not the case. It may be avaiable in other parts of Colombia, but no the north like in Cartagena. The Yellow pages or internet searches here aren’t like in the states or else where. Very difficult to find outlets. I mostly use Rockler in the states, but shipping is a real killer, so I usually wait until someone is coming down here with little luggage, which oddly enough happens a lot.
Thanks @hugonotti for your input. Think I’ll go oak first.
I would use pine and put a clear water base urethane finish on the outside and leave the inside unfinished. Personally I would not use animal hide glue.
why not make the wooden box and put the plastic container inside it. The wood look with the airtightness of a plastic container?
Mostly for the self satisfaction of making a wood only coffee grounds container. When I started studying Paul’s lessons, I couldn’t cut a straight line with a hand saw, all my cuts looked like a melting C. But in a little over a year I have learned to make straight cuts, and clean dovetails. Along with that, I can now make an air tight box with perfect seams. I’m kind of proud of that. Besides, I’m lazy. If I had to open two containers, I probably wouldn’t make much coffee.
Gary
Correct, wanted to get rid of the ugly plastic. Using it for an insert could work, but I can make a tight box now. On the inside of the lid, I insert a 1/8 sleeve that catches the lower box and keeps the lid from moving even a fraction of an inch. It also makes it an air tight fit.
@5ivestring
The thing I would be careful about was flavor transfer between the coffee and wood especially if you change your brands , sealing with shellac { being natural } would probably cure this , I would try it with pine or oak first and go from there , coming from Australia , I’ve made a few with Silky Oak, Jarrah , and Pine each worked well , but with wood choice if you used anything you would use for cooking implements you should be fineHope this helps
GlennI think I’d be most concerned (beyond the flavor/odor transfer risk) about the coffee drying out in a wooden container–not exactly air tight and the oils within the coffee may begin to desiccate (depending on how fast you drink coffee once you have unsealed it and put it in your container).
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