At 12:04 AM 8/15/2000 -0500, you wrote:
<Snip>
I would think that it would cool faster witht he lid closed.  That way, it
is forcing air through the bean area.  
Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI
pgoelz at eaglequest dot com
Videoastronomy. electric helicopter and music web site:http://www.eaglequest.com/~pgoelz

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   aluminum pan because of what I've read is the right thing to 
   do, not because I know it is necessary.
I'm pretty sure that I found a difference in my FR-roasted beans after I
started throwing them into the freezer for a couple of minutes.
But I suppose the honest thing would be to do a taste test. Once I reach a
peaceful productivity with the Alp, maybe I'll try one.
KT

   >> When you were freezer cooling the beans, what difference  
      in taste could you tell versus allowing the beans to cool 
      on their own?
Caveat: All this subjective stuff is, well, subjective. My sense has been
right along that I was missing some intensity of coffee flavor in my
home-roasted beans when compared to well-roasted beans from a pro. 
Cooling in the freezer seemed to increase that intensity somewhat (or, more
accurately, to reduce that lack of intensity somewhat). If pressed to give
a percentage, I might have to confess to only 5 or 10 percent, but since I
was sensing a lack, every little bit seems to help.
You see, I have this fantasy coffee taste in my mind's palate. I can't
describe it very well, but do keep trying to reach it in real life...
Kathleen