CLEANUP: Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is accepting registrations for the 2019 Great American Cleanup of PA.
The annual cleanup will be held March 1 through May 31.
Signups can be done at gacofpa.org, and registered events are eligible for free cleanup supplies.
“During this period, registered events can get free trash bags, gloves, and safety vests donated by PennDOT, the Department of Environmental Protection, and Keep America Beautiful, as supplies last,” Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful stated in a release.
Additionally, from April 13 to May 6, the DEP and Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association are sponsoring a Program: Let’s Pick It Up PA–Everyday. With prior approval, trash collected during registered events may be disposed of free or at a reduced cost at participating landfills.
COLD BEANS: Want your coffee beans — particularly dark-roasted beans — to stay fresh-smelling? Store them in the freezer.
That’s what researchers at Penn State University recently determined.
It was a question that Andrew Cotter, a regular coffee drinker and a Penn State food science grad who is now pursuing graduate studies, wondered about, according to a press release from the university.
“Like many people, I really love a good cup of coffee in the morning,” said Cotter of his decision to research the topic. “With the rise in popularity of craft coffee, I wanted to do a project that will help coffee connoisseurs maintain the quality of coffee beans.”
Cotter, along with Helene Hopfer, Rasmussen Career Development professor in food science at Penn State, and Tiffany Murray, coordinator of the Penn State’s Sensory Evaluation Center, took on the task of finding the best way to preserve the aroma of fresh beans.
The two-part study included a chemical analysis of six bean samples of difference roasts, in which he studied the loss of aroma-giving molecules based on temperature, time and roast level.
Then, half the beans were stored in the freezer and half at room temperature for nine weeks. Participating coffee drinkers compared the smell of fresh coffee grounds to the grounds that had been frozen and the grounds that had been stored at room temperature.
Panelists noticed little difference between the fresh and frozen dark-roasted beans, but a noticeable difference between fresh and room-temperature dark-roasted beans.
When it came to light roasts, the panelists noticed little difference between all the samples, indicating they lost less aroma overall compared to darker roasts.
“In short, the analysis showed that freezing coffee beans, especially dark roast varieties, helps to maintain the intensity and pleasantness of coffee aroma,” said Cotter.
