I’ve been wondering if something sitting on top of the beans in the hopper (eg a bag of rice) would stop new oxygen reaching the beans as their level drops. Ideally, the hopper would be cylindrical and the object a simple disk, but mine is the usual conical shape. Or am I over-thinking this?
Still better than the hopper. In short yes you are over thinking it. It’s not a bad idea, but coffee bags do a pretty good job at keeping beans pretty fresh and brief opening for dosing shouldn’t ruin your beans. If you want to go to the next level, predosing in vials and keeping them in the freezer is the next step (doubt you’ll notice a difference though). I think vacuum packing is over rated and seems to suck some of the volatiles out rapidly and can actually flatten flavor profile a little. If you are fixated on the hopper solution and think that it’s well sealed enough that something on top of beans would make a difference I would just spray some argon on top.