And you thought i was out of black bars

  • Mac@mander.xyz
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    51 minutes ago

    Is anyone searching for the “best way” or are they picking the cheapest acceptable option?

  • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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    5 hours ago

    So many things would be better suited to the grocery store having large hoppers of the item that you fill your own containers with. Either the hopper counts out how much is fed through, or you sit the empty container beneath the hopper on a scale, zero it, and then fill and get the weight printed on a little sticker. We have this technology for jelly beans and coffee grounds, but apparently it’s far too advanced for anything else

    • saigot@lemmy.ca
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      6 minutes ago

      In canada we have a chain called bulk barn that does this. Grains, nuts, candy, dog food and spices.

    • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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      3 hours ago

      Here in the Germanies, we have these Unverpackt (“non-packaged”) shops which do this: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unverpacktladen
      Unfortunately, these are also mainly just a thing in larger cities.

      Although, here in town, we have like a weekly farmer’s market where a guy shows up with a truck that has a shopfront in the side, and you just hand him your containers, then he fills them up with what you want and weighs them. Always feels a bit like buying sweets at a fair, and not just because the guy also has sweets. 😅

      One time, a family was ahead of me and the mum had brought a glass jar for each child. And then the kids got to pick what sweets they wanted, like one scoop of jelly worms and one scoop of sour things and one scoop of …I don’t what sweets are called. That was also really fun. 🙃

      • TheBrideWoreCrimson@sopuli.xyz
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        1 hour ago

        I’ve seen one of these stores flounder and fail in a matter of a few years. I passed it by many times and I never saw anyone buy anything, or even enter there.
        Although I felt sorry for the people running it, I would have never bought any of the sort of stuff they had on display anyway, whether packaged or not. Except for chocolate, and I really prefer mine bar-shaped.

  • yuri@pawb.social
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    5 hours ago

    i have a roughly flour-bag-sized airtight storage container, and then i keep that ensemble in the freezer bc i was raised to believe that made a difference somehow

    • Cort@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      2-3 days in the freezer is recommended to kill weevil eggs, but not necessary for long term storage.

      • yuri@pawb.social
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        4 hours ago

        i’m jealous! i’m finally cooking more, but i’m hardly baking at all. gotta just try meat pies or something else simple.

  • infiniteCAD@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    6 hours ago

    im still troubled by the fact that in the west there is no way to go get flour by weight in whatever jar, box, bag u bring. pre-packaged is the only way it seems

    • titanicx@lemmy.zip
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      5 hours ago

      I have a grocery store near me called WinCo. They’re all over the western United states. You can walk into any of them and they have a bulk section and you can grab however much you need. You don’t typically bring your own container for that but I don’t believe it’s disallowed. There are other bulk stores around but typically most people don’t purchase them in bulk they usually just purchase a couple pounds at a time and that’s plenty to be able to last them as long as they need it.

    • Foreigner@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      Some organic stores in Europe have this option, but usually you have to use the paper bags they supply.

    • socsa@piefed.social
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      3 hours ago

      Can you imagine how much of a fucking mess people would make out of self serve bulk flour?

      • infiniteCAD@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        3 hours ago

        yea cause u are thinking of self serve. we have helpers and clerks that is also horrible that they have gotten rid of in west (from what i hear)

        blaming the customers is the wrong front

      • infiniteCAD@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        4 hours ago

        u can ofcourse find stores that have pre-packaged stuff, usually bigger or richer groceries stores. other places u can get the exact quantity you need in either a bag the shop offers or one u bring. bringing urs is better if possible for like jars and stuff so u dont have to then spill or deal with filling later.

        what i prefer is going to a flour mill directly and getting the exact milling i want of the flour. same goes for meat, spices/herbs, dairy, u get the best if u go to the shop of the farmer or butcher or miller directly. never lived in an (urban) place that didnt have them in like 10-15 minutes distance at most

      • RBWells@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        You can, though? There are cheap by the gallon water filter machines in grocery stores. Bring your barrel.

          • titanicx@lemmy.zip
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            5 hours ago

            Yeah I mean any of the Walmarts in my area any of the Smiths in my area which is owned by Kroger and I’ve been to many many states and I’d say a good half to three quarters of the grocery stores have a self-fill area to be able to fill up your water. And it’s much cheaper because of course you’re just picking up the water at that point you’re not paying for the container.

    • RBWells@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      It’s just the overly strong glue that bothers me. I want to be able to open the bag without ripping a hole in it. Like having a garment with thread stronger than the fabric, the fabric will tear.

    • Zizzy@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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      9 hours ago

      They spill everywhere and you cant reseal them leaving it possible for bugs to get in. But i have to agree theyre better than a plastic container

      • Kirp123@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        You can buy a container and dump them into that. There are a lot of options around, metal and ceramic.

      • Courtney (she/her/they) @lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        8 hours ago

        Open the flour over a trash can to catch that little bit of flour that always seems to be on top, try to keep the folding paper top together, but open one side like a milk carton.

        Open resealable container of your choice, I have large plastic bins that hold 10lbs of flour quite nicely. Big round container with handles and a lid.

        Dump flour into container, slow-ish so it doesn’t poof into the air

        Seal container, use dry paper towel, rag, or vacuum to clean the small amount that probably came off the paper top.

        I usually give the open top a flick with my finger over the trash can to dislodge as much as possible before going to the counter.

        I really can’t think of a better way to package it, other ways are either taking up more space than needed, or uses plastic/metal. Plastic is a non-starter for me, and metal would drastically increase price. It’s a cost-effective way of tansporting a cheap product. Just don’t get it wet lol

      • n0xy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 hours ago

        I usually leave them in the bags. But for sugar I put them into a different container. You can do the same with flour.

      • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        Fold, roll, and keep closed with some painters tape. If it’s needed daily, get a tub with a lid.

        It’s a bag of flour, you don’t pour from it, you scoop from it.

        • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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          6 hours ago

          I just fold it over twice and put a clothes peg on it.

          It’s more or less like a double seam, which is surprisingly effective at closing something off. Like, if you do that with a plastic bag, it’s close to airtight…

          • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
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            6 hours ago

            My wife likes to stack stuff, so with it folded and rolled correctly (it’s more or less just keep folding till it’s flat) it allows you to maximize some space. The flour is a once every couple weeks unless I’m on a bread binge. Tape keeps its closed for when shuffling stuff around.

      • ContriteErudite@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        I put new flour into a sealable container once I get home. A little bit usually gets onto the counter, but a damp rag can handle it. I found that the trick is to slowly move flour into the new container using a scoop until the bag is about a quarter empty. I used to just dump the bag, but that makes it spill more and is a harder to clean up after.

    • cRazi_man@europe.pub
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      8 hours ago

      Entirely paper packaging. I would argue this really is optimal packaging. I’ve got an air tight glass jar that I decant to.

  • mkwt@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    Used to be fabric bags. Then in the depression the flour companies realized their customers were making clothing out of the bags, so they started using cool prints for the bags.

    • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      The paper bags are actually superior to fabric in almost every way.

      The old fabric sacks let in bugs a lot easier, and you’d end up with weevils. Paper sacks are far better at preventing bugs. It also prevents dust explosions at the industrial level from static electricity. Flour is surprisingly explosive.

      You can still get flour in cotton sacks though. Blue Bird flour comes in reusable cotton sacks.

  • Emi@ani.social
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    9 hours ago

    IMO glass jars are perfect for anything. Just buy it in paper and then transfer it into glass. I love having bunch of glass jars to use for pretty much anything I wanna store and you can just reuse then from other stuff you already bought. That reminds me I need to buy pickles.

  • bedwyr@piefed.ca
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    8 hours ago

    This is correct. Every package of flour I have bought has leaked flour.

  • Hildegard (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    8 hours ago

    I worry about those with severe cases of Celiac’s disease, who are affected by flour dust. The paper flour bags leak and kick up flour dust when handled.

    • bedwyr@piefed.ca
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      8 hours ago

      It is not the glutein that is the culprit, according to some people in the science community, it was in an article in the new yorker i read maybe 13 years back, I could maybe find the article but it’s paywalled.

      But the search engines don’t return what you are asking for now, so maybe I can’t find it. Prior to 2021 I could though.