Flour

[sohcahtoa]

What is the difference between flour at 45p (Asda) and that at £2.30 for 2Kg?

[frugalfred]

(just an aside - so you too learned the trig ratios by that aide-memoire!)

[wolf63]

Same size bags?

[SlackAlice]

About £1.85p

[gingejbee]

Probably the same as the difference between canned tomato soup at 26p and canned tomato soup at £1.10.....and hundreds of other food lines, too.

[Old_Geezer]

Ok I give in. What is the difference between flour at 45p (Asda) and that at £2.30 for 2Kg?

[Old_Geezer]

Are you comparing different types of flour ? Different types of bag ? Different brands ?

Why not buy a bag of each and see how your bread or cakes turn out ?

[EDDIE51]

The packaging it comes in!
I always buy supermarket 'value' flour 48p a bag. never found a difference between that and the 'brand name' versions ( apart from the price)

[theprof]

EDDIE51 is absolutely right. In some rare circumstances, you may notice that the cheaper flour seems slightly denser than an expensive version. If this happens, just sift it.

[sohcahtoa]

Thanks for replies - general opinion is that there is no great difference, so I will be using the 45p (for 2Kg) from now on.

[EDDIE51]

Thanks' theprof', just an off topic . I was just wondering if you share my disquiet at the current marketing of Science based toys with names such a 'Horrible Science' 'Gruesome Science' . This is no way to foster an interest in the wonders of science and it's importance to mankind ! I just wish there was something we could do about it.

[lankeela]

I used to work for Jeyes and the products were the same that were for supermarket own label - just a different bottle for stuff like washing up liquid.

[EDDIE51]

^^ I once was on a tour of the Shredded Wheat factory when it was in Welwyn Garden City ( hence Welgar Shredded Wheat) . The production line stopped and the workers took off the rolls of 'Shredded Wheat' packs and put on a roll of supermarket own brand labels, the production line then restarted with the new packs.

[theprof]

EDDIE51, yes I have similar feelings over how these science based toys are marketed. I'm old enough to remember my first "Merit" Chemistry set where the box had a picture of an intelligent-looking teenager wearing a shirt, collar and tie holding a test-tube taken from one of their ingeniously designed plastic test-tube racks that was included in the box. What fun we had with logwood chips, cobalt chloride and the like!

Nowadays, the sensational aspect of science has come to the fore in these science kits and toys. These kits and toys are marketed solely on the basis of luridness which gives the home experimenter a false viewpoint of what science is all about.

Regretfully, it's the sensational aspect that sells stuff nowadays and children are not interested in colour changes, odours and all the rest of the stuff that fascinated us in our youth. I'm afraid that there's very little we can do about it in this age.

Having said that, I still come across undergraduates who ask some very searching questions about chemistry and biology that exceed the remit of the practical side of their course, so I try to foster their ideas by arranging to provide them with extra, supervised laboratory time under the guidance of a knowledgeable technician. I'm even prepared to send them off to the university chemistry laboratories in other colleges when they show some truly innovative ideas. Believe me, some of them have come up with ideas that have startled me over the years so I don't think all hope is lost!

[theprof]

I've returned to my youth here EDDIE51 and remembered that I had a Kay chemistry set even before the Merit one. The set was an unwanted gift that had been bought for a neighbour's child and my mother bought it on the cheap from them. The stuff in the Kay set was far more comprehensive and even included real rubber tubing! The instruction manual was also far better written than the Merit ones.

We sometimes use 2,3-Dihydroxybutanedioic acid in biochemistry but for me it will always be the Tartaric acid I was introduced to many years ago thanks to the Kay and Merit kits.

[EDDIE51]

I got a set called 'Magnetricity' it was a physics rather than chemistry set.
You could make your own electric motor , morse code key and 'crystal set' radio. Used the radio for years even though it could only get 1 station.
I think it was that which got me interested in science, however our school only did Physics as the Chemistry teacher left and they could not get a replacement.

[Valeriea]

I always buy Asdas Smart Price flour (the cheapest) and it is very good. I do alot of baking and never use anything else.