(Promped by a rant from my sister-in-law and a follow-up conversation with her and other family members.)
Flour is generally packaged and sold in paper bags.
These bags are frequently difficult to open unless you’re quite careful. Sometimes the paper tears, making them hard to close up and use for continued storage. Often, flour leaks out and has to be cleaned up.
Sugar, on the other hand, does come in paper bags —but also can be purchased in cartons, or resealable plastic bags.
Why isn’t this option, which some would argue is more consumer-friendly, available for flour?
(My guesses, for what it’s worth: You’re supposed to put the flour in another container after opening, though I don’t think that’s stated on the package. And flour is cheap and low-margin, so extra investment in packaging wouldn’t pay off.)
I don’t see a big demand for flour being packaged in some other fashion… and change is expensive. All of the current packing equipment is set up for paper bags.
It is not difficult to open, and I suggest user error. As to the other, yes, I always put them in a different container. It is a PITA to pour and measure out of the paper bag, plus the container I have fits a lot of flour and is easier to keep filled.
I work right on the Mississippi near St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. Lots of milling history right on our doorstep.
Back in the day, it was all packed in wooden barrels for shipping. Just be thankful you can get it in paper bags and don’t have to purchase it by the wooden barrel.
I actually agree with this —you have to be careful, but I’ve never had a major flour disaster. Based on replies to my sister-in-law’s Facebook post, however, a significant number of people have had flour bag rage.
The static electricity is a great point, Toucanna.
A friend’s grandmother used to mix ingredients straight in the barrel of flour. She’d make a depression in the flour, pour in the milk, eggs, whatever, and mix. When the ball was the right consistency, she’d pull it out.
This makes me sad. If there’s one room of the house where opening shit shouldn’t be a problem, it’s the kitchen. If you have a sharp knife, you never have an excuse for flour bag rage.
Also, you compared with sugar, but sugar is used differently: You use sugar in small amounts, to add flavor. Maybe a few spoonfuls. You use flour in large amounts, for the structure. In cupfuls.
People used to make dresses out of flour sacks during the depression (they musta been cotton, not burlap). Thankfully for the little girls, the flour companies caught on and put lovely patterns on the fabric. It helped sell flour!
I know I wondered about this too. I make flour weekly, to make Indian flatbread with, and I know when I am done when the ball picks up every bit of flour in the bowl. I can see where grandma’s recipe wouldn’t damage a lot of the flour, but it would still be damp and probably more prone to infestation.
This was on a farm back in the in the olden times where the flour would have been used constantly. Likely she was making things like biscuits, bread, and pie crusts every day. They had to make a lot of their own food since the general store was a long horse ride away.
Actual “burlap” is a very loose weave, and won’t hold flour, or even unmilled wheat for that matter. Prior to refrigeration being common, it was frequently used for shipping vegetables. The burlap bags were sprayed with water, and the evaporation helped cool the produce. Being common for this use, they got used for about anything else that would stay in them as well. I still see them used for green chile in New Mexico.
Flour sacks were usually fairly heavy cotton, but not quite canvas. So the “dress made out of a flour sack” isn’t as nasty as burlap would be. Probably quite practical, and almost comfortable, but still humiliating not be able to afford better I’m sure.
As to the other, yes, I always put them in a different container. It is a PITA to pour and measure out of the paper bag, plus the container I have fits a lot of flour and is easier to keep filled.