I quite enjoy cereals that have a range of different ingredients - like oat clusters with freeze dried strawberry or museli with almonds and raisins. Over time though, the oats rise to the top and the smaller bits get trapped at the bottom so when you’re near the end of the packet it’s 70% dust.

Is there an easy way to prevent this? It’s hard to mix up the contents without breaking up everything into smaller bits. And shaking up the packet just makes the separation worse.

  • Char [she/her]
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    2211 months ago

    Least effort way: Store sideways/horizontally/perpendicular to pouring. Not vertical. Will settle to side instead of bottom and come out more evenly.

    • @OmegaMouseOP
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      811 months ago

      That’s actually a very simple solution that I imagine would be pretty effective!

      It leads me to wonder - is the granular separation more pronounced in a horizonal section (where you’d have more surface area for particles to fall between) or a vertical section (where gravity would have a greater effect)?

      • Char [she/her]
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        911 months ago

        Particles are going to settle at roughly the same rate either orientation.

        • Vertical storage will stack higher and have a greater distance to opening on top, causing the not mixed well enough issue.
        • Horizontal storage more evenly distributes the mix for a more similar pour upon reorientation.
        • Flat on it’s face would distributor even closer to even mix, but that way lies madness and is not optimal for pantry storage. [Maybe flat on top of fridge might work?]

        So the spectrum will be the same at any orientation except the effect will be more or less pronounced. With flat storage leading to the least granular separation while also being inconvenient to practically store.

  • @Hazdaz@lemmy.world
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    1511 months ago

    Don’t shake, roll the contents.

    Rolling the contents will get the small pieces to move upward while not breaking the contents itself. Having a container which has extra room is important.

  • @jet@hackertalks.com
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    711 months ago

    That’s just the property of gravity. And the different weights of your cereals. You could individually package the serial into small containers at the start so you could maintain uniform distribution. You could shake the bag before you pour some out. But you run the risk of breaking the cereal.

  • zkfcfbzr
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    711 months ago

    Assuming it comes mixed well at the start - you could try scooping it out with a cup instead of pouring it out, to minimize the agitation that leads to separation.

    • Parallax
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      211 months ago

      My friend adds water instead of milk… I think he’s a cereal killer

  • @HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world
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    511 months ago

    I read this wrong that you wanted them to separate without turning to dust and here I was designing you some low impact centrifuge. Nevermind.

  • @jet@hackertalks.com
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    411 months ago

    You could use one of those serial containers with a hole on the bottom. It’s either got a button or a lever to give you a serving. Then you’re always taking the cereal from the bottom of the pile.

    • Amilo159
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      711 months ago

      That just reverses the problem instead of solving it. You’ll end up with 70% oats when you reach the upper level of contents.

  • @Zeth0s@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Turn upside down the box each time you use it and store it like this. If you want to be super sure, each time take out cereals from opposite sides of the bulk after shaking the box

  • @ViridianNott@lemmy.world
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    211 months ago

    Disturb the bag (shaking, turning, and rustling) as little as possible. Reach in with your hand or a spoon to get cereal instead of pouring it out.

  • @Nighed@sffa.community
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    211 months ago

    Shaking it upside down should reverse the density sort somewhat. Make sure you clip the bag closed securely first though!

    • @OmegaMouseOP
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      211 months ago

      Yes I guess that would help, as long as I don’t over shake it and cause the same problem in the opposite direction

      • bane_killgrind
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        111 months ago

        This would be a funny black mirror episode, a robot personal assistant struggles to pour the perfect bowl of cereal.