The Frugality Thread

[Paulus]

things are getting better though (used to be bloody awful in the supposedly wondrous 80s when supermarkets sold simple veg for outrageous prices - luckily mine was near a good street stall) - Sainsburys now sell runt-like onions and odd-sized carrots - latter maybe cheaper than the german discounters.

A lot of consumers have forgotten that a Carrot, for instance, still tastes like a carrot whatever it looks like.

 

[Petrichorwheels]

I recon 'wonky' carrots etc are better than the 'regular' sized ones - far more useful, I'll chop that big one for tea ! What did producers do with wonky veg - just animal feed ? Anyone who grows their own will know all veg is a bit wonky.

and anyone who has been round a foreign street market - ie France or Italy. They very typically sell stuff that would look like the spawn of satan to many supermarkets and many a brit. But very often tastes far better.

 

[Petrichorwheels]

A lot of consumers have forgotten that a Carrot, for instance, still tastes like a carrot whatever it looks like.

one can only ponder what some of the more "demanding" carrot customers use them for.
Sexual purposes?

 

[Petrichorwheels]

So last nights tea for two
2 packs of beansprouts, yellow stickered at .28p each
3 breadcrumbed chicken stakes @.66 each (from a multipack, 6 for £4)
Portion of mushrooms, maybe 50p worth
1/2 onion...maybe 20p ?

Chicken steaks, sprinkled with cajun powder dressing, a beansprout stir fry cooked in a splash of olive oil, very tasty and simple, total cost, roughly £1.60 each.
AND, just eating the leftovers for this mornings breakfast at work

lucky sod - yellow sticker stuff been pretty poor in my local london sainsburys for years - folk cottoned on to it/dumped their shame I think under several economic shocks.
Though have barely paid over 29/39p for a loaf of bread for donkey's years - all remaindered and frozen.

 

[Petrichorwheels]

Straying from veg (tho great stuff) , you can save fuel on cooking pasta by bringing it to a strong boil then just:

1 -leaving it to stand if the pan is suitable.
2 - wrapping pan in a "cozy" - you can use that foil-like stuff used for car windscreen ice protectors.

both systems may need an extra minute or so boil at the end, but it works perfectly well.
It's just using domestically the system used by many campers - either to save fuel or to cook using just a single heat source/cooking ring.

It's actually a more convenient system in some ways - you can get on with other stuff/no need to keep hovering.
and pasta should be cooked al dente anyway - less chance of overcooking it this way.

 

[Reynard]

Straying from veg (tho great stuff) , you can save fuel on cooking pasta by bringing it to a strong boil then just:

1 -leaving it to stand if the pan is suitable.
2 - wrapping pan in a "cozy" - you can use that foil-like stuff used for car windscreen ice protectors.

both systems may need an extra minute or so boil at the end, but it works perfectly well.
It's just using domestically the system used by many campers - either to save fuel or to cook using just a single heat source/cooking ring.

It's actually a more convenient system in some ways - you can get on with other stuff/no need to keep hovering.
and pasta should be cooked al dente anyway - less chance of overcooking it this way.

It's a very old idea.

Look up hay boxes. Used a lot on the Home Front in WW2 to save on fuel.

 

[Petrichorwheels]

It's a very old idea.

Look up hay boxes. Used a lot on the Home Front in WW2 to save on fuel.

do you use such a system?
if so for what?

 

[Reynard]

do you use such a system?
if so for what?

No, I don't. I just mentioned it due to my interest in the WW2 Home Front.

I do use my slow cooker a lot, though.

 

[Petrichorwheels]

No, I don't. I just mentioned it due to my interest in the WW2 Home Front.

I do use my slow cooker a lot, though.

slow cookers are good but have long thought that modern ones are missing a trick on the frugality - maybe don't care.
I used to have an excellent Tower 1970s one but unfortunately broke the earthenware pot.
It was quite well insulated.
I have a more modern one and like most of the modern ones (usually very cheap these days) it's clear to me that they leak a massive amount of heat - outside very hot.
Surely they should be insulated properly to retain all that heat and power?
as in "hay box" - things seem to be going backwards.

 

[Reynard]

Hmmm, mine has a very thick ceramic pot, and a decent air gap between the inner and outer skins of the metal part. It doesn't seem to get more than warm to the touch on the outside. Mind, I only ever use it on its lowest setting anyway...

But sure, better insulation would make them considerably more efficient. Although that would drive up the cost somewhat, too, as it would involve some redesign. And of course, with the electrical element involved, you are limited by what solutions you can apply.

 

[Petrichorwheels]

Hmmm, mine has a very thick ceramic pot, and a decent air gap between the inner and outer skins of the metal part. It doesn't seem to get more than warm to the touch on the outside. Mind, I only ever use it on its lowest setting anyway...

But sure, better insulation would make them considerably more efficient. Although that would drive up the cost somewhat, too, as it would involve some redesign. And of course, with the electrical element involved, you are limited by what solutions you can apply.

gap in market for slow-cooker cozy maybe, but I fear it might make only a certain difference with the modern ones - fixed outputs - my old 70s one (I inherited it) had an auto mode which switched up and down saving power. You don't see this too much on modern ones - the majority I think are glorified electric tin cans.
Yet another example of the superiority in some ways of the much derided 70s.

 

[Fab Foodie]

do you use such a system?
if so for what?

And @Reynard

We have a modern version called the Mr D's thermal cooker:

https://mrdscookware.com/

We bought it for the Camper. Cook something in the morning, bugger-off and come back to something hot and cooked without tired faff.
Having just seen you mentioning Pasta cooking, I think I'll extract it from the garage and use it at home...

 

[Petrichorwheels]

We have a modern version called the Mr D's thermal cooker:

https://mrdscookware.com/

We bought it for the Camper. Cook something in the morning, bugger-off and come back to something hot without tired faff.
Having just seen you mentioning Pasta cooking, I think I'll extract it from the garage and use it at home...

I think somewhere on Foxes Afloat (two gay chaps cruising the UK on a narrowboat - search Youtube) the chubbier of the pair swears by a similar device - maybe the very same - there is even I think an episode dedicated to demonstrating it - let me know if you should find it.

edit - this may be the episode.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8Yn-UvzmEQ


same as yours?

may take another look at myself.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

lucky sod - yellow sticker stuff been pretty poor in my local london sainsburys for years - folk cottoned on to it/dumped their shame I think under several economic shocks.
Though have barely paid over 29/39p for a loaf of bread for donkey's years - all remaindered and frozen.

The ASDA in Bolton used to do some really odd yellow sticker stuff many years ago. Very often included non food items.

I remember getting a telephone call from my then girlfriend, now my wife, to say they had a Sony midi system for £20 and did I want one. She'd bought the exact same thing a year before for £199.

 

[Petrichorwheels]

The ASDA in Bolton used to do some really odd yellow sticker stuff many years ago. Very often included non food items.

I remember getting a telephone call from my then girlfriend, now my wife, to say they had a Sony midi system for £20 and did I want one. She'd bought the exact same thing a year before for £199.

is that when you took the plunge?
closest I ever came to that was a supermarket in Camberwell (Morrisons?) yellow stickering some wine.