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Can someone explain why Potato Chips are so expensive? How would another winter freeze affect the price of beer

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 10:07 PM

wanswheel

    Bit of irony: You present two pictures of church keys, then your last video is about the pull-tab that made them almost obsolete.

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Posted by wanswheel on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 9:41 PM
In Heaven there is no beer, that’s why…
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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 9:22 PM

schlimm
"Schaeffer is the one beer to have when you’re having more than one."

Which reminds me of a bad (and now politically incorrect) joke about a woman whose doctor told her to drink lots of Schaeffer....

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 8:46 PM

schlimm

"Schaeffer is the one beer to have when you’re having more than one."

"The F&M Schaeffer Brewery, New York and Albany New York and Baltimore Maryland." 

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Posted by wanswheel on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 8:00 PM
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Posted by schlimm on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 7:50 PM

"Think of Rheingold whenever you buy beer."

"Schaeffer is the one beer to have when you’re having more than one."

"Get a smile every time; make it Ballantine."

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Posted by 54light15 on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 7:32 PM

I remember Rhengold. Nasty stuff. I sure miss Ballantine's India Pale Ale, though. A cold winter will affect the price of beer and other cereal products. The Great Lakes were frozen solid longer than normal last winter so ships could not get to the docks at Thunder Bay, Ontario (for one) to load at the elevators. Because the elevators at the ports couldn't be emptied, the grain in the elevators on the prairies couldn't go anywhere. A large proportion of barley used for beer production is malted at the Weyermann plant in Bamberg, Germany. The barley gets shipped there in bulk by ship and train, then comes back to breweries all over the world in bags. Without fresh barley, the whole process stops and beer becomes more expensive. A lack of room on the rails due to all the oil travelling around means pretty much the same thing, a lack of barley at the malting plants.  a lot of my friends here in Toronto run small breweries and they all get malted barley from Weyermann's and yes prices went up as a result of last winter's extreme cold.

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Posted by zugmann on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 12:58 PM

Real potato chips are fried in lard.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by schlimm on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 12:46 PM

Get real.  It is off topic, but just pretends to be on topic.  

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Posted by Norm48327 on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 12:14 PM

schlimm

Question:  How is it that some folks turned into Forum thought police about the Santa Barbara thread having some OT posts about baroque music (and none of those folks actually had anything more to post about the SB accident), but seem to feel it is their right to have a string of utterly inane (also OT posts) on this thread?   I realize this thread's OP is a suspected serial troll, but the principle is the same.   So you all should take your "humor" to Murray's totally no-topic thread.

 

This one's still on-topic.

Get a life.

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Posted by nanaimo73 on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 12:07 PM

Cornelius Vanderbilt may have invented potato chips. Probably not, but its something to read

 

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/09/real-story-potato-chip/ 

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 11:30 AM

Ahem!   Are not potato chips and beer sold in Amtrak (and VIA) cafe cars?

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Posted by schlimm on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 11:20 AM

Question:  How is it that some folks turned into Forum thought police about the Santa Barbara thread having some OT posts about baroque music (and none of those folks actually had anything more to post about the SB accident), but seem to feel it is their right to have a string of utterly inane (also OT posts) on this thread?   I realize this thread's OP is a suspected serial troll, but the principle is the same.   So you all should take your "humor" to Murray's totally no-topic thread.

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Posted by Deggesty on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 11:03 AM

Of course, etting the chips out is another matter--fish them out? But, I have no idea what to use as a lure.

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Posted by Deggesty on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 11:02 AM

Murphy Siding
 
greyhounds

 

 
Murray
I like kettle chips......

 

With beer in an aluminum can?

 

 

 

 

 

 How do they get the chips into the aluminum cans?  It seems like the opening in the top of the can would be too small for chips of any decent size.

 

 

It's simple: you dehydrate the chips (which makes them smaller), put them inito the can--and the beer rehydrates them! 

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 10:57 PM

greyhounds

 

 
Murray
I like kettle chips......

 

With beer in an aluminum can?

 

 

 

 How do they get the chips into the aluminum cans?  It seems like the opening in the top of the can would be too small for chips of any decent size.

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Posted by greyhounds on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 10:55 PM

Norm48327
You mean the can is worth more than the beer?

Nope.  That is not what the very knowledgeable ndbprr said.

He basically said the can cost more than the beer inside. But , "Cost More" is not the same as "Worth More".

"By many measures, the U.S. freight rail system is the safest, most efficient and cost effective in the world." - Federal Railroad Administration, October, 2009. I'm just your average, everyday, uncivilized howling "anti-government" critic of mass government expenditures for "High Speed Rail" in the US. And I'm gosh darn proud of that.
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Posted by railtrail on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 10:48 PM

Back on track here what is a winter freeze going to do to price of all my snack foods, Chips Crackers Cereal and beer. Not to mention that Cereal is way over priced. The Cheerio Plant in Buffalo gets there grain by ship longer freeze means that they have to use more expensive rail.

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Posted by greyhounds on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 10:40 PM

Murray
I like kettle chips......

With beer in an aluminum can?

 

 

"By many measures, the U.S. freight rail system is the safest, most efficient and cost effective in the world." - Federal Railroad Administration, October, 2009. I'm just your average, everyday, uncivilized howling "anti-government" critic of mass government expenditures for "High Speed Rail" in the US. And I'm gosh darn proud of that.
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 8:50 PM

I like kettle chips......

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Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 7:02 PM

Yes, but. (Sorry, just had to borrow that phrase.)

Air is 78% Nitrogen.

Norm


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Posted by cacole on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 6:54 PM

Norm48327

If they didn't fill them with air, you wouldn't get chips. You'd get crumbs. Crying

The "air" is Nitrogen gas, added as a preservative so the chips will stay crisp longer.  Also seals out humidity.

 

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Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 6:35 PM

If they didn't fill them with air, you wouldn't get chips. You'd get crumbs. Crying

Norm


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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 6:10 PM

ndbprr
There is nothing purchased by the consumer in an aluminum can that costs more then the can itself. The can is always the higher cost and always will be.

The same is true of the paper cups used by the fast food joints for soft drinks (and coffee, for that matter).  That's one reason they allow free refills - once you've paid for the cup, they've made their money.  The coffee and soda is worth pennies.

It always tickles me when I ask for a large coffee cup full of hot water.  No coffee, no tea, just hot water - I generally have my own tea bag.  They almost always give it to me free...

One thing not mentioned in the potato chip discussion is the cost of the air they fill the bags with ("You mean that's all the chips I get?  The rest is air?")...  Whistling

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Posted by ndbprr on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 6:07 PM
Yep. The cost of aluminum rises faster then the product in it so it willl always be more expensive.. can stock is about the highest priced aluminum bought
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Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 5:45 PM

You mean the can is worth more than the beer?

Oh. The agony! Beer

Norm


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Posted by ndbprr on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 4:53 PM
Two disparite comments. My father in law was involved in building the worlds largest styrofoam cup plant that could produce cups for pennies compared to dollars. It never started up because shipping was the largest and controlling cost.
There is nothing purchased by the consumer in an aluminum can that costs more then the can itself. The can is always the higher cost and always will be.
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Posted by cacole on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 4:27 PM

There's a very large Lay's facility west of Casa Grande, Arizona, that receives corn oil and other ingredients by rail, but as near as I know all chips leave in trucks because they don't go far enough away for rail travel.

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Posted by railtrail on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 3:42 PM

Potato Chips would Cube Out a boxcar before weighing out. i think we have just found a product to move in empty high cube autoparts cars.

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