Dealing with hard lumps! / myLot

United Kingdom

March 8, 2024 3:35am CST

A post by @porwest about hardened sugar just brought this to mind. We had a problem a while ago with some powdered malted milk drink. We needed some to make chocolate malt ice cream, but the powder in the jar had gone into a hard lump. We tried to break it up but it was impossible! I had to cut open the jar (it was plastic) to get the lump out, and we tried jabbing it with a big knife – nothing. Then we tried smashing it with a rolling pin, but it didn't break up at all, just got a bit flatter. Then we put it in the coffee grinder but - the blades just sheared off!! We had to give up and buy some fresh. And get another coffee grinder

Luckily I got given one on Freegle or it would have been the most expensive ice-cream ever! Sorry I don’t seem to have any suitable pictures, here are some spring flowers instead. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2024.

11 people like this

9 responses

Anna

@LadyDuck (458711)

• Switzerland

8 Mar

May be a food processor would have done a better job than a coffee grinder.

2 people like this

Fleur

@Fleura (29195)

• United Kingdom

8 Mar

Maybe, but it could also have been a more expensive result! In any case we don't have one.

2 people like this

Anna

@LadyDuck (458711)

• Switzerland

8 Mar

@Fleura If you do not have one, of course you could not try. I know that for sugar there is a method, placing it in the microwave.

Marie

@Tampa_girl7 (49076)

• United States

15 Mar

That sounds like quite an ordeal. I’ve used the microwave for occasions like that.

1 person likes this

show previous comments

Marie

@Tampa_girl7 (49076)

• United States

19 Mar

@Fleura just do it a few seconds at a time until it softens.

1 person likes this

Fleur

@Fleura (29195)

• United Kingdom

19 Mar

@Tampa_girl7 Next time, I will try that : )

1 person likes this

Fleur

@Fleura (29195)

• United Kingdom

15 Mar

I wonder whether that would have worked? I guess we'll never know!

1 person likes this

Show more comments

rsa101

@rsa101 (37968)

• Philippines

8 Mar

That lump appeared to have been tightly packed together for a very long time. Despite its condition, were you still able to use it? Purchasing a new one is, in my opinion, preferable to attempting to break them up once more.

1 person likes this

Fleur

@Fleura (29195)

• United Kingdom

8 Mar

No, it was impossible. Perhaps we could have dissolved it in hot water.

1 person likes this

RasmaSandra

@RasmaSandra (73603)

• Daytona Beach, Florida

9 Mar

Lovely flowers, I remember an incident where sugar had lumped up and gotten hard and unfortunately was thrown at someone's head and they wouldn't up with a lump the size of an egg.

1 person likes this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (326100)

• Rockingham, Australia

9 Mar

Spring flowers are always a good substitute.

1 person likes this

Jim Bauer

@porwest (78759)

• United States

8 Mar

I had all sorts of imagery happening in my head on this one. I was already laughing when I got to the coffee grinder, but I lost it at "the blades sheared off." Gosh, the things that happen to us in our lives. This is why truth is often much better than fiction, because you literally can't make this stuff up.

1 person likes this

Fleur

@Fleura (29195)

• United Kingdom

8 Mar

Glad you got a laugh out of it

Did you ever read 'Three Men in a Boat'? (one of my all-time favourite books). Makes me think of the time they are trying to get into a can of pineapple without an opener

1 person likes this

Fleur

@Fleura (29195)

• United Kingdom

8 Mar

@porwest Here's a dramatised version of the pineapple can incident

www.youtube.com

Your browser isn’t supported anymore. Update it to get the best YouTube experience and our latest features. Learn moreRemind me later

1 person likes this

Jim Bauer

@porwest (78759)

• United States