When is Huel coming out with official metal shaker and metal scoop?
I enjoy that environmental extremists leave me alone when they realize that thanks to Huel I have a lower environmental impact through my consumption choices than them, but lately they have been bugging me with ‘Huel still uses plastic for their shaker and scoop, which is bad for the environment.’ Hence, I gotta up my game.
Tell them it’s a shaker and scoop you’ll use thousands of times, therefore it’s fine, and they should piss off.
To add to that. If there are people bugging you about your plastic shaker, and then one day you show up with a metal shaker, do you think they won’t realise that you wasted a perfectly serviceable plastic shaker? Like, if your primary motivation is to score points, that’s a massive own goal.
To add to that, if any of your preachy associates are reading this, here’s a tip for you lot. Don’t bug @rikefrejut about shakers and scoops. Huel packaging is plastic and goes straight in the bin, so it’s vastly less sustainable than the damn scoop. Hell, the sellotape on the box the delivery comes in is less sustainable than the scoop. If you’re gonna be arseholes at least be smart about it.
The plastics used in the scoop and Buchsteiner shaker bottles are completely recyclable and long lasting. Again – best not to demonise plastics too much as there are many types and many recycling options. The only ‘good’ metal shaker you should use is stainless steel one as other metals will have plastic barrier liners anyway to make them compliant with food standards regulations.
The problem with any metal food container is the materials oxidisation hence the plastic barriers. Stainless does not need a barrier as its non absorbent and normally doesnt oxidise as fast as other metals such as tin or aluminium however when it comes into contact with acids (such as fruit) it oxidises much faster than polycarbonate or polypropylene would ever do. Huel is fairly PH neutral at 6.54 but that will change if you add anything to the mix other than the powder and water.
Just like plastics, there are many different grades of Stainless designed for specific purposes. Only Type 316 or 317 steel should be used in food grade containers but the chances of you knowing which grade of steel used in your shaker is minimal as, unlike plastics, there is no mandate saying that this has to be identified on the product. Even with these steels they can only resist an organic acidic increase of less than 20% before uniform oxidisation occurs during extended exposure.
So long story short – use a stainless shaker if it makes you feel better – but don’t imagine it’s any more environmentally friendly or flexible than a single material PP or PE plastic bottle – and make sure you only put non-acidic drinks in it otherwise you’ll take your nice cool shaker out of the fridge and might find that slightly unpleasant metallic tang to your drink just like you used to have in sodas before they started lining the tins with plastic.
I tried that. These are people that don’t listen to reason. For them, plastic = evil.
I am unlikely to throw away a perfectly working plastic shaker, I might be able to repurpose it for something. However, giving new Huel customers/subscribers a choice of plastic/metal for the sake of environment could be an interesting choice.
Funnily enough I have not thrown away any of the Huel pouches. I store them, wonder if I’ll be able to recreate that iconic image of how much packaging would be needed for a lifetime supply of Huel. I did give away a few empty pouches to some interested people, since the pouches have all the nutritional info and website links.
I do burn the cardboard packaging though.
That’s what I was wondering about. If it was a metal shaker sold by Huel, I would have more confidence Huel have tested it for compatibility with Huel’s ingredients and with food safety regulations. Fortunately, I eat only U/U Huel with water, which should make it safer to use with a stainless steel shaker.
Thank you for your very informative post @Phil_C
I have a stainless steel shaker, but it still has a plastic lid. I haven’t found a 100% stainless steel one. Even 100% stainless steel water bottles are hard to come by.
For a good reason – they are not an economically viable or a sensible environmental alternative. Sure, for replacement of single use plastics such as using metal straws instead of plastic – that makes sense. But a scoop or shaker that will be used literally thousands of times in its lifespan – there’s no real case for them.
Many people will tell you that steel is an environmentally better option as it only releases 1.83 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel – this is simply because the carbon content of steel is very low and a gross distortion of the actual energy needed.
What they don’t factor in is the energy consumption required to get the raw steel smelted and then repeated to produce the sheet steel for moulding - the production of steel is highly energy intensive.
Petroleum based plastics are much higher CO2 polluters because you literally have to burn 3 times the amount of oil to produce a desired amount of plastic - but the production process itself uses much less energy - Bioplastics on the other hand are much less of everything.
Putting that into real terms in this context, If you were to take a part made from steel and compare it to the same part made from plastic, the plastic part could be up to 6 times lighter – negating the difference in its production emissions across the whole end to end production and delivery process many times over.
Stamford University performed a study that concluded if the US switched all plastic production to bioplastic instead of fossil fuel based, the total CO2 output for the country would drop by more than 20% - exceeding the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement.
For heaven’s sake don’t let your douchebag colleges hear you say that!
I found that information pretty interesting, thank you Phil.
They are pretty sturdy so they could probably be useful for something. I always cut mine up when getting the last of the powder out, so mine aren’t worth saving.
Save them until plastic bags are banned or taxed to high heaven, then sell them on the black market.
@Phil_C You made some great posts! This might be outside your wheelhouse, but how about a ceramic shaker? Ignoring the fact that it’s obviously a stupid idea, is it a good idea?
not so stupid @David - depends on the ceramic - there are new processes that use injection moulded ceramic resins to create an incredibly strong material for example Apple’s ceramic watch which is lighter and stronger than then stainless case equivalent, carbon ceramic brakes used in supercars and even the space shuttles tiles were a silica ceramic compound - all of these examples though, should lead you to understand that the process of making them is both lengthy and expensive. You may have the most expensive shaker on the block - but you could probably afford a butler to shake your drinks for you instead.
My personal preference would be a Forged Carbon shaker - which is a similar process to the above but uses very fine carbon fibres instead of ceramic powders. It’s already in commercial use and can be moulded into any shape. Still not cheap but cheaper - an iPhone case made in Forged Carbon would set you back about 60 quid for example. Perhaps more importantly for the cool factor - its same material Lamborghini used to make the Sesto Elemento - they also partnered with Boeing amongst others to develop the material.
I have a carbon fibre mountain bike. If I put my shaker in the bottle cage and ride downhill in the forest, my Huel will have been shaken by carbon.
Does this count?
yes in the sense that if you can afford a carbon fibre bike you can probably stretch to the butler too 
Considering the bike is doing the shaking… my bike is my butler 
Is he called Claud?
It’s very pretty. I’ve seen the mug they sell, but I’m personally not into the branded stuff.
My city does not recycle, and all rubbish goes to the incinerator. So I might as well burn it myself when it’s convenient. Funnily enough, nobody has a problem with this, since I am not burning plastic…
Why do you cut them? I just open a new bag, and turn the old bag upside down and shake the last bits into the new bag - no mess anywhere and no Huel wasted.
Ok, I want a Forged Carbon shaker now, and if you can coat the outside of it with vantablack, then it would be perfect.
I have that one, but it is a pain to clean, since I no longer own a dishwasher (because I no longer need it).
That is indeed the best way, if you always buy the same flavour.
The downside of your method is that a few particles of the old Huel get mixed up and end up as part of the leftovers when the new bag is finished. So then you throw it into another new bag, and a few of those particles get mixed up and end of as part of the blah blah you get the idea. In a few years you will have cultivated one particle of Huel so degraded that, by the time you finally eat it, you will immediately drop dead.
For sure. Only ‘easy’ way I’ve found is to half fill with near boiling water, lid on and shake, then rinse - has to be done pretty soon after finishing it.
You can get those mini toilet brushes for metal bottles though, I keep thinking one of those would be handy.
I’ve got one of those. It’s wicked for flasks and bottles, and it doubles up as a mini toilet brush.
