cakes in plastic

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Nov 17th, '08, 01:15
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cakes in plastic

by odarwin » Nov 17th, '08, 01:15

hi guys!

i noticed some people wrap their cakes in plastic...
on a trip to malaysia, ive noticed this a lot, in fact, one of the cakes i got there was actually wrapped in plastic and had small holes in them, the cake is nothing really special, just last year's shou from kun ming factory...

any insights as to what the purpose of the plastic is?
does it have to do with controlling humidity on the cakes?

thanks!
-darwin

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Nov 17th, '08, 01:19
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by Trioxin » Nov 17th, '08, 01:19

if its in a shop, its more than likely to keep people from messing with them.

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Nov 17th, '08, 04:35
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by ABx » Nov 17th, '08, 04:35

It would also be likely for keeping it clean. They don't have to worry about dust, people's dirty hands, odors, chemicals from stuff like cleaners, and so on, as long as it's in plastic.

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Nov 17th, '08, 07:27
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by odarwin » Nov 17th, '08, 07:27

they are usually in a sort of vacuum seal type plastic that has a few small holes

-darwin

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Nov 17th, '08, 08:41
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by xuancheng » Nov 17th, '08, 08:41

At my friend's shop he has a Zhonghua cake with a plastic wrapper which just reaches around the edges. The paper wrapper is folded into a round shape and is inside the plastic. when you turn the cake over the leaves are exposed.

Perhaps in this way, the cake and the wrapper can both be examined without having to unwrap and wrap the cake back up. I personally don't see this as more convenient, unless you have a lot of clumsy customers who have a habit of dumping the cake or loose leaves on the floor when unwrapping display cakes.

A cake with a plastic cover with holes in it must be to protect form handling, as others have mentioned.

I fail to see the purpose of protecting a display cake in this way. Often display cakes are broken up to taste in the shop, also a display cake is hopefully not sold as ageing conditions are not ideal. Sunlight, too much air, etc will not allow the cake to age as well as those put away properly.

The only reason for doing this I can think of is the plastic wrapping is much quicker than the paper. Also it would be much cheaper, often pu'er paper seems somewhat high quality.

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Nov 17th, '08, 10:52
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by hop_goblin » Nov 17th, '08, 10:52

The only cakes I have seen that have plastic wrapping are those in which the vendor is trying to slow down the aging as it has reached its prime. Other than that, who knows.. But good guesses.

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Nov 17th, '08, 12:17
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by puerhking » Nov 17th, '08, 12:17

my guess is that it is simply to keep the leaves from chipping away and becoming a mess.

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Nov 17th, '08, 15:39
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by shogun89 » Nov 17th, '08, 15:39

Out of curiosity if you take a young sheng and wrap it in plastic, will it keep that young sheng flavor or will it go bad for some reason?

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Nov 17th, '08, 16:06
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by hop_goblin » Nov 17th, '08, 16:06

shogun89 wrote:Out of curiosity if you take a young sheng and wrap it in plastic, will it keep that young sheng flavor or will it go bad for some reason?
I don't know. But I am sure that the florally fresh greenish character would dissipate to some degree. Worst of all, the sheng would never mature. A young sheng is a terrible thing to waste.

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