Avivah Werner

Finding buckets for grain storage

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Avivah

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I’ve written about how I find it most effective to store the bulk grains that I buy (http://vibrantmoms.com/food-preservation/storing-bulk-grains/), but since someone recently mentioned to me that they planned to buy buckets, and someone else called us a couple of days ago to ask us about where we got buckets (and I know many new blog readers don’t go too far back into the archives), I thought it would be helpful to share again on this.

You can find 3 – 6 gallon food grade plastic buckets for free or a nominal cost at many restaurants.  Restaurants buy lots of foods that come in them, and usually don’t have a need for them when they finish.  Ask around at local restaurants, and let them know you’d love to take the buckets off of their hands when they have extra.  You may have to wash them out yourself (or you may not – I’ve been lucky in this regard, since they very generously wash them for me), but since it costs about $6 for a five gallon bucket, and $10 for a six gallon bucket, the savings in spending five minutes washing each bucket are justified.

You can also ask at ice cream stores and bakeries.  Frosting buckets can be a pain to wash out, but other than that, they work as well as anything else.  I don’t recommend using the buckets found at stores like Home Depot, which aren’t intended for food use. For the same reasons, I wouldn’t use empty drywall compound or paint buckets.  They could be useful for other things, though.

Because there are so many similarly sized round buckets but the lids vary slightly from one company to another, you might get some buckets and lids that don’t perfectly match up.  My choice was to accept whatever buckets and lids they had, and then keep the ones that didn’t match up for the next time around when I picked up buckets.  Over a period of time, I got lids to match almost everything, and even when I didn’t have the perfect fitting lids for my buckets, they were still adequate to cover the top.  When I put another full bucket on top of it, the lid was held down and pretty effectively sealed against insects or other intruders for all intents and purposes. 

Another option is if you are able to get the buckets but still need lids, you can buy the lids separately online.  Look for gamma lids, which are better than the regular lids because of ease of use.  If you have tight fitting lids, I wouldn’t personally suggest going to the extra expense.  But it can make it possible to take advantage of the free buckets that you otherwise might not think usable.

Avivah

Comments

5 responses to “Finding buckets for grain storage”

  1. Chava Avatar
    Chava

    I’ve got a question for you – how do you check your grains for bugs (if you do)? Especially since you get so many grains at once. Do you just check before you use them?
    Checking grains is one of my least favourite things to do… 😛

    Reply
  2. Avivah Avatar
    Avivah

    <p>Yes, I do check most of my grains. I’m pretty quick and I’ve been doing it so many years that it’s not a big deal for me. I check what I use right before I use it; I think if I tried to check 50 pounds of something at a time I’d collapse! What I do is put a small amount on a light colored plate, and quickly whisk them from one side to the other, while looking to make sure there’s nothing there. I’ve found bugs before and I know what I’m looking for, so that makes it faster.

    When I grind something, I try to glance through it quickly, which can tell you if there’s signs of obvious infestation, but in that situation I don’t check thoroughly.</p>

    Reply
  3. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    Hello,

    I believe the buckets sold at Home Depot are OK for grain
    storage if you follow these rules:

    1. They should be new and unused. Definitely never reuse any bucket
    that ever contained non-foods or anything toxic like paint or solvents.

    2. They should be made of white or off-white HDPE (recycling
    code #2). This is a food-grade plastic, the same that is used
    for milk jugs. It does not leach bisphenols or other toxins.

    3. They should not be made of recycled plastic.

    4. Wash them in dish detergent before use.

    Best wishes – I love your blog!

    Reply
  4. Avivah Avatar
    Avivah

    Thanks for your tips, Jennifer – they’re very helpful!

    I’ve heard that if the buckets have a recycling code of 2 inside the triangle, that they’re food grade. However, I also read that the code refers only to the material itself, and not to possible additives which might not be food grade, and the only way to know for certain is to call the manufacturers of the buckets. That kind of leaves me scratching my head a little, but I figured it’s easier to avoid it and just use buckets that have already been used for food, so you know they’re okay.

    I also think it’s very, very likely that if the buckets sold are made of HDPE, that the buckets supplied to restaurants and to hardware stores are the same thing, and just have different price points (ie, more expensive when sold specifically for food). So I wouldn’t tell someone not to use those buckets if they had the 2 in them. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Chava Avatar
    Chava

    Thanks for the encouragement – I have a lightbox that I really should start using! It was a gift and it’s sitting in storage collecting dust!

    Reply

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