Author Topic: Bulk Food Containers  (Read 7352 times)

waffle

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Bulk Food Containers
« on: April 23, 2015, 11:17:59 AM »
Does anyone have recommendations on bulk food containers. I'm trying to get my wife to buy more things in bulk, but we don't want to just store it in open bags and potentially waste a lot of food. I've thought about 5 gallon buckets, but those are really hard for my wife to open the lids.

GizmoTX

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2015, 11:22:10 AM »
Try a restaurant supply store. Good prices & lots of choices.

TrMama

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2015, 11:26:35 AM »
Rubbermaid bins also work well.

Syonyk

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2015, 01:04:53 PM »
5 gallon buckets + Gamma Lids!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gamma-Seal-Lid-Black/dp/B0089QJQTS

You can get them in bulk for around $7/ea on eBay, plus around $3-4 for a 5 gallon bucket, and you have stackable, air tight, water tight storage for about $10 per bucket

The lids open very easily (assuming you don't have stuff piled up against them underneath), and are water tight/critter tight enough that I have a bucket of bird seed sitting on my back deck, untouched by squirrels/birds/etc except for what I throw out for them.

You can stack them 3-4 high, though I wouldn't go past 2-3 high if you have kids around - it's a little bit unstable when stacked higher, and needs a very solid footing to do that safely.

For bulk storage of rice/beans/etc, you can get airtight mylar bags on Amazon for not very much.  They usually come with oxygen absorbers as well, so you can seal the stuff up for storage if it's going to be stored for a longer time.

waffle

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2015, 02:11:21 PM »
5 gallon buckets + Gamma Lids!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gamma-Seal-Lid-Black/dp/B0089QJQTS

You can get them in bulk for around $7/ea on eBay, plus around $3-4 for a 5 gallon bucket, and you have stackable, air tight, water tight storage for about $10 per bucket

The lids open very easily (assuming you don't have stuff piled up against them underneath), and are water tight/critter tight enough that I have a bucket of bird seed sitting on my back deck, untouched by squirrels/birds/etc except for what I throw out for them.

You can stack them 3-4 high, though I wouldn't go past 2-3 high if you have kids around - it's a little bit unstable when stacked higher, and needs a very solid footing to do that safely.

For bulk storage of rice/beans/etc, you can get airtight mylar bags on Amazon for not very much.  They usually come with oxygen absorbers as well, so you can seal the stuff up for storage if it's going to be stored for a longer time.


That looks perfect! They are even sold at home depot.

ltt

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2015, 02:13:52 PM »
Whatever you decide on, I would suggest that they are see-through containers, because I do believe that out of sight, out of mind.  And it's too easy to "dismiss" a container when you can't see what is in it or buy more of something that you really don't need.


lise

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2015, 02:16:47 PM »
Whatever you decide on, I would suggest that they are see-through containers, because I do believe that out of sight, out of mind.  And it's too easy to "dismiss" a container when you can't see what is in it or buy more of something that you really don't need.

Too much light can affect some foods - I would just go with clear labeling. 

Syonyk

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2015, 02:48:22 PM »
You can always use clear buckets and mylar bags for anything sensitive to light.

Syonyk

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2015, 05:05:55 PM »
Oh, yeah.  The lids come in multiple colors (so you can color code for rice/flour/bird seed/dog food/etc), and shop around - you can often save a bunch on eBay over Amazon or Home Depot.

Rezdent

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2015, 08:33:20 PM »
Or you could try a "dual system" approach:
Put the bulk supply in the five gallon bucket.  Label with tape and  a sharpie (flour).
Keep a smaller jar in your pantry with the item (flour).  Whenever the small jar runs low or out, refill from the bucket.  Note when the big bucket gets too low and plan to do another bulk buy soon.  This is how my grandmother did it.

MrsPete

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2015, 08:44:19 PM »
I was also going to suggest gamma lids.  They'll be a little expensive up front, but you should never have to replace them ... ever.

Living in the South, where mealy bugs love our cornmeal and other dry goods, I store lots of things in glass Mason jars.  I have about a million of them. 

rothnroll

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2015, 09:03:26 PM »
5 gallon buckets + Gamma Lids!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gamma-Seal-Lid-Black/dp/B0089QJQTS

You can get them in bulk for around $7/ea on eBay, plus around $3-4 for a 5 gallon bucket, and you have stackable, air tight, water tight storage for about $10 per bucket

The lids open very easily (assuming you don't have stuff piled up against them underneath), and are water tight/critter tight enough that I have a bucket of bird seed sitting on my back deck, untouched by squirrels/birds/etc except for what I throw out for them.

You can stack them 3-4 high, though I wouldn't go past 2-3 high if you have kids around - it's a little bit unstable when stacked higher, and needs a very solid footing to do that safely.

For bulk storage of rice/beans/etc, you can get airtight mylar bags on Amazon for not very much.  They usually come with oxygen absorbers as well, so you can seal the stuff up for storage if it's going to be stored for a longer time.

I like the gamma lid idea! Do you let rice/beans .. etc touch the inside of the plasticbucket? I was wondering if that was healthy?
Where to buy plastic buckets? Lowes?

merula

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #12 on: April 23, 2015, 09:21:05 PM »
If you're going to go the 5gal bucket idea, I'd suggest food-grade buckets. I've gotten some from my local home brew supply shop, but they should be available other places.


Syonyk

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #13 on: April 23, 2015, 09:26:04 PM »
You can get food grade buckets, or just seal the food in something else first.

rothnroll

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2015, 09:33:28 PM »
If you're going to go the 5gal bucket idea, I'd suggest food-grade buckets. I've gotten some from my local home brew supply shop, but they should be available other places.
Do I go with Food Grade buckets and mylar bags.. or is it ok to store the rice and beans directly in the buckets?

regulator

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2015, 10:03:44 PM »
If you're going to go the 5gal bucket idea, I'd suggest food-grade buckets. I've gotten some from my local home brew supply shop, but they should be available other places.
Do I go with Food Grade buckets and mylar bags.. or is it ok to store the rice and beans directly in the buckets?

I use food grade buckets and do not bother with the mylar bags.  So long as your buckets are food grade, it is fine to have direct contact between the food and the plastic.

Syonyk

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #16 on: April 23, 2015, 10:14:41 PM »
Do I go with Food Grade buckets and mylar bags.. or is it ok to store the rice and beans directly in the buckets?

If you put stuff in mylar, it doesn't matter.  It keeps it totally sealed (if done right).  This is probably best for long term storage - either because you're storing food for on the order of years, or because you are buying in large quantity and don't go through that much (say, a retired couple, a 50lb bag of flour - perhaps best to repackage in 5lb bags).

For shorter term storage (6 months to a year), I'd just get a food grade bucket, clean it out well, and dump the stuff in.

waffle

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #17 on: April 24, 2015, 07:45:15 AM »
I got some of these at home depot yesterday. I just got 4 so they were about $5/bucket instead of the $4/bucket if I'd gotten a case. The lids at home depot were about $7. We are starting with bulk flour, rice, and 2 kinds of beans. I'm not sure if there is any other dry goods we use regularly that would benefit from bulk purchasing, but we'll see.
One 50 lbs bag of flour from Costco saves enough money vs the small bags at the grocery store to pay for one bucket/lid.

rothnroll

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #18 on: April 24, 2015, 04:03:08 PM »
Hey Waffle,
What 2 kinds of beans are you putting in the buckets?
Where are you buying your bulk items?

I plan on keeping Pinto Beans, Steel Cut Oats, Flour, Black Beans and Basamati Rice.
This should cut our food bill and be fun!
We have a bunch of cabinet space. I am going to keep the cabinets filled with glass mason jars (maybe 4 or 5 of each). WHen they run out I will replinish what is in the storage containers.

Thanks for the home depot tip. Were they food grade buckets? Were the lids the gamma lids?

regulator

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Re: Bulk Food Containers
« Reply #19 on: April 25, 2015, 06:29:28 PM »
Store what you eat and eat what you store.  We keep buckets of black, pinto and garbanzo beans, rice, barley, quick oats, white and red wheat.  We also have blue corn, but no bucket yet.  The buckets are all food grade and topped with gamma lids.  Every bucket has a label on the lid and on the side of the bucket.  Seems to work well.  What I cannot buy from Costco I buy from Honeyville.  Honeyville regularly has sales, so I just wait for the inevitable sale to restock.