M14 Forum

Earthquake · January 12th, 2012, 10:21 PM

I'm going to start picking up some FG plastic buckets for storing some dry foods and have a few questions and maybe you guys can help.

How well do the "Gamma seal lids" fit and are they air tight?

Can you get FG buckets that are not white?

If you were to fit some sort of Valve in the lid will a regular lid hold a vacuum in the bucket, I have a vacuum pump and think it would be pretty easy to do this mod. A regular schrader valve [think tire valve stem] should hold a vacuum untill you over came the spring pressure on the valve seat.

Thanks for any input.

Casey

adrbe · January 12th, 2012, 11:03 PM

Sounds like a good idea, if you can get it to work. I don't have any answers, but I would consider putting your valve into the side of the bucket, near the top, if you want to be able to stack the buckets.

LemmyCaution · January 13th, 2012, 04:07 AM

From experience using 5gal pails with a shop vacuum, I can say that they don't hold a vacuum well when empty. The vacuum will collapse them fairly easily. Might be different with material in them, however.

art7 · January 13th, 2012, 05:37 AM

Just about all plastics are food grade. As long as you properly wash out what was in it before, they should be fine for storing dry goods. Obviously, you can store stuff like paint or petrochemical products that will leech into the plastic, and you will not want to convert these to food storage later.

Vacuum, I agree with the previous post. You will not be able to achieve a level of vacuum that is near enough to eliminate oxygen necessary for storage preservation by using just the cracking pressure on a valve stem. Even if you put the valve in inverted, where the valve could withstand that pressure difference, a plastic bucket will likely not - it will collapse.

There are also steel 5 gal buckets - these might stand up to a vacuum

SOCOM42 · January 13th, 2012, 06:15 AM

I use the tire valves that are threaded. Made a punch and die to make a clean hole in the top.

I add oxy absorbers to the buckets also. I pack rice in these containers and as much as i can fit to eliminate as much oxy as possible and to keep the walls from collapsing.

On the top of the rice i put a 6-8 inch square of cloth to keep the grains from entering the valve.

I have used the process on about 600 pounds of white rice.

When evacuating the air you can see the lid pull down about a half of an inch. you can use this as a visual check of the buckets integrity over time.

other packages in the past i have used dry ice to evacuate the oxy.

removed the valve and waited for the ice to evaporate. used a lit match over the valve when it did not go out it indicated the ice was gone, inserted valve and it was done.

In a previous post there was concern about stacking, not a problem, with the recessed surface and the pulldown there is plenty of clearance.

Vos Parate · January 13th, 2012, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by art7

Just about all plastics are food grade. As long as you properly wash out what was in it before, they should be fine for storing dry goods. Obviously, you can store stuff like paint or petrochemical products that will leech into the plastic, and you will not want to convert these to food storage later.

Vacuum, I agree with the previous post. You will not be able to achieve a level of vacuum that is near enough to eliminate oxygen necessary for storage preservation by using just the cracking pressure on a valve stem. Even if you put the valve in inverted, where the valve could withstand that pressure difference, a plastic bucket will likely not - it will collapse.

There are also steel 5 gal buckets - these might stand up to a vacuum

This is NOT true. I don't have time to find the facts, but it is not true.

huntinghawk · January 13th, 2012, 08:08 AM

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/plastics.html

Sweets · January 13th, 2012, 08:28 AM

Rather than relying on a vacuum, the more usual practice is to flood the food bucket with CO2. When I was doing that, I'd drop in a piece of dry ice, add the food, and then put the lid on nearly sealed until the dry ice had stopped offgassing, then clamp the lid on tight. Another technique is to put the dry ice on the top of the food and rely on the fact that it's heavier than regular air to likewise flood and fill the bucket. Not that I know anyone who's done it, but I'm sure some people buy and use nitrogen gas tanks for the same reason. Whatever method you use, the inert gas should stay in, if not forever then long enough to suffocate and kill any critters, or their eggs, inside.

54321 · January 13th, 2012, 08:30 AM

Costco has been really good for prep items in the last 5 years.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...rodid=11642403

Sweets · January 13th, 2012, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by art7

Just about all plastics are food grade. As long as you properly wash out what was in it before, they should be fine for storing dry goods. Obviously, you can store stuff like paint or petrochemical products that will leech into the plastic, and you will not want to convert these to food storage later.

Vacuum, I agree with the previous post. You will not be able to achieve a level of vacuum that is near enough to eliminate oxygen necessary for storage preservation by using just the cracking pressure on a valve stem. Even if you put the valve in inverted, where the valve could withstand that pressure difference, a plastic bucket will likely not - it will collapse.

There are also steel 5 gal buckets - these might stand up to a vacuum

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vos Parate

This is NOT true. I don't have time to find the facts, but it is not true.

I believe the short answer is that the mold releasers used in making non-food grade containers can be really bad for you if taken internally.

oldflyboy · January 13th, 2012, 03:36 PM

I use the 3-gallon plastic icing containers from the local mom and pop bakery. They have snap on lids that fit securely. I keep dried foods in them (rice, beans, noodles, etc). Pack the food into gallon sized ziplock bags and stack them into the cans....date label the individual bags and label the can with the contents and range of dates. I store them in a pantry with doors..dry/dark and no temperature extremes.
Rotate the stash occasionally to keep it mostly fresh. Toss the cans when the lid's fit no longer feels right...they're free.
The smaller cans are easier for my 5" wife to handle than the 5-gallon variety.

broylz · January 17th, 2012, 06:42 PM

i too use free buckets from the walmart bakery but they have recently decided they have to recycle them all and wont let them go anymore. i will be buying them from Lowes probably. they have specifically marked FG buckets and lids.

also, instead of putting a vacuum on the bucket, why not just use oxygen absorbers and mylar liners? seems to me that thats the most common way to go. i have not been using mylar as i have been rotating out of a few buckets but its time to step up to mylar and absorbers and pack in a bit more food.

Earthquake · February 4th, 2012, 02:44 PM

OK
I thought I would pass this on, I found at the local "Home Depot's" here in Vegas they have "Gamma seal" lids for $7.00 each and food grade 5 gallon buckets for $4.00 each. The buckets are fairly heavy for the price and the lids come out to about the same price by the time you figure the difference between shipping and sales tax.

On another note, do you wash the new buckets before filling them? I plan on using Mylar bags in them for food stuffs that will have contact between the food and buckets, like rice and beans and such.

Casey

huntinghawk · February 4th, 2012, 02:48 PM

Never hurts to rinse out buckets before using. I have never worried about using food grade buckets as everything I put in them is insulated from contact with the bucket. Normally ziplock freezer bags.

HH

huntinghawk · February 5th, 2012, 06:53 AM

Some fruit juice containers are fairly thick plastic. Welchs & JuicyJuice are two that I generally use. After rinsing them out & thoroughly drying, they can be filled with items like rice, flour, powdered milk, potato flakes, etc.

HH