Food storage - canned vs. buckets

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Could someone tell me please where to purchase food grade buckets, liners, and O2 absorbers? Not necessarily mail order - many places are back-ordered. What type of store should I be looking for in the yellow pages to physically go and buy from? Or am I being naive?

Also, could someone please explain the advantage of bucket storage vs. buying canned food? Aside from the cost, I mean. I thought that canned food didn't really ever expire if the cans are in good shape.

Directing me to some appropriate URL's would be fine. Thanks in advance,

Doug

-- Douglas Malcolm (dmalcolm@mindspring.com), November 15, 1998

Answers

Doug,

Go to glitchproof.com

Six gallon food grade buckets and all the trimmins'. I have purchased two pallet loads at 84/buckets per pallet. After the first pallet load, I got 'smart' and called the manufacturer directly. Guess what? I could not get them any cheaper AND I got the oxygen absorbers on top of it from glitchproof with the buckets.

To give you an example of the costs. I buy corn for 2.15 for a bucket full (six gallons/40pounds) The buckets ran me about $5 each. That is $7.15 for a bucket of corn. Same with wheat. Compare that with what is offered at Walton feed. You save a bundle. I have already ground the corn to make some cornmeal and made cornbread to test it out. Better than store bought and a whole lot cheaper. I don't know why I have not been doing this all along.

I put the bucket with grain in the freezer for two days to kill any bugs then let it sit out for another day to assume room temperature, then seal with an O2 absorber inside.

When you store things like beans, do not fill the bucket with one type of product. Leave the beans in the one pound bags and put a variety in the bucket, like great northerns, kidneys, pinto, lentils, split peas, etc etc. That way you will not have to open up six buckets at one time.

Paul Milne

-- Paul Milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), November 15, 1998.


Paul, Where do you buy your corn? Wheat seems to be available everywhere, but I've not seen corn except through Walton type sources. Fresh ground corn bread, yum! I have a great recipe! Diana

-- Diana (count@411.day), November 15, 1998.

Douglas:

First, the difference between #10 cans and buckets -- size, and the amount of food you expose to the air when you open the thing up. Not a problem with staples (rice, beans, wheat, corn, etc.)

Second, Glitchproof, YES. Good delivery time, and Jim Abel has put together lines that are geared to Y2Kers who are doing their own packing, and that make sense. BTW, the liners Glitchproof sells are not mylar, they're a food grade plastic. You don't need mylar. But these liners don't seal as readily as mylar..........but that's not a problem if you're seling the bucket, is it?

http://www.glitchproof.com/

-- DeAlton (delewis@inetone.net), November 16, 1998.


Try Stor-Tite as well; www.stortite.com. They have all those items.

-- Karen Cook (browsercat@hotmail.com), November 16, 1998.

I got great service from US Plastic for new lids and the Gamma screw-on lids. I'm using 'old' buckets but adding new lids. And I've ordered from Glitchproof and gotten great delivery time. Let's see, so far I've spent about $50 on new bucket lids (12 plain & 6 gammas), $30 on Glitchproof bags and oxy-absorbers, and another 20-30 on other assorted supplies. I've also brainstormed a way to do partial air evacutation from my bags prior to using the oxy-absorbers. Now its time to pack...

-- jd (hemwat@bellsouth.net), November 22, 1998.


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