Tuz is correct. lowes carries FG buckets. they are just a touch more expensive than the normal ones, but not prohibitively so. search their website for
Encore Plastics 5-Gallon Food Grade Plastic Bucket
Item #: 356492 | Model #: 50640
the price muight vary by location. Here it's just a bit under $4
If your just using it to transfer or short term storage (a couple days), then probably doesn't matter. Long term storage would make me wonder what is leaching out of the plastic.
$3.99 for the bucket and $1.99 for the lid at Lowe's. Just bought one last week. Found it in the paint section. They are white and stamped "Food Grade" on them.
I picked up a food-grade bucket at Lowes (for mixing syrup) ... I was surprised to see they carried them (actually they only had one in stock) and that they carried them in the PAINT department.
But we've got two piddly hives and don't expect to extract much honey this first year. A full 5-gallon bucket seems like a waste. Any recommendations for sources for smaller food-grade containers? Gallon or two-gallon ice cream containers maybe?
Most beer and wine supply stores carry glass gallon jars.The ones here are the small neck variety like cider comes in.They are about $13.00 for case of four.Price will probably vary depending on location.
I would recommend getting food grade, even if they are more money. I have found them at many different stores. Some grocery stores have bulk food sections where I have found buckets. I have also found them at some kitchen supply stores. I occasionally see them at Walmart.
The symbols on the recycle code as O.K. for food is 1,2,4,5 with 2 being actual food grade.
I would not keep any honey very long in any plastic and never sell in plastic containers.
But that's me.
I've only got 3 hives, so I use 1 gallon buckets. I get them for free from the grocery store. The bakery there makes lots of cakes and they buy all the frosting in 1 gallon buckets. Then they trash the bucket. Just walk up to the bakery and ask.
I get my free burlap from a nearby coffee house. All the beans get shipped in burlap bags and they toss hundreds of bags per week.
Grocery stores with a bulk section (mine is a Winco) often carry them. Also many doughnut shops generate a supply which they sell cheap ( their fillings come in them ).
What is it about a plastic that makes it food grade? The chemical composition of the plastic? Is food grade plastic coated w/ something for some reason?
Yep, at a bakery or grocery store with bakery deli. As others said several sizes. Much cheaper than Home Depot or Lowes. Just a buck or two and sometimes free otherwise they go to the landfill.
I've actually spoken with Encore Plastic about their buckets. Any of their white or clear-ish buckets are food grade HDPE. That's most of the buckets you'll find new.
Go to your grocery store bakery and talk to the ladies in there, often their icing comes in one gallon buckets, and they almost always throw them away.
HDPE high density polyethylene, is the most common food safe plastic.
Polyethylene has a pretty good track record for chemical stability, durability, and and minimal leaching.
But it does readily absorb certAin materials....ever try to get the smell of pickles or BBQ sauce out of a reused bucket?
Artificial fragrances used in many body and cleaning products are particularly bad, and easily noticed by smelling recycled HDPE
These substances can migrate into the plastic and then leach back out into contents later, so care must be used when repurposing plastic containers.
The recycling process does nothing to scrub these contMinants from the plastic when reformed. And once you are using plastic from the post consumer waste stream, there is no control over what was in those containers getting ground up and blended with virgin plastic.....laundry soap, insecticide, drain cleaner....you get the idea
It would be quite possible to get off favors or even serious toxins by using recycled material for foodstuffs.
sqkcrk, I did a lot of research on this last year, and it has something to do with the releasing agent that they lube the molds up with. There was actually even a post from someone who worked in a factory were they made 5 gallon buckets.
Ditto. Along with the conditions of manufacturing...to be food grade the release agent has to be "food grade" and the conditions that the buckets are manufactured in must be sanitary similar to a food processing area.
...then they probably laugh when they throw them in a cardboard box or shrink-wrap them on a pallet all of which most likely :scratch: isn't foodgrade. They then put them on a truck (along with other things...shovels, paint, bathroom hardware, nails, cleaning solutions, etc.,) for transporting to the BBS. Once there they unload them on an unsanitary loading dock and move them to a pesticide treated warehouse and eventually stacked "open air" for John Q Public to pick from like he's buying cantalopes. John Q Public just happened to have that new strain of influenza going around while he pawed through the buckets. Or, maybe the Bobbsy twins are playing in the aisles as their parents look over paint colors? What's more fun that putting buckets over your head and playing like monsters or somethihg? What? They both have some seriously snotty noses, but no problem...they're just playing with some buckets, hand them a hanky. Food grade??? Yeah, but... inch:
I get my buckets at Lowes. I'm *reasonably* sure that when those yellow "food grade" stickers are stuck on the buckets that the buckets were food grade...but I'm reasonally sure the buckets lose that "certification" or whatever you call it...pretty quickly.
Wash your new buckets (and lids) very well. Please.
Food grade is the only way to go.... I get all mine free from my local bakery.... Any place that works with bulk food ingredients should be more than happy to let you take them....
We were looking for funnels last week, hoping to find one that either included a screen or which could hold one, with enough capacity to filter small batches of honey. The ones in the bee catalogs seem to be for 5 gallon buckets again. The Bed Bath and Beyond had nothing suitable. The salesman suggested we try an auto parts store.
Yeah, I even have a screened funnel that would work, but with a dubious history of straining chemicals. For the reasons stated above, I'd be really reluctant to use anything from an auto parts store. Food-grade is clearly preferable, and probably should be required if you are selling honey.
You might try a local (or online) beer/wine hobby store..... I make my own wine/beer/mead and have several that I bought locally that I use that might fit what you are looking for.....
I bought a stainless steel funnel with a screen for dairy use at an auction. I love it. I use it mainly for first step filtering of used vegetable oil that I use as fuel in my diesel VW Jetta (not biodiesel, SVO only). I just run it through the dishwasher to clean it. We did use it for maple syrup last week. Look up dairy funnel, its big with at least a 6 in. drain hole holds about a gallon or more.
I am getting crazed about the bucket issue. I just got some buckets free from a local bakery and some are plastic no 2 HDPE which is definitely food grade but others were no 5 which is polypropylene which may be food safe-I know they had bulk filling for cakes in them but I did not think to ask if the buckets had a plastic bag lining with the filling or if they were straight filled up. Anyone know about Polypropylene?
Polypro is a close chemical cousin of polyethylene. The monomer is just a carbon longer. It tends to be a little stiffer and so is a good choice for rigid things like buckets. It can be high purity, but the same arguments apply regarding recycled content or prior use that might leave residue.
Unlike vinyl or some other plastics, I don't think either polyethylene or polypropylene require additives such as plasticizers, and both should be available in food grade. But look into that 7 marking. It could be the liners were food grade but not the bucket itself.
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