Food grade 5 gallon buckets with sealing lids are excellent for storing dry goods. They keep out vermin, are hard to puncture and the seal is air tight. Bakeries will often have these types of buckets left over from large quantities of frosting or jelling filling. Delis may also have them from items like potato salad. Some stores will just give them away, others will charge you for the bucket. I know you can also find them on Ebay and food co-ops carry them but be prepared to pay more. From my experience, it is best to just be patient and shop local for this item.
I called around this am trying to locate some additional buckets for my dry goods. After six calls, I was able to locate six buckets. Five for free and one for $1.00! Also I added my name to the Walmart Bakery list for five buckets when they become available. One small Bakery was charging $2.50. I thought that might be a little much so I passed it up.
Why so many buckets?
I have been buying dry goods in large quantities and storing for later use. Some weeks cash is short therefore I need to keep food on hand. And other weeks, there just isn't much to my liking on sale so I don't shop. Dry beans, oatmeal, popcorn, sugar, rice and wheat varieties all store well in these buckets. Some food can be kept for a really long period of time. For example, dry beans stored in a dark cool places will last eight years or more! And with constant price increases it maybe better to invest money in food rather that the stock market! :)
Anyway in my quest for these buckets, I discovered that not all buckets are created equal. The five I picked up for free where more cloudy like an ice cream bucket not solid white like my previous buckets. That means more light will flow through into the buckets. For long term storage, there needs to be as little light as possible. So I plan on using the cloudy buckets for things like sugar, flour and probably soft white wheat since those items usually last for six months or less around here. I expect that the beans will last longer and will need to be stored in a solid bucket. It will just a little planning however I am still very thankful for the free buckets!
