5 Gallon Food Grade Buckets

[idahobrew]

Hi all, went to the local market today and picked up two 5 gallon icing (frosting) buckets with lids, gaskets, and handles for a buck a piece in the bakery section. For newbies like me on a budget I thought this was a good deal. With a little modification you could have a fermenter, secondary or bottling bucket. Just thought I'd post this up for everyone that's new here and want's to save some cash for their next brew, just go to the bakery section of your local market and ask them if they have any bakery buckets, you may even get them for free, but for a buck you can't beat it.

 

[jmprdood]

Good find...lots of deals to be found for the thrifty brewer if they just get out and look. Most 5G buckets can be converted to fermenters for cheap - a spigot and fermometer are only a few $$ on ebay, and I don't use an airlock, just set lid on loosely and snap down once vigorous fermentation is complete and krausen subsides. These 5G buckets are good for 5G of cider and for 3-4.5G batches of beer.

Cheers!

 

[mjmac85]

What label do you look for to know if it's food grade? Any other suggestions for good places to find? Need about 2 more.

 

[BradleyBrew]

I bought a few Lowe's buckets for some "side" projects. It was the grey buckets that are #2 plastic. I emailed the manufacturer and they stated that they are food grade safe.

 

[Naturallight16oz]

So are the home depot buckets able to be fermented in also?

 

[idahobrew]

What label do you look for to know if it's food grade? Any other suggestions for good places to find? Need about 2 more.

Well there was icing in these buckets for donuts, cakes and frosting for bakery goods. These are food grade, they have to be. They still had the label on them even though they were cleaned up pretty well in their commercial dishwasher I would imagine. I'll just clean them up with oxyclean and sanitize before use.

 

[mjmac85]

You asked them if they had extra buckets to sell? Is there any markings on them? Plastic type or grading?

 

[Stauffbier]

I'm surprised you had to pay for them. I get them at local bakeries all over my city for free. I have 2, 4, and 5 gallon buckets that I use for fermenting, sanitizer, and grain storage... All free! Doughnut shops are a great place to go!

 

[Trail]

bakery buckets, you may even get them for free, but for a buck you can't beat it.

Yeah, but be careful - that's how I fermented my 3.5-gallon milk porter recipe, and there were some minor issues. I scrubbed it out with soap and water and sanitized with bleach, and even though it smelled clean afterward there was enough frosting residue on the walls to leave a thin layer of white scum on the top of my fermenter. There's also a very slight smell of bettercreme in the beer, which works out okay for the style but which overall I'd rather never happens again.

The moral: Oxyclean might be a better idea than just soap and water, though the frosting's already proven itself unusually resistant to standard cleaning methods. Make sure you don't try to scrub it out, either, because the plastic is soft enough that you'll scratch it up and create places for bacteria to reproduce.

 

[Stauffbier]

Yeah, but be careful - that's how I fermented my 3.5-gallon milk porter recipe, and there were some minor issues. I scrubbed it out with soap and water and sanitized with bleach, and even though it smelled clean afterward there was enough frosting residue on the walls to leave a thin layer of white scum on the top of my fermenter. There's also a very slight smell of bettercreme in the beer, which works out okay for the style but which overall I'd rather never happens again.

The moral: Oxyclean might be a better idea than just soap and water, though the frosting's already proven itself unusually resistant to standard cleaning methods. Make sure you don't try to scrub it out, either, because the plastic is soft enough that you'll scratch it up and create places for bacteria to reproduce.

A long soak in a hot, strong mix of PBW and then another long soak in strong star san solution took the buttercream residue out of my buckets. I've never had an issue with any of them..

 

[Trail]

My first thought was "He soaks his buckets in PABST?!"

But yeah, I gave mine a soak with the useless hippie organic dish soap my wife uses and then used bleach. Wasn't enough, like I said. I've learned my lesson, and I definitely will be acquiring more buckets as my brewing career continues.

 

[ChessRockwell]

So are the home depot buckets able to be fermented in also?

The orange ones? I've used them for at least 10 batches and not a problem so far.

 

[Stauffbier]

My first thought was "He soaks his buckets in PABST?!"

But yeah, I gave mine a soak with the useless hippie organic dish soap my wife uses and then used bleach. Wasn't enough, like I said. I've learned my lesson, and I definitely will be acquiring more buckets as my brewing career continues.

If you don't have PBW then you need to order some. It's like the nuclear strength version of oxiclean! Highly recommend it!

 

[ChessRockwell]

If you don't have PBW then you need to order some. It's like the nuclear strength version of oxiclean! Highly recommend it!

Absolutely. A long soak in PBW will get anything off just about anything. Works great for de-labeling too.

 

[BradleyBrew]

The orange ones? I've used them for at least 10 batches and not a problem so far.

I've only used and confirmed the grey buckets.

 

[Mellow52]

But as I understand one needs 6.5 gal bucket to allow head space for a 5gal brew. I can see it as a bottling bucket but how do you ferment I them?

 

[ChessRockwell]

But as I understand one needs 6.5 gal bucket to allow head space for a 5gal brew. I can see it as a bottling bucket but how do you ferment I them?

I just use them for smaller batches, no more than 4 gallons

 

[jwk1972]

A buddy of mine works for the city and has pretty much unlimited access to 7 gal buckets that use to have granular chlorine in them (for water treatment facility I assume) that are free of anything that resembles a scratch. I'm sure they are clean but you think they are safe for fermenting?