Storing Food Long-Term in Buckets
If you’re building up your food stock at home, you really need to make sure you’re protecting your investment from pests and from moisture. A lot of bulk food comes in paper sacks that do not hold up well to chewing mice or to water and humidity, so you need something better suited for the storage environment.
You can pick up plastic buckets at practically every supermarket or hardware store, but not all plastic buckets are the same. One class of buckets is food grade, meaning chemicals aren’t going to leach out of the plastic and into your food. You can then store your bulk food in these containers, sealed well with the appropriate lids, and know that your food will stay safe for months or years.
Just as an example, you can find food grade 2-gallon and 5-gallon buckets at uline.com:
- 2 gallon bucket (and the lid)
- 5 gallon bucket (and the lid)
Since lids are sold separately, don’t forget to pick up as many lids as you get buckets. You will also want to make sure you pick up desiccant packets to trap moisture inside your buckets. After filling the bucket, toss a packet in just before you put on the lid.