Where can one get milk crates?

hillbillygal · #1 04/07/10, 07:21 AM

Dh just brought home a nice big chest freezer. We'd like to get some milk crates to help organize things and also so I can move things around in it easier. Does anybody know where someone can ask to get some milk crates? I had thought of dairies but we don't have any local to us.

edcopp · #2 04/07/10, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hillbillygal

Dh just brought home a nice big chest freezer. We'd like to get some milk crates to help organize things and also so I can move things around in it easier. Does anybody know where someone can ask to get some milk crates? I had thought of dairies but we don't have any local to us.

Most milk crates in private use are "borrowed" , a polite way to say stolen.

A few do get into private use when dairy operations go out of business.

There are some unmarked crates on the market, that may do the job for you. These are sold at WalMart and other discount stores. They are usually fairly light duty compared to real milk crates.

Beeman · #3 04/07/10, 08:40 AM

Milk crates are not given away, or at least not by the rightful owners. Milk companies buy the crates to use to deliver their milk and they want them back. If you look at a real milk crate it will have property of marked on it.

Explorer · #4 04/07/10, 08:55 AM

I have been using those cloth shopping bags sold by Walmart and others in my freeze for organizing & moving things. They work really good.

Windy in Kansas · #5 04/07/10, 09:00 AM

Over the last 3 or 4 decades I have picked up 6 or 7 milk crates from highway road ditches. I have seen a few milk products trucks hauling their empty crates in racks on top of the trucks so assume they have blown off.

Though they clearly state that they are property of xxxx, however none of the ones I've ever picked up have had delivery in my area so I figure finders keepers as I doubt they would send a vehicle to my home to retrieve them even if notified.

The crates I picked up in the 1970s are built heavier than the four I picked up three years ago on a very windy day on a long trip.

They are great for holding items for power washing, carrying a large number of small heavy items, carrying things that are wet and need to drain, and for carrying things that need air circulation.

Navotifarm · #6 04/07/10, 09:14 AM

Organizing your freezer, what fun! Hope you have a productive, delicious summer! Finding milk crates would be a daunting task if you are looking for the milk crates made out of heavy wire for bottled milk. I remember them from my childhood which was a long time ago! There are very few dairies which put milk in glass bottles any more and even fewer places that would transport them in the crates you are asking about, if they do. I have seen milk in glass bottles at Whole Foods so that would be a place to inquire. Getting a set of matching size crates is another problem.
What do other people use to organize storage in chest freezers? Don't they make sliding enameled wire baskets? You want something sturdy, light weight that won't corrode or taint your food. What comes to my mind as a good possibility are the heavy duty plastc bus trays sold in the restaurant supply section at Sam's Club. I look at them every time I am there because they seem like they would be good for chicken waterers and many other things. They have some nice storage containers, too you might want to check out. Well, if you are near a Sam's Club or restaurant supply! Otherwise, oh for the days of the Sears catalog!!!

sweetbabyjane · #7 04/07/10, 09:24 AM

I use plastic stacking crates from Family Dollar or Dollar General. They cost about $3.00 and work just fine. They have ventilation holes and little feet on the bottom corners that fit into little holes on the top of the crate below it. So far they have lasted at least three years.

SBJ

dixiedoodle · #8 04/07/10, 09:29 AM

If ya know any one who works in a grocery store. An employee. Ask them. After they have been used for a while the throw them out.

hillbillygal · #9 04/07/10, 11:12 AM

Thank you all for all the help. I don't want to *borrow* any so I may look into the $3 crates from Dollar General. I'm also planning a trip to a restaurant supply place sometime this year. I may check those bussing tubs out too.

7thswan · #10 04/07/10, 11:15 AM

Yes, they do sell them now, I just can't remember where I saw them.

Windy in Kansas · #11 04/07/10, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hillbillygal

I may check those bussing tubs out too.

Probably 10 years ago I bought two busing tubs from Sam's Club. I have found them to be extremely useful for many things.

Do remember though that the busing tubs will not have ventilation like a crate would have.

Ode · #12 04/07/10, 01:02 PM

I use the inexpensive Walmart type milk crates, and they have held up for at least 15 years. I also use the tubs, some call them bus tubs and other places call them meat tubs. When I make stock or any other liquidy food item I want to freeze, I use quart and gallon sized freezer bags that are laid in the tubs to freeze in the top if my freezer. That way if the bag should break or leak, I don't have a mess in my freezer. Once the contents are frozen, those bags go into another tub to protect them.

The tubs come in really handy. I use them for cut up meat or poultry that will be ground or canned. If I make sausage, the tubs are great for mixing the spices into the meat. And they are really easy to wash and sanitize. Mine are only used for food prep but I imagine that you could use them for a lot of things.

wy_white_wolf · #13 04/07/10, 03:45 PM

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/c...uctId=10000531

http://www.advantagegrip.com/milkcrates.htm

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php...ng_id=41756756

DW · #14 04/07/10, 04:42 PM

I use the plastic type you can buy at WM or Target...don't scratch the inside of the freezer. I have acouple different sizes in mine.

Speckledpup · #15 04/07/10, 05:12 PM

I use heavy duty cardboard boxes. I found some that are perfect to use for Quart size zip top bags. They are a little bit taller then the bags so I cut the box down to about 1/2 inch taller then the bags, works perfect and they stack securely even with the open tops.

Hank · #16 04/07/10, 05:39 PM

Those milk crates also make great nest boxes in the chicken coop.

Hank
http://www.doublemfarmandchuckwagon.webs.com

blooba · #17 04/07/10, 07:07 PM

Be careful with those cheap plastic ones though.

Frozen Cheap Plastic is about as fragile as glass

Heritagefarm · #18 04/08/10, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wy_white_wolf

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/c...uctId=10000531

http://www.advantagegrip.com/milkcrates.htm

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php...ng_id=41756756

Wow, thanks! Those look great.