Good source for buying food in bulk?

ponyexpress · #21 09/27/04, 07:10 PM

Another source for food grade buckets --- any fast food place, McDonald's, Burger king, etc. They get pickles in them

quietstar · #22 09/27/04, 07:55 PM

I have collected a bunch of 80 oz glass jars with good lids that contained Valasic Kosher dill pickles. Can anyone provide a quick way to remove the pickle smell? I am about ready to fill-soak them in water and baking soda but have no idea that this will help. They could be great for storing grains, pasta etc.. Input needed!.....Thanks Glen

Tracy Rimmer · #23 09/27/04, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quietstar

I have collected a bunch of 80 oz glass jars with good lids that contained Valasic Kosher dill pickles. Can anyone provide a quick way to remove the pickle smell? I am about ready to fill-soak them in water and baking soda but have no idea that this will help. They could be great for storing grains, pasta etc.. Input needed!.....Thanks Glen

My mom used these for cannisters... try putting a piece of charcoal in them and putting on the lid for a couple of days.

simpleman · #24 09/27/04, 08:56 PM

http://www.internet-grocer.net

Someone on the homestead questions forum posted that this company sells canned butter! They also sell canned cheese and meats, dehydrated foods and annual supplies of dehydrated foods too.

I think I might order a couple of canned butter and canned cheese samples just to see how good they are. They say it is no different in taste or texture than the fresh product.

Ernest

Cyngbaeld · #25 09/27/04, 09:02 PM

Anything that had pickles in it at any time should not be used to store any food that can absorb odors. There really isn't any way to truly get it out. Now, this may not bother some people, but I would not want to take a chance on ruining my stored food. You can use the containers for many other things beside storing food.

I have done some checking on the 'paint buckets'. Alan T. Hagan says on his site for prepardness that he checked with at least one company that produces these buckets and they are the same as the buckets they sell as 'food grade'. The best way to be sure is to look on the bucket and call the company that produces them and ask them if that bucket is food grade.

Here is the link to the site:

http://www.usaemergencysupply.com/fa...epackaging.php

I think that if a person can find a less expensive alternative then they will be more likely to prep.

simpleman · #26 09/27/04, 09:05 PM

Ah! Nothing like sitting down to a wholesome bowl of "wheat berries". Wouldn't you rather have REAL Food to eat after a holocoast? I mean, after going through a natural disaster and surviving all the destruction and horror, I certainly would not want to live on a diet of dried jerky and wheat berries, now would you?

Get REAL foods. Stuff that you already eat now that you enjoy. After a few months of ground up corn kernals and dehydrated mustard greens you would wish that you had gotten some bacon and eggs or real cheese or real meats in your survival packs as well.

Ernest

tonto · #27 09/27/04, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreams30

OK, really dumb question time and something I have been trying to figure out.

What size (in gallon size) of a container do you need for a 25 pound bag of flour.

Yeah, I could buy some and experiment but, thought that I would just ask before I end up with a flour-floor.

When we were stocking up for Y2K, we decided to put all of the dried foods
(except rice and beans) in 1 or 2 gallon zip lock bags. The thought was that
if something went wrong with one bag, it wouldn't affect the whole 5 galllon
bucket's worth. We were also using dry ice in each baggy as a preservative.

We have long since used all of our Y2K dried food (except for the rice and
beans). I like the idea of the baggies, but the containers that I dump the
flour, sugar, etc into hold less than 2 gallons, so we now just use the 1 gallon
baggies. We no longer use the dry ice either, and we haven't had any problems.

I buy almost all the bulk stuff at Costco. 25 lbs of near anything fits just nicely
in a 5 gallon bucket (in baggies).

Since we are in earthquake country, we like to have a several month supply
of food for at least 4 people. A lot of it is the basics, but as simpleman says,
store what you eat. We willl *never* eat all of the rice and beans we have
stored. It was a dumb thing to do. Well, we learned.

-tonto

MicheleMomof4 · #28 09/27/04, 11:39 PM

Quote:

What size (in gallon size) of a container do you need for a 25 pound bag of flour

Fits just fine in a 5 gallon bucket. I use one here for my 25 lb. bags

bethlaf · #29 09/28/04, 07:18 PM

DEFIANTELY
only store what you will eat ...
when we were on the commune, we had a lot of wheat berries stored ... making flour by hand is time consuming...
we had tons of dried cornemal stored, we hardly ever ate cornmeal .... it ended up filling in the worm beds, 50 lbs of cornmeal is an obscene amount !, especially if you only ever use it for cornbread , at least we used it once 2x a month max ..... at 1 or 2 cups a throw, thats a lot of cornmeal ...
i wish we had stored more TVP , in both chunks and granules,unlike some i like to use it and would have used more had we had it ....
we definatley needed more of the "big 5 spices" salt garlic pepper cinnamon vanilla
lets see, what else. oh , definaely "snack" type foods, im not talking chips and soda, but some kind of drink mix, popcorn,more dried fruit,more peanuts, yogurt covered fruit snacks, chocolate ( even cocoa powder for brownies )....
all in all its no wonder now that that part of the "grand experiment " ended after only 6 months

JulieNC · #30 09/28/04, 07:30 PM

Great responses!

More than trying to stockpile for an emergency, I'm really trying to get a good source of bulk grains primarily for grinding for flour . . . I love to bake breads, and there's nothing tastier than bread made from freshly ground flour. However, buying wheatberries is expensive when you don't do it in bulk. I have a hand grinder which is miserably hard work, so I usually use my Vita-Mix. Yeah, I know. I'm cheating.

The humble wheatberry is getting quite a bad rap, though.

One of my favorite salads is a Greek wheatberry salad--soak and cook the wheatberries, add feta cheese, seasonings, some Greek olives, vinegar, oil, some lemon juice and some other odds and ends, and you have a dish fit for kings.

However, I wholeheartedly concur that you should not buy things to stockpile unless you routinely eat them.

poorme · #31 09/28/04, 08:09 PM

anyone live in an area where they grow dry beans, peas, and/or lentils? farmer gets $5-10/ hundredweight. i bet you could figure out a way to be eating beans all winter real cheap.

mightybooboo · #32 09/28/04, 10:01 PM

Out West we have WINCO.Some good bulk prices on beans and such,but the bulk spices,WOW,super bargain.I 'imported' a lot of spices back home from the Idaho trip.I got the

look from the wife,but she admits now it was a good idea.
BooBoo