# Walmart buckets ??



## LynninTX (Jun 23, 2004)

OK dh is a bit slow getting me more buckets and I have 500lbs of grain in my entry!

I bought 2 buckets at Walmart today to call on to see if they are food safe... but obviously I can't until Monday and I am impatient..... die:

So has anyone here called on Encore Plastics white buckets from Walmart paint dept???


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## TexasArtist (May 4, 2003)

the bakery didn't have any buckets? That's usually where I get them, have to clean out the icing though 
I think there's a certain number in that little 'recycling' triangle that gives a hint but can't remember what.


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## countrymouse2b (Mar 13, 2008)

Do they have the little recycling triangle with a number in it? If so, numbers 2,4 and 5 are the safest.


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## LynninTX (Jun 23, 2004)

It is a 2...

Last 4 times we TRIED to ask at the bakery 1 time the guy was clueless and finally said they had none... the other 3 we could not get ANYONE to even look. Grrrrrr....today we tried for 10min to get someone to look... then baby was starting to fuss....

but even with getting them... 1-2 at a time will not help much now...


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## paintlady (May 10, 2007)

Does your Walmart have a bakery department? Maybe you could get some from there. Maybe you could phone the bakery so you don't have to waste a trip and if they have them have them save the buckets for you.


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## Aeirios (May 31, 2007)

I get mine from the bakery at wally. Icing buckets. Used to be free. Now they charge $1 a piece.


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## FrodoLass (Jan 15, 2007)

According to sources I have checked, the white encore plastics buckets from walmart are food grade. If you do a yahoo or google search for "encore plastics" "food grade" you'll find links to discussions on this topic and threads where posters discuss contacting the company and being told that their white buckets with the "2" in the recycle symbol and HDPE stamped on the bottom are food grade. You could call the company if you are still not sure.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Question for folks using frosting buckets... the 4 gallon type...

I love the buckets, but they get brittle in sunlight... so I've gotten use to never leaving the ones I want for long term storage ever long outside exposed to sunlight.

The problem is the lids... they have little strips that pull half of the 'grippers' off... leaving only two little nubbins to hold the lid on. Are you using these same lids, or using other lids, or gamma lids?

I've got several of these frosting buckets filled with grain... they 'seem' to seal relatively well... but I'm adding some duct tape on them, just for a little added measure of safety? Haven't gotten around to building my little vacuum pump yet. And don't have any oxygen absorbers. Do these pull a vacuum on the lids?


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Encore says the white buckets are food grade. Talked to them last week.
Also, the closest Wal mart bakery told me they were required to throw their buckets away.
Ed


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

texican said:


> Question for folks using frosting buckets... the 4 gallon type...
> 
> I love the buckets, but they get brittle in sunlight... so I've gotten use to never leaving the ones I want for long term storage ever long outside exposed to sunlight.
> 
> ...


Texican, Why don't you just get new ones. You can get them here.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/va...egory_name=24&product_id=9751&variant_id=3082

They are .83 cents and shipping isn't much. For instance they will send me ten lids for a total of 14.00 bucks or 1.40 a piece. I've bought several from them and they ship fast too. Almost amazingly so.


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## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

texican said:


> Question for folks using frosting buckets... the 4 gallon type...
> 
> The problem is the lids... they have little strips that pull half of the 'grippers' off... leaving only two little nubbins to hold the lid on. Are you using these same lids, or using other lids, or gamma lids?
> 
> I'm adding some duct tape on them, just for a little added measure of safety? Haven't gotten around to building my little vacuum pump yet. And don't have any oxygen absorbers. Do these pull a vacuum on the lids?


We've found that the lids from the 4 gallon icing buckets from Wal-Mart and a regular 5 gallon bucket are not interchangeable. The 4 gallon is slightly smaller in diameter.

We put the grain in the freezer for a few days, put it the buckets with an oxygen absorber, and duct taped it good to seal it like you did.

Our 16 yo DS is working part-time at a sandwich shop now, so he gets us the regular food-grade 5 gallon buckets with a seal in the lid now.


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## LynninTX (Jun 23, 2004)

thanks all!

we never make a special trip to Walmart for buckets... too far. Just go in when we are in town. And we'll keep getting them as we can... thery'll get used.. I just need alot fast now.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

You folks are the best. Knowledgeable and willing to share what you know.

I have been trying to decide where I'll get the buckets I will need for use in market gardening this year. I had not thought about the Walmart bakeries. So---THANKS!

I'm headed to Kansas City on Monday and if my local store doesn't have them I should be able to find some at another of their stores.


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2008)

Keep in mind that the only thing the number inside the recycling triangle tells you is the type of plastic it is made of. In this case a #2 means it is made of High Density PolyEthylene or HDPE for short.

Now many types of food grade containers are made of HDPE just as many are made of glass. But some HDPE packaging is NOT food grade and should not be used to store food in direct contact.

Generally speaking NEW, never used WHITE HDPE plastic buckets are safe to use with food. But if you just gotta know for sure then contacting the manufacturer is the only way to know. Any color other than white should be considered non-food grade unless you have reason to know better. There are some colored food grade HDPE buckets out there, but a great many more that are not and it is the dyes used in some of them that make them non-food safe. 

Used food grade HDPE buckets are safe to reuse for food again presuming they've never contained anything but food before. As some have discovered though you may have an absorbed odor problem to contend with (pickled condiments and some icings in particular). HDPE is somewhat porous in nature which is why one shouldn't use it for food storage if it's been used to store something other than food before. If it can absorb pickle odors it can absorb other things as well.

.....Alan.


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