How to get grain storage pails FREE

You know those bakery cakes you can get at Kroger, WalMart, or any of the larger grocery stores? The icing they use for those cakes comes in big 4 or 5 gallon food-grade pails, and most of the time, the gals behind the bakery counter are glad to give away the empty pails entirely free. All you have to do is ask for them! Of course, you’ll have to wash the pails out real well, but hey, free is free, right?.

Gamma Lids for Your Free Pails

We were wondering if our Gamma lids would fit on free bakery pails, so we tried it out with a few of our old pails, and the Gamma lids fit perfectly. According to the manufacturer, Gamma lids will fit any 3 1/2-gallon to 7-gallon pail.

Gamma lids make opening and closing your food storage pails a piece-of-cake. No prying, no broken fingernails or jumping on your bucket. Just spin the lid and it’s off/on.

How to Make Sure Your Pails are Food Grade

Pails that were used for bakery icing are most certainly food grade. But maybe you’ve found another source for free pails and you’d like to know if they’re a safe container in which to store your grain.

It’s easy to tell if a pail is food grade or not. On the bottom of the pail, look for the letters HDPE (High Density PolyEthylene). This indicates that the pail is made of food-grade material. There may also be a recycle triangle on the bottom of the pail. If there is, look for the number ‘2’ inside the triangle as this also indicates the pail is food grade.

Food grade pails come in many different colors. Most people prefer white since colored pails could possibly leach their dyes into your food. I wouldn’t be overly concerned about the color if you’re storing a dry food like wheat, but white is definitely the best choice.

More about pails for long term food storage here.

Have you been successful in rounding up free pails? Which stores are willing to give them to you?