food grade buckets?? help

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by CANDY fISHER, Jan 22, 2011.


  1. Country_boy

    Country_boy Monkey+

    I think this is a situation where more is better, or at least no worse. If your bucket sucked in that much, then 1) it had that much oxygen in it, and 2) the contents didn't restrain the bucket.. I use mylar bags for everything since I use 100% recycled buckets, and so I don't have to obsess about getting every last trace of the previous contents (soy sauce for most of my buckets) Of course, without mylar, you won't maintain a oxygen for enviroment for a long period of time. (and mylar isn't perfect)

    To figure out home much capacity you need:

    Take the size of the bucket and convert to cubic centimeters. Roughly 1gallon= 4 liters= 4000cc
    5 gallons= 20,000cc (real answer is 18.9k I believe)

    Calculate the space occupied by air. This is called particle density- how tightly something packs A good figure of merit is 50% (used to design grain dryers). Picking the bucket up a few inches and dropping on to the floor will help with this, and let you add more contents. You could make a test of this by taking a cup of grain, and water how much water you can add before the level rises

    20,000cc= 10,000cc air

    Air is 21% oxygen

    10,000 cc air = 2000 cc oxygen

    So work from there. if you think you packing density is really good, you could use a smaller pack. Also in home use, we probably are more careful in not exposing the absorbers, so we probably get more capacity out of them. On the other hand, I don't want to take a chance of my food spoiling, so I would use more (3000cc) but instead, I use a quick nitrogen flush. Either way, at $0.30 for a 1500cc absorber (in packs of 50 for $15), I'm not trying to save a few cents.
     
    IndieMama likes this.
  2. Equilibrium

    Equilibrium Monkey++

    I guess more could be better depending on what we're storing our food in. Glass for sure could handle more but I'm not so sure about a plastic bucket based on one bad experience I had where I exceeded the manufacturer's recommendations. I can actually see the lids on my buckets suck down by the next day and that one literally imploded and the lid popped off. I know you're right about packing density playing into the equation and how there are many times I could certainly get by using fewer absorbers but realistically... I know myself and I know I'm sorta on the lazy side and wouldn't do the calculations. It's me.... not your wonderful calculations. ;)
     
  3. Country_boy

    Country_boy Monkey+

    The problem is if you don't use enough, you don't get the oxygen level low enought to do much good. If you use a mylar liner, it will suck tight against the food, and the bucket will be almost unaffected . I pay about $1.30/bag


    You could get a cylinder of nitrogen and s cheap MIG gas regulator ($30 new from ebay- my local welding supply offered a replacement for free)
    and fill the bucket with nitrogen. While some oxygen will remain, it really cuts down on the vacuum pack look as well as the number of absorbers needed. It't probally cheaper per bucket, but it would be s lot of buckets to pay for the tank and regulator. Plus you cain't easially flush hollow pasta or powder. Beans, rice, corn, corn, and wheat flush easially (meaning not much is left for the oxygen absorbers)
     
  4. Equilibrium

    Equilibrium Monkey++

    I do use mylar bags but... I use the 1 gallon bags and toss in the absorbers then toss them in the buckets and call it a day without adding additional absorbers to the bucket. When I'm filling a bucket with say rice.... it goes in without a liner. I like the idea of getting a cylinder of nitrogen and one of those el cheapo regulators and I actually think over the long haul it'd be more economical to go this route. I'll have to do some price shopping on this. Thank you for mentioning it. I'm going through oxygen absorbers by the hundreds.
     
  5. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    With nitrogen purge, put a length of stiff tubing on the regulator, long enough to reach the bottom of the bucket. Feed nitrogen SLOWLY to the bottom of the bucket. Note that nitrogen is close to the same molecular weight as air, and if you blast it in, it will mix thoroly, and not eliminate the oxygen entirely. (Won't anyway, but you'll stand a better chance with a slow feed.) How do you know when the nitrogen has displaced most of the air? Hold a match just above the surface of whatever is in the bucket. When it sputters out, you are there, or as close as you are going to get. Pull out the tube and put the lid on.
     
  6. Country_boy

    Country_boy Monkey+

    If you do it this way, don't use latex tubing. It gets pinched shut by the weight of the rice (or whatever) and the the tube swells up like a balloon. My current setup, I use a used blow gun with a copper tube and compression fitting screwed in the end (Typical blow gun is 1/8" NPT). This makes it easy to inject nitrogen into several places (otherwise there will be trapped air in the bottom.)

    I pay about $20 for refilling a 125 cubic ft cylinder (1200 gallons of gas), or maybe $30 for a 300 cubic ft cylinder. And you will still need an O2 adsorber. If I didn't allready have the tanks, I don't think I would do this.
     
  7. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    As to the handgun, if the pawn shop sells guns then they have an FFL and if you talk to them you could most likely get them to order what you want or buy it from an online broker and have the pawn shop do a transfer on it for a fee (probably from 10 to 30 bucks). One option I would recommend would be to check out the Bersa line. They are low cost and ultra reliable. I have their .380 and their 9mm and like them better than the higher priced guns I own including the Barretta I carry on duty. The 9mm would be cheaper to get ammo for and holds more round, the .380 is a bit smaller and slightly less recoil and despite what some say with quality ammo has more than adequate penetration and stopping power for a defensive gun. I have tested it in live tissue when butchering and know it works well, also it's the caliber most leo carry for backup.
    Hope that helps some.
     
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7