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Looking for 5 gallon non plastic containers that seal airtight

 
Matt McSpadden
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Hi All,
As the subject says, I'm looking for some large non plastic containers that seal airtight (they wouldn't have to be exactly 5 gallon... that just seems like a common size). I'm looking to be able to store large amounts of dried herbs in something more efficient than quart or half gallon jars. It needs to seal airtight so moisture doesn't get in. I know I could use those 5 gallon food grade buckets, but I'm trying to avoid plastic if I can.

I thought about those metal trashcans... but I don't think they seal airtight. Any ideas?

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Big-Mouth Bubbler for brewing might work. It still has a plastic lid and you'd need a stopper or something. But they're not cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/Northern-Brewer-Bubbler-Gallon-Fermentor/dp/B0156XXTJE/
 
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Christopher Weeks wrote:Big-Mouth Bubbler for brewing might work. It still has a plastic lid and you'd need a stopper or something. But they're not cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/Northern-Brewer-Bubbler-Gallon-Fermentor/dp/B0156XXTJE/



Interesting. You are right, it's not cheap... but I hadn't come across any that big before, so it's cool to know it exists.
 
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What about military surplus ammo cans?
They come in multiple sizes, and all have a gasket.

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thomas rubino wrote:What about military surplus ammo cans?
They come in multiple sizes, and all have a gasket.



That is a good idea! Even if I got new knockoffs, rather than actual surplus... they are still cheaper than glass. And seal tight too. On the other hand... I'm not sure they are food grade... wonder if I would need to line them with something.

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." C.S. Lewis
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At the risk of you getting a large catalog every quarter for the rest of your life, (there goes the trees)  you can go to  ULINE  company at uline.com  800 295 5510 to get catalog

There you will find all kinds of containers and a few examples as such

Boston Round glass bottles  32 oz @2.50 in case lots of 12
Many others of this size in glass including large mouth

Glass jugs at 1 gal size  still fairly cheap

wide mouth glass jars at 1 gal and cheap

unfortunately it takes plastic to get bigger for less, but for your situation, they would last for years and years.

https://permies.com/t/241976/Batch-Rocket-single-bell-build

 
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I'm not sure much in the way of large metal cans would be food grade, especially trash cans, ammo cans, or anything not originally intended for food.

Why not one gallon glass jars with good metal (lined) lids? They would need to be kept in the dark but would stay fresher when dipped into rather than opening a larger container each time.

We store a lot of herbs and I try to fill small jars for more frequent use from the one gallon ones so that those herbs stay fresher.

When we do buy in bulk a lot of times the herbs are in sealed one pound foil bags maybe they come in larger sizes?

Will your customers be buying by the ounce or a pound or a number of pounds at once?

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It may come down to 1 gallon glass jars... which seem to be the balance between size and affordability if you are looking for non plastic and food grade. I was hoping to find something a bit bigger. I'm hoping to significantly increase the amount of dried herbs I process next year, but I need more places to put it. I prefer to store the herbs as whole leaf for as long as I can... and it is surprising how much room they take before they are scrunched up. Then I do batches at a time to put them into the smaller 4oz bottles I use for retail.

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." C.S. Lewis
"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." C.S. Lewis

 
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I wonder how airtight those popcorn tins you see around Christmas are.... I think they are about 2 gallon.

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." C.S. Lewis
"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." C.S. Lewis

 
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Matt McSpadden wrote:It may come down to 1 gallon glass jars... which seem to be the balance between size and affordability if you are looking for non plastic and food grade. I was hoping to find something a bit bigger. I'm hoping to significantly increase the amount of dried herbs I process next year, but I need more places to put it. I prefer to store the herbs as whole leaf for as long as I can... and it is surprising how much room they take before they are scrunched up. Then I do batches at a time to put them into the smaller 4oz bottles I use for retail.


We store 'unscrunched' also and it does take up more space...we have 3 gallon jars of passion flower though that we removed stems from and scrunched a bit...it's our super abundant herb.

I like the idea of gallon jar sizes as we can date the harvest and store the newest harvest unopened for longer.  I find if we're in and out of a jar even a few times the herb begins to lose it's crispiness.

I used to cut sleeves from t-shirts to slip on jars to darken.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
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Judith Browning wrote:I find if we're in and out of a jar even a few times the herb begins to lose it's crispiness.


This is a good point. Maybe I don't want too big of a container just yet. I can easily fill 8 quart jars with one batch. But I would probably only be doing half that to put into small containers.

Judith Browning wrote:I used to cut sleeves from t-shirts to slip on jars to darken.


Not a bad idea :)

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." C.S. Lewis
"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." C.S. Lewis

 
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matt wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:I used to cut sleeves from t-shirts to slip on jars to darken.


Not a bad idea :)


Long sleeved tees and mostly back when I was buying cotton t-shirts at the thrift store to cut up for rugs.  The sleeves were part of the waste from that.

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Matt McSpadden
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I found some steel 5 gallon pails... probably fine, but are not considered food grade.

I found some popcorn tins... but I would need to use the heat shrink seal to keep them air tight... which would be annoying.

So far... I think gallon or larger glass containers is my best option.

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I think (amour?) lard tins used to be large, 3-4 gallon? and had a tight lid.

Maybe still available but that's a lot of lard...take up soap making on the side?

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about 15 years ago I picked up a couple used food-grade 55-gallon steel drums from a grocery store. they had been full of olive oil, so there was a substantial mess involved. the price was right, though.

the drums that I got had close heads with bungs, which I imagine is also not ideal for your purposes. I’ve gotten plenty of drums over the years with ring-clamped heads, though.

I’m guessing 55 gallons is bigger than you want, but I’ve seen not food-grade steel drums as small as 5 gallons, so maybe there are smaller food-grade options, too.

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You ever ask a question and don't expect to get any answers? And then you get blown away learning about new things?

I'm checking those lard tins which look very promising. Also... rendering lard and selling it, is on my list of products to add... so knowing where to get smaller lard tins is handy too.

I've also found some smaller food grade steel barrels... but so far only expensive ones.

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I forgot to add:

Around here in the midwest, the pubs/bars  often get giant dill pickles- pickled pork hocks- hard boiled eggs,  in 1- 2 gal glass jars,    These were always free if you were patient in waiting for them.  These were used to set on the counter to entice the afternoon crowds.  Sounds good? NOT!

In the back kitchen it was mostly plastic large containers, but lots of them. definitely sealed though.

https://permies.com/t/241976/Batch-Rocket-single-bell-build

 
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Matt McSpadden wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:I used to cut sleeves from t-shirts to slip on jars to darken.


Not a bad idea :)


The tops of worn out socks will also do the job.

Ms. Pearl uses tin popcorn cans all the time, but I think she uses aluminium tape on the welds and lid for long term storage. It depends how long before you want to go before downloading into something smaller.

If you could find a restaurant that buys something in the large glass jars - like pickles - you might be able to source some cheaply. They aren't as common these days, as most stuff like that for the restaurant trade either comes in plastic buckets or bags now a days. Find a peanut butter addict that buys Adam's 1 liter size and you may be able to have an intermediate storage size which is super easy to use if your hands are large. Mine are small, and I actually have difficulty getting the lid off (thankfully, that's what son's are for!)

Whatever you decide on, I highly recommend you look for something your hand can fit into for cleaning. I avoid larger sizes of small mouth canning jars for exactly that reason.

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I'm gonna suggest stainless steel stock pots with thrifted lids.
Thrifted lids because the cheap stock pods come with thin,light,loose fitting lids.
Buying glass or substantial stainless steel lids and sealing them with  food safe silicone should be air tight.
You could even vacuum can it, but you would need a big chamber or add a port/valve to the pot.

That makes me think, you could use a glass drink dispenser, which has a built in valve and silicone lid seal.
Glass cookie jars, likewise have silicone lid seals.
 
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We used to buy coconut oil in 5 gallon metal buckets. I can’t remember the brand.

Most people I know at that scale use the 5 gallon Mylar bags made to line plastic buckets. Just the bags on shelves. They break down the whole bag into jars and/or smaller bags when needed.

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Scott Weinberg wrote:giant dill pickles- pickled pork hocks- hard boiled eggs,  in 1- 2 gal glass jars,  


I have a good number of large jars like this that came from pretty much the same source-- restaurants with a salad bar that features pickles, palm hearts, pickled onions, etc. Many of those things come in buckets nowadays but it's worth asking. the lids, when I need to replace them I can find them online.
 
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Hotel pans with lids and silicone band.

Stackable, stainless steel, alot of sizes, foodsafe, doesn't shatter into a billion pieces, silicone seal/band makes them airtight.

The band is a bit pricey and probably won't last like the pan. but buy another or maybe make one (not sure that's possible).

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How about food grade silicone 5 gal bucket liners?

https://a.co/d/4v5BwX8

51iYWQTWnzL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
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Stainless milk can?

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Robert Ray wrote:Stainless milk can?



Those would sure be big enough :)... but I'm not sure they are airtight?

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Matt McSpadden wrote:

Robert Ray wrote:Stainless milk can?

Those would sure be big enough :)... but I'm not sure they are airtight?


Cool - but also expensive!

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I just remembered, corny kegs!
5 gallons, stainless steel ,liquid/air tight and available used for around 50 bucks.

https://wineandhop.com/cdn/shop/products/keg-and-draft-supplies-used-5-gallon-pin-lock-keg-corny-1_1024x1024.jpg?v=1515701449

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can easily add an inert gas to a corny keg, too. nice.

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I have 2.5 gallon stainless steel milk cans that seal pretty tight.  Smaller than you’re looking for, but worth mentioning.  I have really liked mine, I use them for everything from milk to cheese making to dry herb storage.  I carry water in them too, when like now it isn’t getting higher than 25 degrees, wind is blowing, I carry hot to boiling water to add to the ice in their water tub.

Currently there are some on sale at Hamby Dairy Supply.

I’m posting a photo of one of mine, in use several years, and the sale page from Hamby Dairy Supply.
IMG_1427.jpeg
Milk can
Milk can
IMG_1428.png
Sale page
Sale page

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George Yacus wrote:How about food grade silicone 5 gal bucket liners?



Unfortunately I found that chipmunks can resemble machinists : they nibble the edge all the way around until the lip comes off a plastic bucket and resembles a gasket!

So then regardless of the liner, it isn't rodet proof if they aren't stored inside 1/4" mesh
 
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I found the cheapest option for non plastic storage containers is the oversized glass pickle jar or the galvanized trash can.

Any other options I've found are too expensive for what I am storing.

It pays to buy the pickles at an outlet that caters to restaurants, as the pickles are reasonable eating.
I've picked up a few for free at thrift stores and have a supply of rubber stoppers also (they're good for fermenting).

It boggles my mind that glass jars can be more expensive empty than filled.

I find some galvanized cans seal well and some don't. The Behrems don't, but they're good quality and with a weight on top, adequate. The smaller ones can be stored inside a plastic contractor bag (but the stuff I buy to store in them comes in plastic bags so I just weight them.)

I usually triple bag feed that goes in them and store the galvanized cans outdoors.
 
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Home Depot has clean metal paint cans that seal up good, I don’t know if they have larger ones in the store but might online. Also check out flea markets and restaurant supply places, facebook marketplace mabie?
 
Matt McSpadden
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Nick Mick wrote:Home Depot has clean metal paint cans that seal up good, I don’t know if they have larger ones in the store but might online...



Have you seen any paint cans that are food grade? If I could find food grade, they might seal up well enough.

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Matt McSpadden wrote:Have you seen any paint cans that are food grade? If I could find food grade, they might seal up well enough.

I have seen coffee and chocolate powder in smaller versions of paint cans, but they usually are metal top and bottom with a cardboard sidewall. Most of those are likely smaller than what you want.

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Matt McSpadden wrote:

Nick Mick wrote:Home Depot has clean metal paint cans that seal up good, I don’t know if they have larger ones in the store but might online...



Have you seen any paint cans that are food grade? If I could find food grade, they might seal up well enough.



I don’t know if they are food grade but it might say if they are online.
 
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Used pressure cooker:

I just checked online for used and the lowest prices are really low right now. $10, $20, $25 CAD
I am going to pick up an extra one or two, and next time I do canning, I can just transfer the contents for a couple of days!
 
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Sometimes coconut oil is packaged in 5 gallon metal containers. Nuilife sell it like this - not sure if you can get that where you live. Might be worth asking around businesses that make or sell natural foods, they might use coconut oil and end up with some extra ones.

I've also seen metal used vegetable oil containers outside take away shops before. These have a pouring mouth, rather than being fully openable, but I wonder if you could modify them to be easier to store herbs in.

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I don't know that this meets your needs, but it's in the ballpark and my wife just directed me to look at it, so I thought I'd share it here too: https://www.amazon.com/TianQinLang-Stainless-Canister-Container-12L/dp/B0CSFS7PVF/
 
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Christopher Weeks wrote:I don't know that this meets your needs, but it's in the ballpark and my wife just directed me to look at it, so I thought I'd share it here too: https://www.amazon.com/TianQinLang-Stainless-Canister-Container-12L/dp/B0CSFS7PVF/



Nice. That is about 3 gallons I guess, so a decent size, and if it can hold liquid... probably air tight. Expensive, but not as expensive as some options. Thanks!
 
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