Seeking bulk food bins

October 24, 2020 12:53 PM

I just ordered twenty-five pounds of my favorite chickpeas. I'm looking for the best way to store them. I really don't even know what size I need for that amount.

I'm not thrilled about storing in plastic, though that may be the best option. When I search online, I seem to mostly run into bins for holding five pounds of flour, which is obviously not what I need. Prefer personal recommendations, though more successful Google searchers are also welcome.

posted by FencingGal to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

Stainless steel garbage can with lid. Thats what my family stores 50 pound white rice in.
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 12:55 PM on October 24, 2020 [2 favorites]

Also came to say stainless steel trash bin.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:02 PM on October 24, 2020

If you're willing to go with plastic, I always recommend Iris brand containers with casters. They're not 100% rodent-proof, I have dog food and bird seed on my patio in these and the critters have figured out to try gnawing through the latches (I cover the top in heavy duty foil now). They have a decent seal on the lid, to keep moths out or contain the inevitable moths that come in some grains.

The steel/galvanized can IS animal-proof (note: not bears, they don't have locking lids generally) and probably at least as moth-proof as plastic. If you go to your local garden center/hardware store you can find them in smaller sizes that full-trash-can, like 31 gallons, which should hold 50lbs of chickpea-sized matter. Tip, if you are wanting to store this can on the floor of your pantry or under a table/bench, get a heavy duty rolling plant stand to set it on.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:08 PM on October 24, 2020

I just realized you said 25, not 50. 31 gallons is probably way too much, but I do think I've seen smaller steel cans with lids at the hardware store. You can always grab a 25lb bag of bird food at the store to compare capacity. Plan to keep a pantry supply in a large cereal container or half-gallon jar, so you can push it a smidge on capacity.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:11 PM on October 24, 2020

5-gallon buckets with Gamma Seal lid is how we keep ours. If you want them for more than a few years, or you’re somewhere terrifically moldy, you can vacuum seal a few months’ worth at a time.
posted by clew at 1:13 PM on October 24, 2020 [7 favorites]

Vittles Vaults. Yes it says it's for pet food but it's made from human grade food safe plastic & is BPA free. They're stackable which is nice if like me you bulk buy a few things.

The Iris brand ones linked above are also good & food safe plastic, great if you need to move the item around to say the kitchen for baking. I use one for flour, but they've changed the wheels recently & not sure I like the new casters as much.
posted by wwax at 1:13 PM on October 24, 2020 [6 favorites]

Yeah, we've been storing our pandemic-quantity bulk flour in 25lb Vittles Vaults; as a bonus they're exactly the right shape to fit (on their sides) in the cubes of Kallax bookcases.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 1:16 PM on October 24, 2020 [2 favorites]

For a sense of what the approximate volume will be - I bought two 10lb bags of dried chickpeas at the start of the pandemic, and the 10lb bag I have left fits neatly into the approximately 6.5"x6.5"x12.5" box it was shipped in, with a small amount of extra space.
posted by needs more cowbell at 1:59 PM on October 24, 2020

They are plastic, but I bought 22qt Rubbermaid Food containers to store flour. I needed two to store 50lbs of flour. I researched extensively and the plastic is one of the safer types. The lids (sold separately) are ant-proof.

The other thing I would consider is not packing it all together. (25) 1lb packages would mean they aren't opened again until you need them. You can also store them in multiple places, stack them, etc. I'd suggest using jars or vacuum sealing.
posted by miscbuff at 4:16 PM on October 24, 2020 [2 favorites]

Also, it depends on why you’re avoiding plastic - to reduce its production, you can probably get food buckets that would have been thrown out. If you’re worried about food contact with plastic, the risk is probably really low with dry cool low-fat food. If you just loathe plastic, even reused glass jars are still amazing by historical standards.
posted by clew at 5:00 PM on October 24, 2020 [4 favorites]

What’s left of my 50-lb bag is in its original food grade packaging inside a sealed Rubbermaid bin. The mice haven’t gotten in yet. Of all the dry goods in the pantry, chickpeas probably rank among the most impervious, so I’m not worried about staling or rancidity, just pests.
posted by libraryhead at 5:13 PM on October 24, 2020 [1 favorite]

I use 6.5 gallon buckets, commonly sold by homebrewing supply shops for use as primary fermenters. They hold about 35# of AP flour, for reference.
posted by mumkin at 5:30 PM on October 24, 2020

This listing says a 5 gallon bucket of garbanzos weighs 33 pounds, so if that's accurate you're looking at a bit less than 4 gallons for 25 pounds. In restaurant kitchens those lidded plastic 5 gallon buckets are very common; if you want to avoid plastic you could always divide into a few gallon jars. I love the flip top hermetic seal type jars for food storage, although I feel like something that big might be a little unwieldy.
posted by gennessee at 6:59 PM on October 24, 2020

popcorn tins, they range from1.5 to 3 gal. I used to get them at Goodwill. Freecycle.org is likely to net several.
posted by theora55 at 7:13 PM on October 24, 2020 [2 favorites]

I was recently searching for a way to store a 25 pound bag of dog food, that was attracting mice in our basement. We previously purchased smaller bags, but I wanted to cut down on trips to the store during the pandemic. I didn't need wheels or to be able to see through the container.

We ended up with one of these, and I bought it from a local feed store.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 7:56 PM on October 24, 2020