Brining Bucket


 
K

Keith H.

TVWBB Pro
Looking for a food grade 7 gallon plastic bucket for brining that big hunk of meat? Check the bakery at you local supermarket. We picked up three this year (complete with resealable lids) at the local Walmart Superstore -- $FREE. The supermarket bakeries get their cake frosting in them.

Have also gotten pickle pail from the deli at my local supermarket.
 
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Good to know. I made one heck of a mess on the kitchen floor when my trash bag full of turkey and brine exploded last week. I was thinking of a 5 gallon bucket but there a bit tall and narrow.
 
Many restaurants toss these out and are glad to give them away. All kinds of products are packaged in them, from ketchup to pickles to teriyaki sauce.

Paul
 
I had two or three of these. They accidentally got used for other purposes. I ended up buying a few cambro's for brining.
 
I get mine from a local donut shop for $1.50. Some will give them away. They fit perfectly into a cooler as they are short and wide.
 
Go to homeDepot and get one of the orange plastic buckets with a lid. I believe they have trangle with a 2 on the bottom of them. I was told this is a symbol for food grade plastic. Vince
 
I remember Larry Wolfe saying something like this a while back, but I never took advantage. Thanks for the reminder. There's no need for me to pay 10 bucks for 2 brining bags again.
 
Thanks to Keith I now have 2 brining buckets from Wal-Mart....
Thanks to all that provide positive input to make this one of the better forums on the net.

Dan
 
I brine in a Hefty 2.5 gal. polyethylene bag. It holds up to a 12-13 lb turkey, and anything else up to that size. I rest that in a bowel type container and it goes into the refrigerator. This has made everything much much easier for the whole brining event. I've never had a leak.

Kent
 
I went and asked them if I could have or buy one from them. She looked straight in my eyes and said, "We don't have any." I got on my tip toes and looked over the counter at the floor where there were countless empty buckets all over the place.

I gave here the look that says "Oh really?" and she quickly said, "Go check with the dairy section, they always have lots of boxes and stuff they're getting rid of."

Our Wal-Mart... is not the best.
 
Vince B said:
Go to homeDepot and get one of the orange plastic buckets with a lid. I believe they have trangle with a 2 on the bottom of them. I was told this is a symbol for food grade plastic. Vince
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No! The 2 symbol indicates the type of plastic, not whether or not it is food grade plastic. Home Depot Homer buckets are not made of food safe plastic, according to the specs on their website.

See Food Grade Plastic Containers for Brining for details, especially the section Not all HDPE containers are food grade.

Regards,
Chris
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vince B:
Go to homeDepot and get one of the orange plastic buckets with a lid. I believe they have trangle with a 2 on the bottom of them. I was told this is a symbol for food grade plastic. Vince </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's what worked for me! Works great. I always use a bag though as a liner. This alleviates the need for "food grade concerns".
 
If your local supermarket has a bakery, ask the ladies there to save you a few of the plastic buckets in which cake frosting is delivered. My local Publix supplied me with three buckets within a week of my request. I didn't check their volume, but they look like they hold about three gallons.
 
Great guys! I stumbled upon this thread by accident and am glad I did. Was at pick n' save tonight and asked the guy at the bakery for a frosting pale and now I have a new brining bucket!
 
The bakery at the supermarket. As I was asking if he had any he was forsting a cake and had one in his hand.
Then he told me to come back that night and the guy gave me three washed and everything. They are 4 or 5gal buckets with lids on them. They do just throw them out.
 
Stopped at local Krogers bakery. Scored two 5 gal and two 3 gal buckets. Had too wash out icing but food grade and free. The lady would have given me more but I had to draw the line somewhere.
 
Using my Home Depot bucket...3rd year in a row. The hardest part is hiding the bucket when not brining so that nobody uses it for anything else
 
I use one of those "gatorade" style beverage coolers. I substitute a bit of water in the brine recipe with ice to get things nice and cold then I put a couple of ice packs in a plastic bag and place them at the very top and seal the lid. Then I leave the cooler on my back porch. Using this method, it doesn't take up space in my fridge. f

Bill
 
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