storing food in ammo cans?

[Spatula]

I picked up one of the maybe 8x8x12ish ammo boxes, and was thinking it might be good for holding dried beans, rice, etc. (in a plastic bag of course) However, my wife is worried about lead/chemical residues, even after a good washing. She is also concerned that the can itself could rust and spoil the food.
Any thoughts or experience with this? I certainly don't want to buy any more if they won't work out. Just looking for a relatively cheap way to store some foods like that.
Thanks,

[ronn6]

Only if you like chemicals in your beans.
Look for Food Grade storage containers.
Check on Survivalblog.com and other sites for food storage

Remember the old cartoon about the kid that lived next to a nuc plant that grew a foot?

[wsfiredude]

Ammo cans work great for food storage, but follow the advice of the other post. Put the food into a container specifically made for storage of same, then place that container in the ammo can.

It keeps air, moisture, insects and rodents from getting to your stash.

[Turner]

You want food grade five gallon buckets with resealable tops. Do a google and you should find many tips. You are also going to need some dry ice to kill the critters if you are using grocery store grains.

[snal]

We were lucky enough to get several 5 gallon buckets and lids with o-ring seals from our local grocery store. These were originally filled with cake icing...had to go directly to the bakery staff to have the put some back for me because somebody was already set up to get all buckets from the store. We ended up with a dozen or so before they cut us off.
I probably go overboard, but I fill the buckets with rice, beans, ect in vacuum sealed bags that are meal size for 4 people. Salt and sugar in 1lb vacuum sealed bags.
Flour, cornmeal, rice, beans, ect...are sealed in the bags...then frozen to kill any bugs that might already be in there, thawed to dry the bags...then sealed in the buckets.
I also seal 550 and 1100 round bags of .22lr snug (not so vacuum tight).

[06]

I use ammo cans for a variety of purposes but not for food. No reason, I just don't. Earlier we used 55 gal. barrels but they are very hard to move quickly. Now we use 20/10/5 gal. ones. Lots of food items are put into one gallon jars and placed into plastic milk crates. They fit perfectly, stack well, and are easily moved. If you need/want some gal jars let me know. I have nine cases and will bring them to the spring gathering in April near Rockingham or you can pick them up if in the neighborhood. To Oxygen purge your goodies you can use CO2, Nitrogen, or my preference Argon. I usually take it to our gatherings for a short demo on storage for long term. Freezing works but is not fool proof. I lost a container to the bugs once before going to Argon. We toss in some desiccant packs also.

[mj1angier]

I think ammo cans would work good other than the cost of them. Now if I had gotten a few pallets of the from the .gov auction....
Vac. seal the beans, rice, beef bullion,... Kind of make up your own MRB ( Meal Ready to Boil), each one holding X number of meals for X number of people. They could be stored in area you normal can't put stuff because mice might chew into a plastic box.

[06]

A member from Parkton PM'd me this: .....". Well asking if you got any pointers for me fixin to start do the same things with food and placen them in gallon or five gallon buckets.".............Told him that I would answer him here. My welder has an Argon tank so I bought a gauge and attached a six foot 1/4" hose to it. When putting up grains, pasta, or what ever I run the hose to the bottom of the container and turn on the tank. Argon is much heavier than our air so it fills up the container completely from the bottom up. When you cannot keep a fire/match lit on top then it is full. I toss in a desiccant pack and seal it well. This way you have an Oxygen free environment that is totally dry. Things will last as long as your container. One serious note of danger about using Argon. It is heavier than air and needs to be "poured" out and not breathed. You can drown in the stuff just like water. Will have the setup at the April gathering for a hands on demo.

[Independent]

Ammo cans for food? Well, to start off with you know for a fact that they've had lead, copper and gunpowder in them and who knows what they're painted with. Why even bother? Food grade 5 gallon buckets with either press on lids or screw on lids are cheaper and safer. And, as for gases to purge the oxygen, if you even bother with that, then dry nitrogen is readily available and cheap.

[Spatula]

Thanks for the tips, y'all...looks like I need to keep an eye out for the food-grade 5 gallon buckets with the o ring. I've seen those buckets before, we used to get ice-melt in them at my old job. As for argon, that's just the welding mix from a mig welder, right? I've got a tank of that for mine, never thought to use it for food.
Anyway, if anyone comes across a good source for the buckets, I'd appreciate it if you'd post up, otherwise I'm off to google.
Thanks!

[Leadchunker]

I just picked up 4 military medical containers to use for food storage. They are aluminum and have a rubber seal. I haven't measured them yet but I think I can fit 4-6 5 gallon buckets inside them. They look like mini engine storage container the military uses but are marked with medic marking ie guaze, bandages, tape etc. I think these will work but I will have to measure them.

[Turner]

Leadchunker, that sounds like it would work.

[brios]

hey im gonna buy a few of these for feed and thought i would see if u wanted a few i got to go jamestown fleamarket this weekend and i would be happy to bring them along if u dont want to make the drive

http://hickory.craigslist.org/grd/1592257206.html

[Spatula]

Originally Posted by brios

hey im gonna buy a few of these for feed and thought i would see if u wanted a few i got to go jamestown fleamarket this weekend and i would be happy to bring them along if u dont want to make the drive

http://hickory.craigslist.org/grd/1592257206.html

wonder how well those barrels seal up? I could probably try a couple of the smaller ones and at least see. Let me know if you're going back up that way...