Just a few years ago, while visiting a Dunkin Donuts... I noticed several piles of white buckets, asked the manager, and he gladly sold every one he had for $2 & $3 each, with lids... cash!

These had traces of frosting and filling in them.  The original manufacturer is Ropak.
2 gallon size says on the bottom: "R025 NRC-055"
3.5 gallon size doesn't really have anything on the bottom
Both have the recycling code "5" with a "PP" under that.

We've had them half a dozen years, maybe more, and other than the plastic handles which are fair at best, the lids haven't anything special to them, yet seal well and they have held up nicely.  I like the 2 gallon size, it's just about right for storing everything from popcorn, sugar, BULK TEA, etc., for a "daily use" - and we can stack them under counters.  We use a P-Touch labelier to mark the contents, but a magic marker would have worked fine.  The 2 gallon size also runs through the dishwasher, 4 at a time, easily, and when full of "stuff" even the little kids can manage them ... picking beans, tomatoes, carrots - or as a slop bucket for the pigs.

I think I would check at a Mormon store to see what they use.
Some plastics have low level radiation in it.

Quote from: darroll on August 28, 2015, 05:44:45 PM
I think I would check at a Mormon store to see what they use.
Some plastics have low level radiation in it.

Not food grade.

We've been using 5 gallon buckets for years and now have all of them with screw on lids, sooooo much easier to open and close quickly..
We also toss in a couple of oxygen packs and sylicagel packs to keep things fresh.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gamma-Seal-Lid-Black/dp/B0089QJQTS

My preference is Big for the Basement (Pantry), small for the Kitchen, even smaller for the Kitchen counter tops.
These 2 gallon size have worked well for the intermediate storage, but would be impractical for a counter top.

We found some nice steel cabinets with doors for the basement pantry, where the bulk stuff goes (big buckets).
8 kids turned over the food pretty quickly!  Now that they're slowly leaving (4 left), the leftovers are lasting a little longer in the fridge!

Quote from: Solar on August 29, 2015, 06:33:08 AM
We've been using 5 gallon buckets for years and now have all of them with screw on lids, sooooo much easier to open and close quickly..

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gamma-Seal-Lid-Black/dp/B0089QJQTS

How have the lids held up over the years?

Quote from: kj4adn on August 29, 2015, 07:56:59 AM
My preference is Big for the Basement (Pantry), small for the Kitchen, even smaller for the Kitchen counter tops.
These 2 gallon size have worked well for the intermediate storage, but would be impractical for a counter top.

We found some nice steel cabinets with doors for the basement pantry, where the bulk stuff goes (big buckets).
8 kids turned over the food pretty quickly!  Now that they're slowly leaving (4 left), the leftovers are lasting a little longer in the fridge!

How have the lids held up over the years?

I bought a couple of 20' shipping containers and lined a wall with these.


The lids are perfect, with the exception of a few that cracked when left in the sun because we didn't have room in the container, which I take blame for since even these buckets weren't made to be out in the elements.

Solar,
the 3.5 gallon is about the same diameter as a 5 gallon bucket.
Those lids might even fit the 3.5 gallon ones.

Quote from: kj4adn on August 30, 2015, 06:04:34 AM
Solar,
the 3.5 gallon is about the same diameter as a 5 gallon bucket.
Those lids might even fit the 3.5 gallon ones.

Hmmmm, I think you're right. I spray a little silicone on the threads so I can really crank them down tight, otherwise, after a year in storage, they set themselves a bit making it hard to open.

Quote from: Solar on August 30, 2015, 06:12:55 AM
Hmmmm, I think you're right. I spray a little silicone on the threads so I can really crank them down tight, otherwise, after a year in storage, they set themselves a bit making it hard to open.

There is a food grade silicone out there for that you can use. 

Quote from: walkstall on August 30, 2015, 08:20:35 AM
There is a food grade silicone out there for that you can use.

Yeah, and odly enough, it's rated Kosher.

Quote from: Solar on August 30, 2015, 08:54:26 AM
Yeah, and odly enough, it's rated Kosher.

I can live with that.   

Quote from: walkstall on August 30, 2015, 09:02:17 AM
I can live with that.   

Because part of my business dealt with potable water and pumping, I had to find silicone grease and spray that was food grade, but found it odd, that it was listed Kosher.

Quote from: Solar on August 30, 2015, 09:23:16 AM
Because part of my business dealt with potable water and pumping, I had to find silicone grease and spray that was food grade, but found it odd, that it was listed Kosher.

Why not cover all your bases when making something.