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Fermentation Bucket Differences
Posted by Amanda Parker on December 15, 2019 at 12:56 amWhat is the difference between the food grade buckets from lowes or home depot and the ones from homebrew shops?
William replied 4 years, 2 months ago 6 Members · 6 Replies- 6 Replies
About $5 hahahaha
The brew buckets from homebrew shops are 6.5 gallons and food grade buckets from box stores are 5 gallons, so there’s not enough space to ferment a full 5 gallon batch. I compared a few years back and the temp range for food grade was a bit different as well. So it was possible that the box store buckets leached at warmer temps.
a little money and a gallon and a half lol
There certainly is a difference. Food grade plastic must meet certain standards of purity. It cannot contain dyes, other additives or recycled plastic products deemed harmful to humans. Food grade plastic can contain some levels of recycled materials as long as those materials fit the guidelines and regulations outlined by the regulatory agency. Most juice or milk containers and five gallon food buckets are made from HDPE. In the U.S. and Canada, HDPE products have the plastic code 2.
Another common form of food grade plastic is polyethylene terephthalate or PET/PETE. These carry the plastic code 1 and are often used for products like salad dressing, peanut butter, and jelly jars. Non food grade plastic can have a film of Non food grade mold releases as well and those Non food grade mold releases are NOT good eats!!!I have fermented in food grade plastic buckets from box stores before and it works ok but you’ll only get about 4.5 gallons. Also, fun tip – the paint lids with the pop our pour spout work perfectly – remove the cap and pop up the spout and it fits a carboy bung with an airlock PERFECTLY. It worked pretty great.
That said, if you’re looking for a super cheap plastic fermenter I really recommend the Big Mouth Bubbler from Northern Brewer. Get the 6.5 gallon plastic ported one – its under $40 on Amazon here – https://amzn.to/2EhzWej
seconded on the big mouth bubbler – definitely my favorite cheap entry-level fermenter. The siphonless valve is a game changer – you’ll never want to siphon again
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