Hot Food in a Food Grade Bucket? Liners?

gtr · Nov 18, 2014

Saw this post in a thread about brining - didn't want to hijack, so anyway - I'm looking at options for transporting a large amount of cooked beans and collard greens - would these food grade buckets (food grade 90 mil hdpe plastic) and/or liners work for that? I know they won't keep the food warm, I'm just mainly thinking about transporting food without making a big ole mess and getting it into pans, cambros, warmers, etc. on site.

IamMadMan said:
...
The bucket should be a "Food Safe" bucket (NSF). If it is not rated "Food Safe" you can use a "Food Safe" bucket liner.

You can also use food safe 5 gallon bucket liners. I have several food grade buckets that are sanitized, and I put the liners in them keeping them clean as I use them.

Food Safe grade buckets are available at bakeries, delis, and such... Most are more than happy to give them to you.

http://starkboards.com//Disposable_Cutting_Boards_files/widget0_markup.html#!/5-Gallon-Bucket-Liners/p/28037235/category=8946173

So - would these liners be OK for storing/transporting hot food? The site says they will hold boiling water but I'm not sure if that statement definitively answers my question. Has anybody done this?

Thanks!

newtwoq · Nov 18, 2014

How hot are them beans? I would think boiling water will be much hotter than the beans you will be putting in there. Shoot Matt an IM.

gtr · Nov 18, 2014

The beans will obviously not be as hot as boiling water, but since I'm serving beans and not boiling water I'd like to know for sure there won't be any off flavors imparted by the bags before I dump beans for 300 in them.

I did shoot a message - thanks - I just realized that's from a vendor on this site - always happy to support a Brethren business!

cpw · Nov 18, 2014

Let us know what you find out.

dadsr4 · Nov 18, 2014

What about oven bags?

gtr · Nov 18, 2014

dadsr4 said:
What about oven bags?

Great question - if they come in a big enough size that could be a great thing.

landarc · Nov 18, 2014

Over a short term, all food grade plastics will not impart a flavor. Your biggest worry would be with acids or lyes, I assume your beans are pretty neutral.

ShencoSmoke · Nov 18, 2014

I use the xxl ziplock bags during comps after injecting the big meats. They are huge and seal well. Not sure about how they react to heat, but it's worth some research

IamMadMan · Nov 18, 2014

The bucket liners are rated at 250 degrees if I remember correctly.

The good point about the liners is the ease of clean-up..

I have used them over 50 times for hot foods, (soup, chili,) and there is no off taste. I do however rinse the bags before adding food. They are stable for the rated temperature and will not give off any plastic flavors.

silverfinger · Nov 18, 2014

There has to be some catering folks here that has a couple of ideas on how to do this.
I guess that would be a way to get them there. I know somebody that has 3 sets of those metal trays that you put sterno under. I will see if I can get those (if you need them) and we can transfer the food into those from the buckets if thats how we end up getting the food there.

meinbmw · Nov 18, 2014

ShencoSmoke said:
I use the xxl ziplock bags during comps after injecting the big meats. They are huge and seal well. Not sure about how they react to heat, but it's worth some research

Where are you buying the XXL bags?

cowgirl · Nov 18, 2014

Looks like oven bags come in pretty large sizes...
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/search/oven-bags.html

Those bucket liners aren't bad looking either and fairly inexpensive!

I've used cheap white styrofoam ice chests to haul food. Just bagged the food in giant zip locks and placed inside the coolers.

Good luck with what ever you find Greg! :-D

ShencoSmoke · Nov 18, 2014

meinbmw said:
Where are you buying the XXL bags?

Walmart and Lowes (near the storage containers)

captndan · Nov 19, 2014

Doesn,t make sense to me. You,re going to cook the beans and at some point reheat them right? You are not going to cook in a plastic bucket and not reheat in a plastic bucket. So why transfer to the bucket in the first place?

gtr · Nov 20, 2014

landarc said:
Over a short term, all food grade plastics will not impart a flavor. Your biggest worry would be with acids or lyes, I assume your beans are pretty neutral.

Yup - they are. Good to know - this is the type info I'm looking for - thanks!

IamMadMan said:
The bucket liners are rated at 250 degrees if I remember correctly.

The good point about the liners is the ease of clean-up..

I have used them over 50 times for hot foods, (soup, chili,) and there is no off taste. I do however rinse the bags before adding food. They are stable for the rated temperature and will not give off any plastic flavors.

Great! I know I have this as an option now, and the point about rinsing the bags out prior to use is a good one that I wouldn't have thought of - very cool!

cowgirl said:
Looks like oven bags come in pretty large sizes...
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/search/oven-bags.html

Those bucket liners aren't bad looking either and fairly inexpensive!

I've used cheap white styrofoam ice chests to haul food. Just bagged the food in giant zip locks and placed inside the coolers.

Good luck with what ever you find Greg! :-D

Those are some big arse oven bags! Come on out and help Jeanie!

silverfinger said:
There has to be some catering folks here that has a couple of ideas on how to do this.
I guess that would be a way to get them there. I know somebody that has 3 sets of those metal trays that you put sterno under. I will see if I can get those (if you need them) and we can transfer the food into those from the buckets if thats how we end up getting the food there.

If you can get a hold of chafing dishes that would be great! I have a couple, but need a couple more. Are they the regular hotel pan size chafers?

captndan said:
Doesn,t make sense to me. You,re going to cook the beans and at some point reheat them right? You are not going to cook in a plastic bucket and not reheat in a plastic bucket. So why transfer to the bucket in the first place?

It's for transport. I know that moving beans and collards for 300 can be a messy proposition. I have a cambro, and I'm getting one (or maybe more) of those insulated nylon pan carriers that will hold around 4 pans, but I'm not sure how much I trust foil pans with the crimped down lids do keep food from getting all in my minivan - with about 16 or 18 pans, something's bound to happen and I want to minimize the likelihood of that. Space is an issue as well. If these nylon pan carriers turn out to look like a good and clean solution, I may go with that - it would save from having to move food from one container to another and back

Thanks y'all!

Partyof5 · Nov 20, 2014

I worked at a food manufacturer that made pie fillings among other things. They cooked the fillings to~200 deg F and then filled them directly into food grade plastic buckets for use in grocery stores and what not. No liners, no cooling.

Perfectly fine to store hot and even boiling foods in them.

captndan · Nov 21, 2014

gtr said:
Yup - they are. Good to know - this is the type info I'm looking for - thanks!

Great! I know I have this as an option now, and the point about rinsing the bags out prior to use is a good one that I wouldn't have thought of - very cool!

Those are some big arse oven bags! Come on out and help Jeanie!

If you can get a hold of chafing dishes that would be great! I have a couple, but need a couple more. Are they the regular hotel pan size chafers?

It's for transport. I know that moving beans and collards for 300 can be a messy proposition. I have a cambro, and I'm getting one (or maybe more) of those insulated nylon pan carriers that will hold around 4 pans, but I'm not sure how much I trust foil pans with the crimped down lids do keep food from getting all in my minivan - with about 16 or 18 pans, something's bound to happen and I want to minimize the likelihood of that. Space is an issue as well. If these nylon pan carriers turn out to look like a good and clean solution, I may go with that - it would save from having to move food from one container to another and back

Thanks y'all!

Good point. I was thinking hotel pans.

southpaw_1979 · Nov 21, 2014

I used to make 50 Gal of soup for a local Christmas festival and I would make it at home in batches and pour direct into food grade pails to reheat over the course of the weekend.

Didn't impart any taste and didn't kill anyone (that I'm aware of).

gtr · Nov 24, 2014

I dumped some just-under-boiling collards into one of those liners last night, let 'em sit for a while and ate them. No off taste or any other problems at all. :thumb:

snapper-G · Nov 24, 2014

Check out this website: http://www.pansaver.com/
We use these at work a lot and they go into hot ovens

Hot Food in a Food Grade Bucket? Liners?

somebody shut me the fark up.

is one Smokin' Farker

somebody shut me the fark up.

Babbling Farker

somebody shut me the fark up.

somebody shut me the fark up.

somebody shut me the fark up.

is Blowin Smoke!

somebody shut me the fark up.

Babbling Farker

Knows what a fatty is.

somebody shut me the fark up.

is Blowin Smoke!

Quintessential Chatty Farker

somebody shut me the fark up.

Knows what a fatty is.

Quintessential Chatty Farker

Knows what a fatty is.

somebody shut me the fark up.

Full Fledged Farker

Similar threads