Flour Container

This article is taken from Five Gallon Ideas, which features over 100 uses for 5 gallon buckets with more being added all the time.

Faced with a severe shortage of kitchen space in our new Vancouver apartment, we had to find a good way to keep large portions of flour tucked away taking up minimal space.

The solution as always was to stuff everything into buckets.

I scored these 2.5 gallon buckets from the Safeway deli. They are a matching pair, both with lids. Visit our Free Buckets article for a list of places to get free buckets.

After washing the buckets out and drying them completely, I filled with white flour and the other wheat. A mongo Sharpie provided the easy-to-read labeling. The buckets take up a very predictable area beneath the sink.

At the farm, we have a similar system but the space available is so vast that we use full sized 5 gallon buckets for both white and wheat flours, as well as one for oats and another for sugar.

I buy white and wheat flour in 55 pound bags so that I can get it really cheap. A 2.5 gallon bucket will not hold the flour from an entire bag, so the remainder of the bag is kept in our storage locker. We only have to refill once every 2-3 months so its no trouble.

I keep a 1 cup measure in one of the buckets that is “For Flour Only” – I’ve found that using the same cup measurement for wet and dry ingredients means it’s always got a gross sticky film of wet flour and needs cleaning all the time.

Of course you’re not limited to flour. Any dry goods like rice, corn meal, rolled oats. that will keep at room temperature can be stored for regular use in sturdy, stackable buckets.

This Website is Not Gluten Free!

Here are some more way for bread fiends to use buckets every step of the way from field to loaf.

Grain Thresher
Flour Grinder
Flour Containers
1 Minute Bread Machine Recipe
Bread Box

For many more ways to use 5 gallon buckets for self sufficiency, visit Five Gallon Ideas. When citing this article, please link to