Can I use 2G Igloo Cooler as primary fermenter

[Medieval]

I have a 2G Igloo cooler (tall round one picture the football gatorade containters) and I'm wondering if this would be fine to use as a primary fermentation vessel. It has a sticker that says "Liner Meets US FDA food contact safety standard" would this qualify as being the same as food grade bucket?

How exactly do you know your obtaining a food grade bucket do most stores advertise this or must I call the manufacturer to confirm?

 

[corntassel]

this year I had 40lbs of frozen pie cherries and needed to get them out of the frezer problem being no large primary ferminters were empty. I had a new Ice chest and sanitised it and fermented in it. Had no problems at all, and yes the lining was food grade plastic. I wouldn't make a habit of it but workes in a pinch.

 

[Wade E]

The triangle with the #2 in the middle is what you really should be using. Below is a link for you to look at. Primary fermentation isnt that critical as its only in there for short periods of time but I wouldnt use anything but #1 or #2 for that.

 

[Medieval]

Thanks for the information !

I had a hunch the plastic should be #1 or #2 grade however the bottom of the cooler doesn't actually contain the recycle triangle that I am familiar with on all other bottles however it does contain a circle with numbers from 1-9 and an arrow pointing towards the number #2. I wonder if this represents the 9 possible different plastic types and it's saying it's type #2 that makes sense to me but I haven't really seen anything like that before other than the typical triangle.

 

[sly22guy]

There are plenty of people out there who use 30 gal brute trash cans for large batches. Many on here do. So yes i would say that your cooler would be just fine. Just make sure to sanitize it well. Hum an insulated primary with a spout! What could be better! Think i might just go pick one up myself!

 

[Wade E]

Some of thise Brutes are very good quality food grade cans. I think its the white, gray and yellow that are food grade, not sure about the yellow as it could be blue but its one of thise 2 last colors.

 

[Medieval]

Thanks all, It's an extra container thats laying around which I thought might work if I wanted to work on smaller batches and not have to sacrafice a larger fermenter for a smaller batch. I'll surely give the igloo a try for a small batch.

I was trying to figure out which buckets could be used as a primary fermenter.. For example I might be able to get my hands on some Pickle buckets and wondered if that is the same type of bucket wine shops are selling for 15$ bucks. . I have seen many wine shops sell the buckets and they say there "special" how special really? Just food grade type plastic material as I understand correct?

The free bucket would be worth every penny but just trying to make sure I don't mess up a batch using the wrong buckets

 

[diggerdan17]

I was out jogging one day and saw a pick up truck fly be me with great speed and his 8 gallon orange Gatorade cooler flew out of the back of his truck and into the ditch. I ran over and carried it home and have been using it very successfully as a primary fermenter for over a year. These are great and they have a spigot on the bottom and are marked on the inside for litres and gallons.



What a great find for me!


Digger

 

[sly22guy]

You should be fine with the pickle bucket, as it was used in food products it should be food grade.

A good place to check is ice cream shops (ie Bruster's Ice Cream) They get large fruit buckets in to make there ice cream with and then just throw out the buckets. Or if there is a Jelly plant or any type of large food mfg plant near you they will most likely have all the buckets you could ever need & they usually have lids too! Most of them you will find will be 5 gal but hey if there free just use two to make a 6 gal batch!

Btw Colman & igloo both make coolers up too 10 Gal! And if you have a huge batch most of there chest coolers have drains too!

 

[Wade E]

Those coolers make great conversions to Beer making HLT's or MLT's. Here's a pic of what I did with mine.

 

[sly22guy]

Nice! Like that alum Cart you built too!