Due to rising prices and the fact I’m cooking more at home, I’d like to start buying certain staples in bulk. By “bulk” I mean 5-10 pounds at a time, maybe 20, not 100 lbs bags or crates.
Unfortunately, there aren’t really any bulk food stores near me (Gary, Indiana).
So I thought I’d ask the Dope, because SOMEBODY here will know where I should go. I’m willing to drive some distance (I have a pickup - I could really stock up if that seems like a good idea) or I am quite open to ordering on-line (where the problem is more of a matter of too many choices rather than not enough)
The items I am presently interested in are:
Wheat flour (this must 100% wheat, too many baking flours these days have barley, which I am quite allergic to)
Rye flour
Rice (Yes, I know there are issues with that currently, but I’m not looking to hoard it, this would be for my usual rate of consumption)
Quinoa
Millet
Teff
Noodles
Loose leaf tea
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Should I achieve success with this endeavor I suppose my next predicament would be securing sturdy storage containers.
I can’t offer where to buy for you. My post has to do with proper storage once you buy. It doesn’t do much good to buy in bulk if you cannot store it and keep it safe.
For example, when we buy dry cat food for our three munchkins we transfer the bag to a five gallon plastic bucket with airtight lid. The little monsters are voracious eaters so the food doesn’t get stored long. Nevertheless the bucket is sealed airtight in a cool and dark place.
We have a chain here called foodco that sells alot of this stuff in bulk bins that you bag your own as needed. Its kinda cool because if you wanted you could bring a measuring cup and buy just enough for a recipie if you wanted. As far as storage you might want to look for a restaraunt supply place, most of them will have food grade storage buckets with airtight lids.
There is the above mentioned Costso, also Gordon Food Services (geared toward restaurants, and might be able to order things they might not have in stock) in Merrillville. I know that for a Girl Scout thing, Strack’s was willing to sell us bulk packages of BBQ foods, like chips, hot dogs and such. They might be good for a call.
I second the storage issue above. Our Costco membership stopped seeming like such a deal when we realized we didn’t have enough storage…
I got 75 pounds of oriental snack crackers from them, for about $2.50 a pound, as opposed to the $9 a pound it works out in those little bags from Target. They ship UPS, and it’s free shipping for orders over $75. Which you will have no trouble meeting if you’re truly buying in bulk.
If they don’t have everything you need, you can google around under “bulk foods” and “wholesale foods”.
For storage containers, you need the kind of tupperware/rubbermaid big ol’ containers that are designed for food storage (I got mine at Wal-Mart), because that means they seal more airtight than the Sterilite shoeboxes/totes/blanket boxes, or else put the goods in triple Hefty Steelsacks with baggie ties, and then put them in a rubbermaid/sterilite thing with a reasonably tight-fitting lid, which is to protect the hefty sacks from getting holes poked in them.
And big packs of silica gel are good, too. My crackers came with them, but you might wanna buy some yourself.
Be aware that foods in bulk are going to take up a LOT of space. I put the contents of just one of my boxes into four of those 1-gallon size tupperware thingies, with some overflow in regular tupperware, and I still have two more big boxes of crackers down in the basement. They came packaged as double-layered hefty sacks inside sealed cartons.
If you’re buying from a reputable wholesaler (i.e. not from an open-air souk in the Third World), the bugs have to get in, they usually aren’t already there.
If you do discover bugs in something, the easiest way to fix it is to pop the contents into a deep freezer for a couple of weeks. I used to have to do this with parakeet seed periodically, and it works like a charm.
Thanks for the link, Duck Duck Goose! I saw many items in there that I like and several that would make wonderful cooked dishes for my Quaker Parrot and Cockatiel.
Yes, I am aware of that store. However, I have ethical issues with buying from Wal-Mart and its cousins and will avoid doing so if there are alternatives. I also do not want to be obligated to join a “Club” to be inundated with junk mail, offers for crap I don’t want, and pressure to buy things I don’t need.
If Costco offers flour in bulk why don’t they have it listed on their web site? I’ve searched several times and I just can’t find it.
Also, my concern is that their flour, like most flour these days, contains barley. I can not emphasize enough that there must be NO barley in flour I use whatsoever. Thank Og that I am able to find 100% wheat (and only wheat grain) bread at prices I can manage. This puts me in a tight spot, really, since I can NOT find baking flours without barley around here I don’t have the option of baking my own bread. The “artisinal” and “organic” flours I can find around here are in 1lb bags (totally insufficient quantity) and extremely expensive - I don’t want or need “organic” or "heritage’ or what have you, I just need wheat flour with no stinkin’ additives!
I would be willing to check out the flour and baking goods in Costco, but they seem adverse to letting me look myself, and the customer (dis)service people seem incapable of comprehending my question, much less answering it. I am very resistant to joining their club given that such “membership” may be useless to me, and I am very displeased at how I’ve been treated by them.
It does put me in quite a bind, if I’m trying to buy in bulk to save money, but wind up with “crunchy granola” companies where even in bulk things cost more. I’m willing to pay a fair price for quality, but my budget has a definite limit these days.
And thanks for the storage suggestions - I learned about that when I was a kid and the family would buy in large quantities, but the review is good. I’m not totally new to the concept, just haven’t needed to practice it for a good 10 or 15 years.
GFS does not have baking flour without barley in it.
Neither does Strack’s, except for some very pricey “organic” flours. When I inquired about ordering some without barley the lady’s response was “But why? The barley makes it taste so yummy!” Um… what part of “so allergic it can put me in the hospital” did you miss, hmm?
Meier’s does not have pure wheat flour, period.
I’m not looking for “BBQ foods”, chips, dogs, etc. I am looking for (among other things) baking flour that is JUST wheat, nothing else. Which for some inexplicable reason seems unobtainable in NW Indiana.
Mind you, the websites already given are helpful for some of the things I’m looking for, I do appreciate it, but my local stores seem incpable of suppling me with unadulterated wheat flour. I have already asked, hence I have come here and am looking on-line.
As a long time Costco shopper and member, I have never be inudated with junk mail, offers for crap I don’t want and pressure to buy things I don’t need. All I ever receive from them is a monthly mailer listing some of their specials. You have the option of opting out of all advertisements when you join. I just bought 4 tires for my truck, the amount I saved over my local Goodyear dealer for the same tires more than covered the cost of the membership.
Costco offers many items not shown on their website. They don’t show the 35 pound bucket of cat litter I just bought on their website either.
Costco does carry flour in bulk, but I can’t find it on their website.
Anyway, go make Bob’s Red Mill your friend. Available in up to 25 lb bags and no barley.
In my experience loose leaf tea does not stay fresh in bulk bins over extended periods of time. After a few months it’s drinkable but nothing special as a lot of the aromatics of leaf tea will degrade over time.
*Some Wall Street analysts assert that Mr. Sinegal is overly generous not only to Costco’s customers but to its workers as well.
Costco’s average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam’s Club. And Costco’s health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish.* I consider Costco to be a preferred shopping choice for me.
About storage, I don’t know. I’m starting to wonder about stocking up on stuff when it’s on sale, too. There’s some unsettling talk on the airwaves…
And I cannot believe that a merchant who advertises, “A premium quality Whole Wheat flour” would put barley flour in it. For one thing, they’d run afoul of the FTC’s truth in advertising laws and the FDA’s food labeling laws if anybody found out. Not to mention losing their Amazon account. Their website.. You could e-mail or call them, and ask.
Apparently the place to go for bulk foods in the Chicago area is http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ Look under “Store Locations”. I’ve never been there, so bear in mind that to some folks, “bulk foods” means you get to scoop your two cups of pistachios out of a big bin instead of buying them in a baggie. So if you make the trek, don’t get your hopes up too high.
Poking around on Google under “bulk foods” turns up the following first-page hits. No idea about any of them, but there they are.
Not only is Sam’s Club a part of Wal-Mart, their prices also aren’t any lower than anybody else’s. We’ve tried them twice over the years, paid memberships and all, and the only thing they offer is foods in larger quantities than Kroger. If you need 5 lb. boxes of Kraft mac n cheese, Sam’s is the place to go. But it’s basically the same price as buying a whole flock of smaller boxes of Kraft mac n cheese at Kroger would be. If you need 10 lbs. of butterfly pork loin chops, there they are. But not any cheaper than they are at Kroger. The novelty of buying whacking big bags of tater tots and broccoli wears off fast.