bulk salt

[fern]

Has anyone purchased salt in bulk? I have found nothing over a 5 pound bag to date and would like to find it in 25 or 50 lb lots. The same with brown sugar.

[Toepopper]

Yes. Purchased a 50 pound paper sack of salt way back in 1995 and still have most of it. We stored it in large glass pepperoncini jars and it has stored well with no clumps. Salt will last forever if you can keep it dry. Fifty pounds is way too much for 2 people and it is just sitting there taking up space on the shelf. Same story for sugar but we only use the stuff for feeding the humingbirds.

[fern]

Where did you find it in bulk?

[Toepopper]

We found it at a bulk grain store, the local grange co-op. They sell everything in bulk. We buy 50 pound bags of popcorn for $8 and they last a couple years. Costco gets $8 for a single pound of Orville Redenbockers popcorn seed so buying at the grange puts money in my pocket and money likes to be in my pocket. I am not sure if there are any grange stores in the east. You may want to look at Costco for salt. I know they sell it in 25 pound sacks and its a good price.

[WillyPete]

I did some checking on bulk buys for another forum I attend and someone asked about using salt blocks like those used for cattle and horse. I was doing a lot of work at Tractor Supply stores so I checked what they had. The white, plain salt blocks are less than 0.1% non-salt, so it's basically pure salt in a 50 pound solid block. Compact storage, break some off, grind it up and put it in the shaker. The brown blocks have mineral and other supplements so I'd only use those with animals. For maybe $6.00 or so a block, there's plenty of salt to go around. Keep it dry and it'll keep for a long time.