My friendly restaurant would like me to supply a container they can pour hot oil in to allow it to cool overnight. Then he can pour it in a 5 gallon plastic bucket to give to me in the morning. A stainless steel 5 gallon bucket is over $100 - Ouch! Does a galvanized bucket 'give off' anything I should be concerned of? I seem to recall reading that somewhere.

Thanks for your help.
Al

You should be able to find an aluminum pot bigger than 5 gallons. That's what all my sources use to drain and cool the oil.

Yes, galvanizing should be avoided, but it won't cause immediate problems if it's all you've got. In theory it will speed up polymerization of oil, shortening its storage life. This might be a bigger concern if the contact is with really hot oil, for a long period of time (boiling oil with zinc, lead, copper or iron was the way long-ago painters made their oil paints to dry).
I assume you've already checked around for things like small steel drums (if you were closer to Washington I could give you a bunch). How 'bout second-hand restauraunt supply places - look for a really big pot of stainless steel or aluminum with handles and a lid. It would look right at home in a restauraunt.
How will they be pouring it in? Ladling it in with a small sauce pan, or picking up the hot fryer pot and pouring it, or does it have a drain? If you could arrange a funnel holder, you could use steel "jerry" cans. Note that the rubber gaskets swell up and turn funny, in my experience, but you could fix that with better rubber.

Cheers,
JohnO

I've had pretty good luck with 10-gallon mini-drums. Full, they're about 75 pounds, so I can lift them into a truck bed or van, and they take the heat well. The sweet thing is that I never have to pump goo. I pick up full drums drums from my supplier, take them home, filter, then return the drums after a few days. Pictures here (black ones), here, and here.

I got them from Container Mgmt. Corp for $8 each.

Our co-op, MidOhio Biofuels at http:\\midohiobio.com is using 8 of them for picking up from two cafeterias at a major corporation in Columbus, and are ordering 12 more for similar deals. Because they're sealed drums, they're sanitary, vermin-free, easy to manage and seal, and the restaurants seem to love them. They take the drum into the kitchen, pump directly into it from the fryer, and then put it on their dock. No more odor, mess, or troubled health inspectors.

Dan Houser
Founding member
Midohio Biofuels Co-op
http://midohiobio.com