Gamma Seal Lids

If you’ve ever pried a lid off one of your food storage pails, you know it can be frustrating. But did you know that each time you pry a snap-on lid off your pail, you are distorting the lid and weakening the seal a little bit at a time? Gamma Seal Lids are made to seal, re-seal, and re-re-seal time and again while maintaining a leak proof and airtight seal for years of repeated opening and closing.

Gamma Seal Lids are made from food grade plastic and are free of BPA.

 

How To Attach The Gamma Seal Lid To Your Pail

Gamma lids come in two pieces that are attached together when you receive them, the adapter and the actual lid. When you get your lid, unscrew the lid from the adapter ring. Then snap the ring onto the top of your pail. You may need to pound it on with a mallet, but it will usually just snap on. 

Then screw on the top.

That’s it! Now you have a really nice pail with a lid that spins on and off easily enough for anyone to open without frustration.

 

What Size Pails Do Gamma Seal Lids Fit?

Gamma Seal lids are designed to fit any pail that is 3.5 to 7 gallons.

 

The Seal That Makes Gamma Seal Lids So Awesome

When you open and close a regular snap-on lid, how do you do it? You pry it, right? Now what do you think happens to the little gasket inside that lid when you force it off and on your pail? Over time, the lid becomes warped from the repeated prying, and the gasket no longer fits snugly inside, and the lid is no longer air tight.

I actually have a pail with a snap on lid that is completely ruined from daily use. Every time I take off the lid, the gasket literally falls out into the pinto beans I keep in that pail.

As long as you close it properly, this would never happen with a Gamma Seal Lid. The Gamma Seal’s gasket is affixed to the outer rim of the lid, and it naturally fits snugly up next to the side of the pail. Because you never need to pry the Gamma Seal Lid, it always keeps its shape and does not become warped, so it will keep its secure air tight seal for many, many years of continual use.

 

How To Close Your Gamma Seal Lid The Right Way

The tighter the better, right? Nope. Not with Gamma Seal lids. When you close your Gamma lid, you want to spin it until it stops and then tighten it down just a tiny bit more, about a quarter inch. I know, I know, if you really crank on it, you can easily get the lid to turn two or even three inches more and give yourself a feeling of satisfaction knowing that the contents of your pail are safe and snug. Problem is that you'll eventually ruin the gasket on the lid this way. And the extra torquing is unnecessary, even damaging.
What happens when you twist the lid on so tight is you squeeze the gasket between the lid and the pail much harder than it needs to be squeezed, stretching the gasket a little while you turn. In so doing, you mis-shape the gasket a little bit each time you close the lid too tightly. And eventually, it will weaken the seal.
So save your amazing strength for more productive things like hand grinding your wheat or hoisting your two year old up on the counter to help you knead bread dough. And only tighten the Gamma lid down about a quarter of an inch after it stops spinning closed on its own. This will ensure your Gamma Seal lids retain their excellent air and water tight seals for many years to come.

Are Gamma Seal Lids Water Tight?

Yes, to a point. They’ll keep out splashes and even spills, but leave your pail of grain out in the weather unsheltered and you’ll likely end up with soggy grain. It’s best to keep your pails of grain in a dry location, even with the Gamma Seal Lid.


Ideas For Organizing With Colored Gamma Seal Lids


What I like best about having my grains and beans topped with different colored lids is that it’s much easier to ask one of the kids to run down to the basement and grab the red pail rather than asking them to find the pail labeled “Prairie Gold Wheat Berries – Use First.” These are incredible lids, and the bright colors make them really fun to use.

Colored Gamma Seal Lids can really help you stay organized, too, especially if you keep many different kinds of dry goods in food storage pails. Here are some good ideas for organizing your dry foods with colored lids

 

Food Storage Organized By Date

Store your grains from oldest to newest, and indicate which grains should be used first by the color of the lid. For example, the oldest grain is in the pail with the red lid, the next oldest is in the pail with the orange lid.

When you’re finished using up the grain in the red-topped pail, grab the orange pail next, then yellow. And when you get to the end of the rainbow, start over at the first color.

 

Organize Your Food Storage By Type

hard white wheat in the white pail…

hard red wheat in the red pail…

pinto beans in the yellow pail…

black beans in the black pail…

 
Distinguish Long Term Food Storage From Daily Use Foods

Keep all foods that you are storing long term in pails topped with labeled black gamma seal lids. And organize the foods you use daily in pails with different colored lids.

 

How And When To Use Gamma Seal Lids

Use The Gamma Seal As A Convenient Lid You Open Regularly

The most obvious time to use the Gamma Seal Lid is when you need a convenient cover for food storage pails you open and close regularly. Keep pails of flour, grains, and beans within easy access of your kitchen, and fit each one with a Gamma Seal Lid so your necessities are easy to get to.

 

Use The Gamma Seal Lid For Long Term Food Storage

Gamma Seal Lids are especially good to use on your long term food storage pails because of their high quality seal. If you plan to keep your pails of grain or beans for several months or years, your pail needs to be completely air tight, and the Gamma Seal Lid provides this excellent seal. The Gamma lid will keep bugs and moisture out of your food and lock in the freshness of the product you’re storing.
 
 
Can I Use A Gamma Seal Lid On A Pail With Oxygen Absorbers Inside?

Yes! That’s what Gamma Lids were created for. As long as you do not open the lid, your oxygen absorbers will protect the contents of your pail for many years.

Forgive me if this is obvious to you, but a lot of people assume they can open and close, open and close their pail, and that the oxygen absorbers inside will continue to keep their grain in a zero oxygen environment. This is not the case.

Oxygen absorbers remove the oxygen from an enclosed environment, such as the inside of a pail, and there is a limit to the amount of oxygen they can absorb. When you open the pail, the oxygen absorber will begin to absorb oxygen from the air around you until it runs out of absorbing power. Then when you close the lid again, there will be oxygen inside that the absorber cannot absorb because it is spent already.

If you want the oxygen absorbers to do their job, they must remain in a sealed environment. Once you open the pail, you’ll need to begin using the food inside, or else you’ll need to add more oxygen absorbers and re-seal the pail.