Testing the Seal on a Bucket Packed in a Modified Atmosphere

• 1). Turn on your handheld indoor air quality monitor and allow it to warm up. This typically takes 30 seconds.
  
  
• 2). Set your indoor air quality monitor to the CO2 setting and take a reading in the room where your bucket is. Record this as a control air sample reading.
  
  
• 3). Place the tip of your monitor under the lip of the seal of your bucket to allow it to calibrate the air at the bucket seal. Record this as your test air sample reading.
  
  
• 4). Check the reading. If your test reading is 100 ppm or 0.01 percent greater than your control reading, your 5-gallon bucket is not sealed and you should take further tests to ensure accurate readings. If your test and control readings are less than 100 ppm or 0.01 percent different, your bucket is sealed and is not allowing any oxygen in or carbon dioxide out of the bucket's controlled atmosphere.
  
  
• 5). If the readings showed that your bucket is not sealed, re-test at least three times to ensure an accurate reading prior to re-sealing your bucket.
  
  

Testing the Seal on a Bucket to Ensure that Liquid does not Leak

• 1). Fill your bucket with any liquid substance and seal tightly.
  
  
• 2). Place the bucket upside down in a plastic tub.
  
  
• 3). Check the plastic tub after 24 hours for leaking liquid. If there is no liquid in the tub, your bucket is sealed.
  
  

Testing the Seal for Blow Out Potential

• 1). Fill the bucket full of the high pH food and seal the bucket well. Low pH foods will not form gases that cause blow out and will not need to be tested through this method.
  
  
• 2). Put the sealed bucket in a 120 degree F controlled room or cabinet.
  
  
• 3). Check the bucket after 24 hours. If the bucket has not leaked liquid, expanded or blown out, it will be safe in the extreme heat of shipping or unventilated storage in hot months.