What Size Of A Container For 50# Of Sugar
I Hate Running Out Of Supplies
If you know me, I have a big stock of food. Partly because I like to be prepared, and partly because I HATE running out of things. The other day I had to restock on sugar and bought a 50# of it. The question then was “what size of container do I need for 50# of sugar?”
I have some 33 quart containers in my pantry that almost hold a 50# bag, but that wasn’t quite enough for the new bag and the last of what I have. After some research I came up with this chart that I found on SimplyPrepared.com.
| CONTAINER SIZE CHART | ||||
| CONTAINER | POUNDS OF FOOD CONTAINER WILL HOLD | |||
| SIZE | GROUP 1 | GROUP 2 | GROUP 3 | GROUP 4 |
| 1 gallon | 7 lbs | 5 lbs | 4 lbs | 3 lbs |
| 2 gallon | 15 lbs | 10 lbs | 8 lbs | 6 lbs |
| 4 gallon | 30 lbs | 20 lbs | 15 lbs | 13 lbs |
| 5 gallon | 35 lbs | 25 lbs | 20 lbs | 15 lbs |
| 6.5 gallons | 50 lbs | 30 lbs | 25 lbs | 20 lbs |
| 13 gallon | 100 lbs | 60 lbs | 50 lbs | 40 lbs |
| 30 gallon | 225 lbs | 150 lbs | 120 lbs | 90 lbs |
| 55 gallon | 400 lbs | 275 lbs | 225 lbs | 160 lbs |
Group 1: Wheat, beans, rice, sugar, grains
Group 2: Non-instant powdered milk, flour
Group 3: Oatmeal, macaroni, spaghetti
Group 4: Instant powdered milk, potato flakes
BONUS! – Printable PDF Of This Chart
The Answer to Storing 50# Of Sugar
Running through several calculators online, I come up with granulated sugar taking up about 7 gallons per 50# bag. Websites seem to not all agree.
This means thought that to store 50# of sugar plus some left over I need at least a 28 Quart container. The good news is that my existing 33 quart containers will do the job. Honestly I had poured most of my new bag into one and nearly filled it when I started wondering if I needed more space. But it just fit.
My preferred containers for bulk things are the storage bins from IRIS. They come in 11, 33, 47 and 69 quart sizes and all but the 11 quart have wheels. I wouldn’t be on the seals being water tight, but I have yet to have any bugs in anything I’ve kept in them.
As a side note, while this document didn’t have the conversion for what size of sugar I need for 50# of sugar, it had a whole bunch of other useful data. [PDF] USDA – Weights, Measures and Conversion Factors for Agriculture Products and Their Commodities
