The Calories in a 5-Gallon Bucket of Rice, Beans, and Wheat
If you are preparedness-minded (a prepper), you most certainly are aware of the benefits to store rice, beans, and wheat (among other things). But do you have any idea how to relate the number of 5-gallon buckets of storage to the number of calories contained within?
I’ve done my own measurements and calculations which may help you understand the relationship, and perhaps help with your decisions regarding how much to store.
Perhaps surprisingly, the results are similar…
Note that if you’re purchasing pre-packed long term storage from a vendor, some ship product in 6-gallon buckets, whereas many ship in 5-gallon buckets. Most of what I have on hand is in 5-gallon buckets which I’ve prepared myself – and thus the data listed below:
# Calories in a 5-gallon bucket of RICE
White Rice (30 lbs)
50,000 calories
25 survival days
1655 calories per pound (uncooked)
590 calories per pound (cooked)
675 calories per cup (uncooked)
205 calories per cup (cooked)
Note: For long term food storage, do not use brown rice (use only white rice) because it will go rancid within a year from it’s oils. Calories may vary a bit based on exact variety of white rice.
# Calories in a 5-gallon bucket of BEANS
Beans (30 lbs)
47,000 calories
24 survival days
1574 calories per pound (uncooked)
650 calories per pound (cooked)
670 calories per cup (uncooked)
245 calories per cup (cooked)
Note: There is a slight variation of calories per pound for different bean varieties. Numbers listed above are an average. They are mostly similar…
# Calories in a 5-gallon bucket of WHEAT BERRIES
Hard Red Wheat (33 pounds)
47,000 calories
23 survival days
1424 calories per pound
25 loaves of bread
One cup of ‘hard-red’ wheat berries weighs 7 ounces.
33 pounds of wheat (in a 5 gallon bucket) is equivalent to 528 ounces, so there are 75 cups of wheat in a 5 gallon bucket (528 / 7) which result in enough to make about 25 loaves of bread (3 cups wheat berries prior to being milled – per loaf).