Wow! 50lbs! That is heavy! I can't imagine trying to pull open a 50lb drawer. I can't imagine hefting 50 lbs into a pull out. Hmmm, what about designing a space into the end of the island with a door (or 2 "french" doors) on the end of the island. The bag could stand up inside that space.

I think I would store the 50-pound bag in the pantry and use it to refill a canister as needed. A canister with a few pounds of rice could be stored on the countertop, since you'd use it daily, or in a drawer or cabinet if you want it out of the way.

Found the thread blue referreded to. Took me a while. I had to Google "gardenweb kitchen 50lb dog food" to find it. For some reason the GW search engine wouldn't pull it up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread on Where to Store 50lb Bags of Dog Food

I just weighed and measured my roughly rectangular container of basmati, and I'm guessing 50# of rice probably requires about 1400 cubic inches of space, less than one cubic foot. It could easily fit in a drawer, and standard drawer slides could easily carry the weight. I'd be most concerned about keeping it clean. The drawers I build for my dog's and cat's food have plexiglass tops which slide in groves milled into the drawer slides. This is not a tight seal and would not keep out pantry moths (what does?) but it keeps dust out nicely. I think it would work fine for rice, as long as you don't have chronic infestation problems. It would, however, be a custom-built sort of thing. Whatever you choose, my experience has been that it gets harder to scoop out the food when the depth of the food gets shallow, so a deep and narrow box is better than a wide and shallow one. Also, make the container perhaps 10% bigger than the 50# sack requires so that you can dump in the new sack before completely using up the old one.

...drawers I built for my dog's and cat's food have plexiglass tops which slide in groves milled into the drawer sides...

I just answered this on the cooking forum for keeping 25 pounds of flour. I keep almost 20 pounds of rice in a large Lock & Lock container. $15 on Amazon. It is air tight, sits on a shelf and stacks well. Two of those would work, and for me at least, be easier to move than 50 pounds. I am not sure if it is the largest size.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lock n Lock

Here is a new Bulk storage Lock and Lock I just saw on QVC. Has wheels and holds a lot. I think they are reading this forum and determining needs. :) Might help.

Crystal

Here is a link that might be useful: Large Lock and Lock

That lock and lock (name cracks me up) on wheels looks interesting. The link didn't work for me, but just using it and then searching I found them. Cool idea.

Having battled pantry moths in the past, I like to break up bulk items. Half goes into the freezer and the rest goes into a container that I can seal.

I started using lock and lock after they came out best in a consumer report test. The containers are the best for keeping food from going bad I have ever used. Easy to open, clean in DW.

I was the OP on the 25 pounds of flour storage question to which cotehele replied. Those Lock & Locks are really nice containers and was just about to order them- but I got really lucky and asked at the bakery section of my local supermarket for 'icing containers'. The ones I'd gotten were 15 liter covered containers which hold about 20 pounds of flour - probably close to 50 pounds of rice could fit, too. I plan to use two containers for the flour - the large one to hold the bulk of the flour stored away and a 5 pound container to keep handy for daily use.

Helene in NJ

Buy a 50 lb plastic container first (Similar to the one used for dog food). Then have a large drawer made with Blum undermount slides that can hold 100lbs. Easy to open. Soft close self close.

I buy durum flour in a 50 lb bag (only way I can buy at a reasonable price). The large popcorn tins from Christmas each hold 15-17 lbs, so I use 3 popcorn tins and keep a large Rubbermaid container with 5-6 lbs in my baking area.

I only buy the Basmati rice at Costco in 20 lb bags, and do the same using a popcorn tin.

I think it would be easiest knowing how much rice you use in a typical week, and always keep that much on hand.

I use the Blitz Pour and Store for my 40 lb dog food. It is easy to pour the whole bag through the top and then just dispense a week's worth into a tupperware for storage in the kitchen cabinet.

http://www.zootoo.com/dogs_feedingaccessories/blitzpournstorepetfoodstorageb

Anita

I am not clicking on that link that @Robbin B. posted as her one and only comment on this forum which resurrected a 15-year-old thread. At best it's clickbait so she can get paid by the number of clicks. At worst you click on it thereby allowing malware and viruses on your device. I've flagged it, so I hope it gets removed by the Houzz admin.