How was ice made in the 1800's without electricity?

Question

I have always wondered how they made ice cream back in the 1800,s with out having electricity. A newspaper story I read recently said that Doc Holiday enjoyed an ice cream just before the headed out for the famous shootout at the OK corral

Answer 1

Insulated boxes carrying ice from mountains or ice harvested from lakes during winter. The stuff was stored in large insulated warehouses.

Have you never had homemade ice cream? The ingredients go into a metal canister with an agitator inside of it, the agitator is connected to a crank which turns both the agitator and the canister, the canister is put into a bucket with ice and rock salt. As the rock salt melts the ice it produces a much colder brine solution that absorbs the heat from the canister, freezing its contents the agitator keeps the ice crystals from getting too big. Ho-made ice cream is a little more grainy than store bought stuff, but still cold and tasty.

You can buy electric versions in any department store that do essentially the same thing. You can get the ingredients and instructions there too.

Answer 2

Actually, they didn't make it as much as stored it. Most people had a cold cellar dug into the ground, which is always 55 degrees Fahrenheit after you dig a ways down. Then they would get large blocks ice from the mountains or other cold areas, wrap it in hay to insulate it while they transported it, and use it quickly, before it melted. It was tough, and don't think it was cheap, but it could be done if you were close enough to where the ice formed to get it before it melted.

Answer 3

Commonly ice was cut from the frozen surfaces of lakes, in large blocks. Then a large hole was dug and lined with sawdust or straw to serve as an insulator and the blocks were packed closely together inside to create a large cold thermal mass. This was then covered with more sawdust or straw and a narrow tunnel was dug with doors placed on both ends to provide a thermal barrier of air that would not exchange temperature readily. Access to the ice was had through the tunnel.

Answer 4

Before electricity ice wasn't made... it was harvested. Usually from a river and stored packed in straw in a dug-out facility.

Answer 5

In the winter they cut ice out of the frozen rivers and stored it in an ice house with sawdust to keep it cold. They used to be able to keep it until summer. That's what my parents told me.

Answer 6

People grew ice in the winter locally in the north, almost like a crop, in lakes. Then cut it, and stored it in ice houses, and transported it to warmer regions.

Answer 7

They stored it up during the winter in ice houses that were insolated, and distributed it in the summer. People had routes and delivered ice around town.

Answer 8

Have you ever made homemade icecream the old fashioned way..look it up it will do you good.
Also, I've heard they kept some things cool in the creek.

Answer 9

It was carted down from mountain lakes. Sometimes stored for months in ice houses.

Answer 10

Using Ammonia!
To evaporate it requires a lot of heat. When this heat was supplied by water, it was turning to ice!