How can you preserve food/liquids without a refrigerator? (Meat, vegetables, milk, etc.)?

Question

I am curious to know how it is possible to keep food fresh without a refrigerator. How did they preserve it in the past? How did they keep it chilled? How do the Amish save food? What do you know/think?

Answer 1

There are many ways to preserve food, depending on what it is. Meats can be brined (liquid solution like for corned beef), dried (jerky),salted, canned (under pressure) and smoked. Vegetables and fruit can be dried, and canned (under pressure or water bath), some are brined (cucumbers into pickles). Some fruit and vegetables will last over winter simply packed in sawdust or dirt. None of these processes require refrigeration. The pioneers had no way to preserve fresh milk, except in the form of cheese and butter(which doesn't last much longer than milk. Most pioneers kept dairy products in what was called a milk house. This was usually a small building built right over a stream, and the items were kept in the stream. Ice was available, but was very expensive. It was chopped out of northern lakes in big huge blocks, in the winter and hauled across the country (it melted almost gone before it reached many destinations, that is why it was so expensive). However, modern inventions such as powdered milk, and liquid milk specially treated so that it does not need refrigeration are now available. Eggs can be waterglassed (sodium silicate), or pickled.

Answer 2

Long ago, people would use a lot of salt as a preservative, and keep perishables in cellars since (no furnaces) the temp was about 55F. And things like milk were kept in the local stream. Or you just milked the cow and drank it warm. (Ick!) Vegetables were fresh picked from the garden, just as much was needed for the night's meal. Or, there was a lot of canning and "putting it up" in the cellar for the future. It's a great thing to read about, it's how my great-aunts did it, and they turned out wonderful meals.

Answer 3

There is no way to keep milk "preserved" you just have to drink it really fast....packing meat in salt is how they preserved food before refridgeration. I know the Amish keep their food stored in the basement of their homes, and since they are dirt floor basements, it stays cooler, but will still go bad over a short period of time.

Answer 4

The amish can a lot of what they grow, including meat, their milk is usually from their own cows and consumed right away or made into butter. Milk, back in the past, was usually delivered daily and used pretty quickly, they ordered only what they needed on a daily basis.

Answer 5

well im not sure about the amish but back in the day they used tons of salt as a preservative. thats how jerky was invented because that was the only way to keep meat

Answer 6

When I was a boy we had what was called a meat safe. It was a ventilated cupboard on an outside wall and we kept those things in it. I guess stuff would keep several days, depending on the weather.
I live in a cool area, and in winter the storage would be longer than in summer.

Answer 7

Store it in a Polystyrene - Thermocol Box, meat to be preferably salt coated & also put Ice in the box. Should stay fresh for at least 1-2 days if not frequently opened.

Answer 8

you can salt your meat, or can it or make a root celar from coolers in the ground,in a shadey area. keep coverd and it will stay well for a period of time and rotate your stock and only harvest and use whats nessasary.weve become so dependant on refridgeration,and we stock pile so much and spend so much on what isnt needed,its a shame what fast food has done to our economy.

Answer 9

mat was placed in a salt troff completely covered,for seven days then salt pulls all blood out the meat)then rinsed well and resalted,you could also add sugar glaze(find it at any aug dep o op)keep repeating this process and meat last vey long time.when you want meat just slice some off rinse it well.

Answer 10

well about the milk and veberages i guess they kept it cold. but the meat they would put salt and that somehow saved the food from getting rotten.
i learned that last year =D