Ancient Technology for Refrigeration..!
Have you ever pondered what your ancestors did without refrigerators? How were they able to save their food from spoiling? Well, ancient refrigeration techniques might amaze you. Ancient refrigerators didn’t require electricity, refrigerant and appliance repair technicians to operate. Still they were able to keep food articles fresh. However, ancient refrigeration techniques still work. You can try these techniques when your refrigerator stops working.
Early Methods of Refrigeration
Before the advent of modern refrigerators, food articles were kept in cellars or in buckets and then lowered into wells. Ancient refrigerators were capable of keeping food articles fresh for a good time period. However, different refrigeration techniques were used in the different parts of the world. Take a sneak peek over various ancient refrigeration techniques:
Food preservation
Food preservation technique existed even in 12000 B.C. The food articles like meat, fish, fruits and spices were dried in the sun and then persevered. Other food preservation techniques include treating food with salt and spices, fermenting food underground, smoking fish and meat, pickling in acidic brine.
Ancient Food Cooling
Ancient methods of preserving food included freezing food articles in lakes during cold season, keeping food in cool cellars and soaking food in cold streams. Early Egyptian used to store food articles in earthen jars filled with water. In Mesopotamian civilizations, ice houses were used to preserve and cool drinks. Ancient Greek, Hebrew and Roman Civilizations used snow and ice in storage pits for refrigeration.
Ice Boxes and Cold Pantries
In late 1800s, Americans have started using practical ice boxes for keeping foods and drinks cool and fresh. The ice boxes were very much similar to modern refrigerators in many manners, just in place of generating their own cold air, they used a big ice block to keep food cool. Because cold boxes have limited space, cold pantries were also used in some houses.
Modern Refrigerators
Invention of modern refrigerators started in 1830 but commercial distribution took a long time. Mechanical refrigerators became common during 1890s. However, they require frequent refrigerator repair. Modern refrigerators were invented in the 1880, but did not become common in homes until the 1920s.
