Refrigerators, one of the indispensable products offered by the developing technology from the past to the present, keep our food fresh and our drinks cold. In this context, they extend the life of foods and beverages that would normally last for a short time. This makes them an indispensable part of our lives.
The refrigerator started to appear as an idea roughly in the 1700s. But before these times, what methods did people use to prolong the life of their food or keep drinks cool? Let’s see together.
The drying method used today was highly preferred to prolong the life of food:
Of course, modern drying techniques did not exist thousands of years ago. For this reason, the method of drying in sunlight was preferred. This prevented bacteria from multiplying in a humid environment.
Another method of food preservation dating back thousands of years: Smoking
Although it does not provide as strong protection as drying, the method of smoking also significantly reduces the preservation of meat and other foods. was providing. This method, which is still seen today, involves cooking the meat with smoke without coming into contact with the fire. In this context, chips added to the fire also add a smoky flavor to the meat.
Ice cream method preferred mostly in cold northern countries:
We’ve seen places where it’s freezing cold, at least in documentaries. Here people were doing what we do with our freezers today, with snow and ice in abundance around. In this way, the dishes could be preserved for a long time.
Not everyone lives in the cold northern countries, so those further south had to find a similar route. Thanks to this, the method of embedding appeared.
In the embedding method, the lower part of the ground is cooler than the upper part. In this way, the life of the food was extended as it was not exposed to heat and oxygen.
It is even known that in ancient times people used swamps to bury food in swamps that no one wants to approach nowadays. The advantages offered by these regions are that they are acidic, cool and less oxygenated. This contributes to the longevity of food.
Besides swamps, lakes were also popular places to store food.
Buildings named Yakhchal, which we think were first used by Persians:
We can think of these structures as refrigerators used in ancient times. They were used to store ice brought from the mountains during the winter and to store food. Of course, the right to access cold products to cool off during hot periods largely rested with the people in government.
Towards the 1800s, ‘ice boxes’, whose working logic is similar to Yakchal but smaller, became widespread. They had to be changed daily as the ice used in them melted.
The canning method that preserves food for years and we are familiar with at this time:
The roots of this method do not go back to ancient times, as we can guess. Instead, we see it being discovered in the early 1800s. This method, invented by the Frenchman Nicolas Appert, advanced considerably in the 1900s. So, in a way, we can say that it is new compared to the others.
The history of preserving food with the method of pickling goes back to the Mesopotamians:
Pickles, which are consumed today because they are both delicious and healthy, are used by the people of this period to treat their food like vinegar. It emerged with efforts to keep it intact for a long time by keeping it in acidic mixtures.
Rather, it is presumed to be stored in low-pH items such as wine or beer.
- Note: Although canning and pickling are seemingly alike, the fact that the main tool in canning is containers and acids are the leading roles in the pickling method distinguish these two from each other.
Another method mostly used in meat products is salting:
In ancient times, salting method was used both for the preservation of valuable nutrients and for bad harvests. It was preferable to be prepared in advance. From a chemical point of view, roughly, we see that salt removes bacteria that cause food to deteriorate by drying it out.
A method of preserving food using sugar and honey:
In this method, traces of which can be traced back to ancient times, sugar was used similarly to salting. In this way, dried fruits and vegetables are mostly stored in honey and their lifespan is extended.
Normally, pure sugar is used to dry fruits and vegetables, and crystal sugar is used to store them. Since honey is high in sugar, it could do the same.
Jugs were used to keep the water cold or warm:
There are pores on the jugs from the construction stages. This causes the evaporation of the moisture expelled from these places. For example, when we want to store cold water inside, we see that a small amount of water coming out of tiny pores evaporates in hot air. This evaporation causes the heat on the test surface to go with it.
Both inside and cold test, so it does not exchange heat and stays cool. Of course, in this process, the water in the jug decreases somewhat due to evaporation.
The refrigerator, which started to show itself as an idea in the 1700s, began to be used in homes as we know it in the early 1900s. If there is a different food preservation method that you know before this, you can share it in the comments.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
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