Around 500 BC, the Egyptian and Indian cultures had discovered rapid evaporation as a means to cool water placed in clay pots, on straw beds. Evaporation, combined with the decrease in night temperatures, froze the water.
Egyptians and Indians made ice on cold nights by setting out shallow earthenware pots filled with water. 18th century farmers began to use and sell ice from their ponds.
How was ice made in the Middle Ages before the invention of the refrigerator? Thanks for the A2A. It wasn't “made”. It was harvested from lakes in the middle of winter, and then stored underground in earth cellars or the like, usually insulated with sawdust.
During the winter, ice and snow would be cut from lakes or rivers, taken into the ice house, and packed with insulation (often straw or sawdust). It would remain frozen for many months, often until the following winter, and could be used as a source of ice during the summer months.
In cold regions, during winter, lakes and ponds would freeze. People would cut large blocks of this natural ice using saws and store them in structures called “ice houses.” These ice houses were well-insulated, often with straw or sawdust, to keep the ice from melting as summer approached.
Iceboxes were commonly found in homes. Similar to our modern day refrigerators, these ice and food storage devices acted as coolers. Of course the insulation was less sophisticated than what's available today, and even large blocks of ice typically only lasted for one day.
This ice would be hauled into ice houses, huge storage sheds where massive amounts of ice could be stored all year round. The ice would be delivered to businesses and homes, who needed fresh supplies every few days to keep fish, meat, and dairy products from spoiling.
As late as the 1950s, a 500-pound block of ice cost $2.50, and lasted weeks. Thy Hygeia Iceland became the place you just had to go.
The ice was kept cold by insulating it with straw and sawdust and stored in warehouses until it was time to be used. People cut ice from lakes using hand saws. Eventually they started using horse drawn machinery to cut ice, but it was still hard and dangerous work.
In the Old West, people did not always enjoy their beer cold, for their were no modern refrigerators. To keep beer cold, people would keep kegs of beer in caves and rock cellars, lined with harvested river ice. Sometimes, they would even use wet gunny sacks full of sawdust to cool beer, as well.
Refrigeration without electricity
Ice houses on lakes and rivers were effective ways to keep food cool before the invention of electricity. If ice or snow wasn't an option, underwater or underground storage, like cold cellars, provided refrigeration.
Evaporation, combined with the decrease in night temperatures, froze the water. By 400 BC, the Persian society had become proficient in the art of storing ice during peak summer in an underground area of the desert.
During the Middle Ages, people preserved meat by salting or smoking it. They would also dry many foods, including grains. Vegetables were often salted or pickled. Many fruits were dried or turned in preserves.
You can harvest it off mountains where it's frozen at high altitudes, or even in the desert where water freezes overnight. People would take this ice, pack it together as densely as possible to insulate it from the heat, then store it in ice houses: subterranean structures that kept it dark and cool.
Well, a new study has revealed the earliest Homo sapiens used bear skin to help them stay cosy in the harsh winters. Researchers looked at old animal remains at an Old Stone Age archaeological site in Lower Saxony in Germany, where the world's oldest spears were also discovered.
In addition to keeping active, people wore thick layers of woolen clothing and often slept in them along with flannel night shirts and caps on the coldest nights. Most people, including the wealthy, went to bed in unheated bed chambers.
By the early 1800s, the ice trade developed as ships carried New England ice, insulated in sawdust, to the American South. Prior to the Civil War, ice houses were constructed across the South to store foods and other perishable items.
There are no ice harvesters left in the area today, though the practice still exists in a few spots around the U.S., mostly continued for the sake of tradition over necessity or business. However, some areas, like South Bristol, Maine, have seen these practices threatened due to rising temperatures.
An ice cream cone will cost a penny, a sundae will cost five cents and a banana split will only cost you a dime.
Well-built and maintained ice houses could preserve ice for a year or up until the next harvest. These houses ranged from maybe 10-30 tons in small communities and farms to 200,000-300,000 tons in bigger cities.
In all likelihood, these early populations would have been able to consume milk in its fresh form straight from the mammals, as well as in the lacto-fermented curds and whey which would form quickly without refrigeration.
Root cellars: In the 18th century, root cellars were commonly used to store vegetables, fruits, and other perishable foods. These cellars were built underground or partially underground to take advantage of the cool and consistent temperatures, helping to keep the food fresh for longer periods.
People have been consuming raw milk since cows were domesticated about 10,000 years ago. In the 1800s as people moved into urban areas, many US dairies began commercially producing low quality raw milk in the inner cities of Boston and New York and others.