Page 41 - The Lost Book Preserving Food Naturally

The Lost Book of Preserving Food Naturally

to protect it, the moisture will be drawn out of it, causing freezer burn and rendering at

least part of the food unusable.

Nevertheless, refrigeration, or the use of cold to slow the metabolism of bacteria, is the

only way of keeping fresh food fresh, while still preserving it. You are just limited as to

the amount of time you can keep this food fresh, as it will eventually spoil. But it will take
much longer for the food to spoil, than if it were left at room temperature.

The modern electric refrigerator is a fairly new invention, having hit the market only

about a century ago. Even so, the use of cold for food storage is not new. In the Middle

Ages, people who had the capability used to keep milk, cheese and other perishables in

caves or wells to keep them cool. This idea later developed into the root cellar, which also
uses cool temperatures to reduce spoilage of food. In cold climates, freezing (especially

of meat) was accomplished during the wintertime by building a food locker that was

exposed to the outside temperature, while protecting it from wild animals.

While modern refrigeration is extremely convenient and widely used, it requires
electricity. This places a limitation on refrigeration, in that it can’t be used if the power

goes out. In a post-disaster situation, where power is often lost, people tend to lose the

contents of their refrigerators and freezers. If such a situation were caused by a true

TEOTWAWKI event, such as the loss of the electric grid, the resultant loss of food would

be devastating.

Refrigeration without Electricity
There are ways of keeping food cool, without the use of electricity. These predominantly

cool by evaporation. The process of evaporation is a natural cooling process, that’s why

people perspire. As the sweat or water changes from liquid to gas (water vapor) it has to

absorb a lot of heat. In the case of perspiration, it absorbs that heat from the person’s

body. In the case of an evaporative cooler, it absorbs that heat from what is in the cooler.

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