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When I look at the potential for disasters of all sorts, be it global warming and rising costs, social upheaval, et cetera, there are many things which make life more difficult to manage with regard to the current level of "acceptable" lifestyle in this country.
NOTHING, however, makes the difference between thriving and Third World status that refrigeration makes.
Refrigeration makes the storage of medicine possible, extends the life of open or cooked foodstuffs.
There are designs for moderate underground refrigerators based on thermal pumps, based on support from the ambient underground temperature at certain depths, etc.
But when one begins talking about long-term storage, we get into the realm of FREEZERS.
I've considered ideas based on the ice houses of old when considering the notion of a renewable resource freezer but wonder what the potential really is? I'm NOT an engineer or chemist, have virtually NO idea which way to go with such a thing other than that it would have to be underground. I've looked at designs for ice houses but that's packed ice for the sake of storing the ice itself, not for USING the ice to preserve foodstuffs.
I've searched around on the net but have yet to find anything like this.
If anyone HAS found such a thing, or if they've been considering it themselves, it would be great if we could pool thoughts and information resources in pursuit of this goal.
Yea.. I'm planning on looseing freezers fast. Even if you have a lp powered unit (like in a camper) that fuel will eventually run out. We've been concentrating on other food preservation options..canning,pickleing,drying etc. Maybe if you had a cave and could fill it with ice in the winter you could keep stuff cold/frozen longer...
P.S. We are going to be a 3rd world country if/when it hits the fan but the rest of the world will be just as bad or worse of then us
I doubt you will be able to store anything "long term". Its just not practical. You should can everything, because there won't be any freezers around. As far as meat, you will have to get rid of it as soon as you make it. Or use some sort of preservative.
if you live around here, just do the traditional things: fish all summer long and smoke it/dry it. pick your berries in early fall and dry them or make pemmican with fish oil or whatever other meat/fat you have on hand. when you hunt after the first frost, you'll probably not have to worry about having a freezer. just have a meat cache and a good way to secure it, let mother nature do the work.
Wood gas or biogas could fuel a gas freezer if the burner is properly modified. I'd keep it outside or in a shed seperate from the house as if the flame goes out, the (poisonous in its unburnt state) wood gas could kill...
A springhouse can replace the refridgerator for non-frozen items, a root cellar is excellent for root crops.
Ice boxes work too but require lots of ice. My father's family used one until the 60's. The ice was collected during the winter from a pond and stored in an underground icehouse and packed with IIRC he said straw and maybe salt but I can't remember for sure. They had an enormous icehouse on the farm for a very tiny icebox and the occasional ice cream made at home...that ice house and the farm are long gone (I do have the old ice tongs though), or I'd be able to help more. The real key though, is getting deep enough underground that the ice won't melt too quickly so it lasts through the summer. It must be built well to prevent collapse, the door must be super insulated. Easier up here where summers are short than warmer areas...
Last edited by arctichomesteader; 01-10-2010 at 08:05 PM..
I doubt you will be able to store anything "long term". Its just not practical. You should can everything, because there won't be any freezers around. As far as meat, you will have to get rid of it as soon as you make it. Or use some sort of preservative.
Lids for jars could become a problem...the old style glass lid jars use re-usable rubber rings if you carefully open them, but they won't last forever...
It'll be far tougher in the South to keep food than the North. Up here Fall was when meat was butchered, when it gets cool enough to prevent spoilage. It would be smoked, salted, dried, etc., to preserve it. When it gets cold enough it'll make it all winter just hanging in a shed or such. The South has less options.
Lids for jars could become a problem...the old style glass lid jars use re-usable rubber rings if you carefully open them, but they won't last forever...
Interesting you should mention this. If you are worried about lids, I saw some lids at the grocery store that you could just buy on their own. They sold the glass jars for preserving, and they had the lids on top. But they also sold lids all on their own in packs. At the moment I didn't know why they would sell lids by themselves though, but I guess this is why. I guess he should stock up on lids.
In theory, the old gas burning ammonia coil fridges and freezers (gas absorption refrigeration) should be able to work just fine with a simple fire (no wood gasification necessary) as long as you had the ammonia (or whatever liquid/gas combo worked and was available). A few modifcations to put in a firebox rather than a pilot light (and probably move the fire away from the storage compartment!) would probably still work just dandy. My husband and I have been considering building one ourselves using a salvaged freezer (or maybe just an big insulated box) and standard plumbing parts... we'll see if we can get it to work. (of course, we only need a freezer maybe 6 months out of the year here, and maybe zero refrigeration if we get our root cellar dug properly since mean ground temp is 35-40).
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