Living without a fridge - Fridges, Pantry, Meat Safes, Cellars, Root Stores and Cold Rooms Part Two

Since being without a fridge(s) for a long period of time this has made me seriously think of alternative methods of keeping food in good condition (please see separate post about this here:  

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7703817848238285099/791412718489603828) 

This has predominantly led me back to Pantry storage and the different types available.  Most of us these days think that a Pantry is just one room but a Pantry room is determined by the type of produce that is being stored, your particular needs as a family and the space available to you.  

The Pantry storage I have off the kitchen I consider to be a dry larder.  It is coolish but not cool enough for storing fresh veg.  I have tried but unless you are potatoes things do not last in there too long so I no longer keep it here.  However, the Pantry is ideal storage for all my dry ingredients.  It would not have been good for storing meat in either.  There is not much air flow/humidity in here.   However, my understairs cupboard is cold and ideal for storing bottled preserves and veg but not meat.

From lots of reading and research I have carried out over a period of time, I know that some dairy farmers used to have a Spring Larder/Pantry room.  This is a room built over a Spring well which kept the temperature cool throughout the year and was an ideal environment for storing meat and cheeses in.  However they would also have a separate Dry Larder as well.

I remember the Pantry that my Nan and my Mum had when I was a little girl.  

My Nan's Pantry was tiled terracotta floor; a long narrow room with ventilation bricks but no window.  It had deep shelving from waist high to the ceiling and it also had tea cup hooks hanging from the shelves.  Some to store jugs and cups, others to hang onions from.  The Meat Safe was situated right at the end of the Pantry facing the door with the cold slab running to the side and once her wine was ready but the yeast needed to stop working she used to store the demijohns in there until she could get to bottle them.  The bottled wine was always kept in here and also the garage.  The majority of the apples and veg was stored in the garage to keep. 

I also remember my mum talking about the first Pantry that she had at the cottage they first lived in, in Fiskerton, a old tumbledown cottage which had a massive walk through Pantry with flag floor with the walls lined with lots of shelves, a cold slab and meat hanging area as the hooks were still in the ceiling.  She loved that Pantry, but unfortunately they had to leave the cottage because it became uninhabitable and was demolished.  After that she always had a small Pantry but I do remember her having the meat safe up until I was about four years of age.  Then she had her first fridge.

The three pantries she had afterwards were little more than narrow cupboards and none of them had a cold slab.  When mum and dad bought their bungalow when I was 11 years old, developers had stopped including pantries in new properties.  I think this was a major mistake as we all require tailored storage to support our own lifestyles.  I think that large pantries and utility/scullery rooms would be a necessary requirement in years to come.  I know for instance that I need more storage for canned goods and home dried goods.  I am limited on what I can do at the moment but that will not always be the case.

When I was first married I had a small pantry off the scullery kitchen I had but it was not in a very good condition.  It was sacrificed to extend the kitchen, but I always regretted it despite me having a spanking new kitchen.  The pantry set up seemed to offer more options where a fitted cupboard is just that a fitted cupboard.

Our ancestors found their way around preserving food for the winter months, such as clamping veggies in soil or sand.  A lot of this died out when freezers came in, but I still think that this has its place.  We are very limited in storage here as I have nowhere at present for clamp storage. I do not have a garage so a lot of stuff is in my shed which should not necessarily be there. 

I know in theory what I would like eventually to have which is something along the lines of this cold room which I think is superb as it makes the most of something that was existing in their property but has been adapted to suit their needs.  The link is here too  https://youtu.be/bzsQ-p8Jrts and is shown on The Elliott Homestead Blog which is here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUsMN5zOxCIU1L6MFNnh6w

 

Shaye has a proper Pantry area and now this lovely cold room.  I can as a preserver see all sorts of possibilities in having a cold room as well.  You can also with the addition of various equipment turn an unused room into a cold room and there are lots of tutorials on You Tube in this respect.  Something to think about for the future although not necessarily for this house.

I have also found another cold room conversion here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRhdveUFq54 from Top O Noth Farm which I also like although it is tiny it serves a need. 

 

I have a thing about Pantries in any event and am always keen to see how other people keep their Pantries and what they store and how they store it.  I am probably one of those people who would love a cave in order to store cheese in.  However we have to make the best of what you have and whatever comes your way.  With me not having the fridges has very much given me food for thought and something to explore at a future date.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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