18th Century Food Storage
They would have used small barrels.
18th century food storage. Just this summer a roman ship was discovered off the coast of italy that held nearly 200 still sealed amphorae an early type of storage container often ceramic in its cargo bay. Before grocery stores and refrigeration most foods were only available at particular times of the year this is called seasonality. Dried smoked pickled honeyed and salted foods had their own particular flavors and many recipes survive detailing how to prepare foods that have been stored with these methods. It may be difficult to imagine but a large percentage of time on an 18th century homestead such as george washington s ferry farm was spent preserving food for long term storage.
Root cellars are an ancient form of long term food storage of foods and veggies and fermented beverages. These crops were used for human consumption but more importantly to feed dairy cows beef cattle and sheep. Root cellars have been used since the 18th century to store turnips carrots parsnips cabbage potatoes and other crops through the cold winter months. You can buy a salt pork product at the market but that is not what we are making.
Native australians were among the first to take advantage of the insulated properties of burying food. Traditional salt pork involves taking 1lb chunks of pork and stacking them into a container. Preserved foods were also much easier for the sailor soldier merchant or pilgrim to transport. Salting was probably one of the most important storage methods in the 18th century.