Cob: Cellar

[Darel Henman]

Bill,
  the main point of root cellars is to prevent produce from freezing. 
Once frozen they lose their flavor and texture and the enzymes get
destroyed.   In the summer it is to keep produce cooler than the outside
hot air, this slows down the microflora.   But, the main point was to
store food harvested in fall and keep from freezing through the winter
when it would be needed.


> This is just to add to the thought process,,,  Years ago I read about the concept of the 
> "cold sink",, I don't remember what they called it. But the article was in the Alaskan Magazine.
> It was a freezer for the out back in the area of the PERMAFROST...  First you built a building
> 6x6x6 with a highly insulated floor..................

Actually going down in many areas of the state you would never get a
freezing room, because the earths temp six feet down tends to be close
the the annual average temperature for the area.   In alaska it might be
possible.   In cold areas possible only in the winter, but the point is
mute, for all you have to do is put things you want frozen outside in
the shade during this season, the hard thing to do is to keep them from
freezing, and that's one reason for the root cellar used by our
ancestors of days long gone by.

 
Darel