How to Cool Food Without a Fridge

It is easy to think that all of the simple inventions of the world have already been thought of when you look at such incredible feats of engineering like the Internet, skyscrapers and Joan Rivers, but once in a while a new and incredibly simple invention comes along and makes life easier for millions of people.

One such invention is the zeer pot. Invented in 1995, this is a simple pot-in-pot invention that uses the incredible high-end technology known as water evaporation to keep foods, or anything else, cool without the use of a refrigerator. To try out your own zeer pot, all you need is two clay pots, with one significantly larger than the other. Place the smaller pot inside the larger one and then place wet sand between the two pots. Place a wet cloth over the top of the two pots and then make sure the pot is placed somewhere dry that has plenty of ventilation. The water in the cloth and the sand will evaporate over time and keep the contents of the smaller pot much colder over a longer period of time. Best of all, as long as you have an unlimited supply of wet sand, you can have a kind of permanent refrigeration in areas that don't have electricity.

Of course, this invention is great for camping or for anyone who is out in the wilderness, but it is even more important for places like Darfur where all natural cooling is essential to an entire group's survival.

Before you head out into the wild blue yonder with your zeer pots, you want to test them out first to see how cold and how long the average refrigeration goes for. You don't need any kind of speciality clay pots to start with, even clay flower pots can do the trick, but if you are considering refrigerating meat, you might want to see just what this system is capable of before you head out.

There are other all natural refrigeration options if you are out camping or if you own your own land. Many civilizations still make use of the old fashioned hole in the ground to help keep cool things cool and to let things properly ferment without spoiling. Some cultures use hollowed out trees to keep things cool in an otherwise warm environment or you can always count on a river to provide all natural cooling for food and drinks as long as you can come up with an anchoring system.

If you want to get even simpler, tie up what you want to keep cold in a cold, damp cloth. As heat hits it, the water will begin to evaporate and whatever is inside will be kept cold. Of course, you need to re-wet the cloth on a frequent basis, but all-natural cooling doesn't get much easier than that.

If you are headed out to camp and you are looking for ways to leave your bulky cooler at home, nature can provide many all-natural cooling choices, you simply have to know the science behind the solution.