Before Refrigerators Were Invented, How did People Preserve their Food (meat) so That it won't become Rotten?

 This idea can be smartly updated and should be.   It does not need to use sand at all and a fitted colander would also be very handy.   Instead of clay we can even use plastic as well.   Thus we have potential a colander and two useful large bowls that do not gobble up shelving space.Adding additional fitted bowls inside along with a sieve and you have serious compact-able bowl system that can amply supply a kitchen.

The bowl colader bowl combination and a wet cloth provides a natural cooled space for storing fruit and vegetables in particular and plenty else as well.  Once mastered it is likely to go into common use and free up space in the fridge from short term storage needs. 

Who needs large bowls in the fridge?  

At the same time, storing meat is best done in the fridge if possible.  This system is suitable for cooked foods and fresh foods but less forgiving i suspect for raw meats although again a few hours is no problem  here.

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Before refrigerators were invented, how did people preserve their food (meat) so that it won't become rotten?

Neil Highnam,

 https://www.quora.com/

 Been eating all my life, working in the trade for 17 years.

20.7k Views • Upvoted by Carolina Garofani, geeky pastry chef, owns a bakery. Top Writer 2016.

Neil is a Most Viewed Writer in Meat.

I never fail to be astonished by the ingenuity of mankind. I was amazed the first time I heard about the zeer or clay pot cooler which was used, according to some archaeologists, up to 5000 years ago and is still used today.

The principle is simple: we all know the feeling of water on our bodies evaporating and making us feel cooler. Well, someone had the clever idea of using this effect to cool food.

A clay pot is placed into a larger one. Sand is placed into the gap between the pots. Food is placed into the smaller pot. The sand is made wet and a wet cloth is placed over the food. As the water in the sand evaporates it draws heat away from the food in the middle.

A simple idea but, like many simple ideas, absolute genius.