Posted by Peter H on October 10, 2007 at 18:52:50 from 86.130.123.202 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: keeping food cool - back to basics posted by Jock on October 10, 2007 at 14:40:36:
Dorothea has to deal with a freshly killed rabbit in PM. Otherwise AR's books contain references to cold meat, cold chicken and pork pies, all of which would have had to be kept cool.
Well, I think I can apply the meat storage principles to the instances which Jock mentions. The rabbit is fresh meat, and therefore should ideally be stored in the air – Jacky knew this and had a peg for this purpose. The rabbit was killed in the night, and the next morning given to the Ds. Dorothea first thought she would cook it that night, but Cook sent up some chops ‘ready cooked’, so they had those instead. She cooked the rabbit the following night, so it had hung for 36 hours – no problem. As Nancy came up in time to share the rabbit, there was none left over, so no storage problem ensued.
The 'cold meat, cold chicken' etc, and the chops, were 'cooked meats', ie they had been sterilised by the heat of cooking. They would, in time, have been re-infected with bacteria but provided they were kept cool and covered for up to 24 hours, maybe 48 hours at a pinch, they would be OK. (Usually not much chance of them lasting 24 hours with the S&As . . .) When they had the chops for supper, Dorothea was relieved not to have to cook the rabbit, but she may have also reckoned that the chops were safer eaten as soon as possible.
However, there is a problem. On the following night, before setting off for the ‘burglary', Dorothea heated up a steak and kidney pie. How long had she had that? It wasn’t in the box which Cook had sent up the day before. It wasn’t mentioned in the stores which they took to the Dogs Home from Beckfoot, nor did Cook bring it when she visited. Was it a tinned one? Solutions welcome, but you will be relieved to know that this isn’t a competition.
Talking of which - As to how a larder with a flow of hot air keeps food cool . . .with difficulty I would say. I can only come up with an old method - of having a slightly porous tile floor and regularly sprinkling it with water.