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Period: 30,000 BCE to
Stone Boiling
The process of stone boiling involves heating stones until they're hot enough to sear meats or bake breads, creating a crispy exterior while keeping moisture inside. -
Period: 29,000 BCE to
Earth Oven
An earth oven is a pit in the ground used to trap heat and bake, smoke, or steam food. Earth ovens remain a common tool for cooking large quantities of food where no equipment is available. They are still used in the Pacific region. -
10,000 BCE
Ancient and Early Innovations
Our earliest ancestors started by simply adding heat to meats, seeds and vegetables as early as 1.5 million years ago. Simple food preservation methods followed, including drying, smoking and salting, in some of the earliest civilizations, including Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, as early as 9600 BC. -
Period: 3000 BCE to
Salting and Curing
Used to preserve meats and fish. One early method of salt-curing meat was applying large, coarse pellets of salt, which were rubbed into the meat to keep it from spoiling and to preserve it. -
Period: 3000 BCE to
Freezing
Food was buried underground or in the snow for preservation throughout the winter. This method led to the construction of “icehouses” or “iceboxes” for storage until the 1800's when artificial refrigeration was invented. -
Period: 2400 BCE to
Pickling
Pickling is the process of using an acidic brine to preserve a food. Acidic brines are made with either salty water, sugar water, lemon juice, or vinegar. Either substance (or sometimes a combination of them) is poured over vegetables, fruit, meat or fish which are then placed in a tight jar for a few days. -
Period: 1900 BCE to
Sugaring
The earliest cultures have used sugar as a preservative, and it was common to store fruit in honey. In northern climates without sufficient sun to dry foods, preserves are made by heating the fruit with sugar. -
Period: 700 BCE to
Fermentation
Used for making bread, beer, and wine. Traditional fermentation is a form of indigenous and spontaneous fermentation which involves natural growth of microorganisms and their metabolites. Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts are the major microorganisms in these fermentations.