room temperature

[Sean Gadhar]

When I worked liquor stores I learned room temperature meant the room you store beer in, not the living room. So served at room temperature meant quite a bit cooler then we think of today.

I wonder if it is the same with some of the old recipes, when they say store at room temperature. :idunno:

 

[coloradoclyde]

From what I have seen room temp often meant cellar temp around 55 degrees.....give or take...
Some scientific standards for room temp vary between 60 and 68 degrees. not the typical 75 degrees we find in our living rooms...

Spoilage caused by enzymes, insects, bacteria etc.... these things are all affected by temperature and many deactivate or are subdued at temps below 60.....

Hence refrigeration.....

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I like my Stout served at 50 degrees, the closer you get to forty or below that, the closer you are to chilled or a fridge, and that's not how God intended it to be served,

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

I like my Stout served at 50 degrees, the closer you get to forty or below that, the closer you are to chilled or a fridge, and that's not how God intended it to be served,

LD

Cold = less flavor...
A good ale needs to be gently warmed to allow the full range of complex flavors to shine through...same goes for a nice dry red wine...

A beer like a classic American light lager needs to be served as cool as possible so that even the smallest of errors in flavor or taste do not shine though and overpower the delicate wimpy little beer.

Right on Dave... :thumbsup:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

In colonial days, a tavern near Hellertown PA backed up against an "ice cave" cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Known far and wide for their ability to serve cooler drinks in summer. According to local history, the owner somehow used the warm air from the cave to help heat the tavern in winter.

 

[coloradoclyde]

According to local history, the owner somehow used the warm air from the cave to help heat the tavern in winter.

Convection.....cold air sinks from the tavern into the cave and is warmed by the earth...rising back out of the cave and into the tavern ...and then repeats....

Seeing ("steam") or warm condensate rise from cave openings in the winter is common.

Dead winter and during scorching hot summer was always our favorite time to go caving....

 

[Alden]

I agree. It's like eating cold cuts and salads - An ice-cold something-or-other can be refreshing but they actually have flavor when they're not on the cusp of frozen.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

OH and lest we forget...

Qui bibit, dormit,
Qui dormit, non peccat,
Qui non peccat, sanctus est,
ERGO:... qui bibit, sanctus est.

When one drinks, one sleeps
When one sleeps, one doesn't sin,
when one doesn't sin, one is holy,
THEREFORE..., when one drinks, one is holy

:thumbsup:

LD

 

[Alden]

BTW, IIRC, "room temperature" in chemistry circles meant 66-degrees F. However, I've also read 73-degrees on average...

 

[tenngun]

No air conditioning, or fireplace heating old rooms could varied a lot in room temp. People wore heavy clothing inside was common in the winter, as it was cool in the house. My mother grew up in RI in the depression in a house built in the 1880s. Heated by a down stairs stove. She spoke of frost on the inside walls in her bedroom in the winter. My father grew up in a log cabin in Wisconsin and one upped her story with true ice freeing and staying all winter in his room.a public house filled with the people of the community with a fire place and candles might get toasty, at home awarmed with a small fire might not have a temp above 50 degrees in the winter.

 

[coloradoclyde]

When I was young I lived in an old farmhouse for awhile and waking up to frost on the walls and seeing your breath was a daily thing....and that was with an electric heater in the room.

Ahhh the good ol' days :grin:

 

[Alden]

My GF still owns a house in the UK. Until very recently there still was no thermostat -- one either turned the heat on or off for the house. Different locations have different degrees of, well, degrees.

 

[coloradoclyde]

My aunt and uncle lived in Florida and never owned pants..... :youcrazy: :haha: it's all relative....

 

[Loyalist Dave]

You mean trousers and slacks, right?
:hmm:

...can't image people living their entire lives in speedo's. :shocked2:

LD

 

[Sean Gadhar]

:applause: Class Class!!!

This is camp cooking, We are talking about the relative coolness of room temperature storages, NOTabout our :youcrazy: relatives and how hot/cold they keep the room :nono:

The nearly lost point is that when "THEY" said will keep for weeks at room temperature, It should be read in context.

Potted Beef, when killed in the fall, can be stored in this manner at room temperature for months......IMHO did not mean at 72 degrees F.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Sorry for the derail Sean...I blame Alden :grin:

I agree Fall likely meant November and room temp likely was 60 or even lower.

Old texts are no substitute for modern food safety...I recommend checking out the CDC' http://www.cdc.gov/nationalsurveillance/index.html ....it is interesting reading for anyone embarking on the journey of home preservation..

 

[coloradoclyde]

Potted meats are beyond me but this may help... https://thehistoricfoodie.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/potted-meat-cheese-early-convenience-foods/