3 Ways Amish Keep Food Cold

The Amish have several ways of keeping their food cool. They include harnessing the elements – as well as technology.

This will depend, of course, on the Amish group – and what’s allowed in a given church. Here’s a look at three main ways Amish keep food cold – with some additional methods at the end.

1. Propane or Gas Refrigerator

The first way Amish keep food cool is simply by using a refrigerator, but this is not the type of refrigerator that you plug into the wall.

These refrigerators look like your standard home refrigerator. But they’re powered typically by propane or natural gas. And there are at least a couple of companies that make these.

One is called Crystal Cold of Arcola, Illinois, and the other one is EZ Freeze, based in Shipshewana, Indiana. Their units have both standard refrigerator space, and a freezer.

Some of them resemble old-style refrigerators that you might have seen in the 1980s – single doors, with the freezer stacked on top. In a way, this somewhat dated look fits an “Amish aesthetic”. That said, this is a more progressive cooling solution – though many Amish use it.

2. Ice cooling

Secondly, a lot of Amish rely on ice for cooling purposes. This is a cooling solution seen in plainer (more conservative) Amish communities. So how do they get the ice, and where do they store it?

Well, there are a couple of different ways. Some harvest the ice, especially if they live in colder climates – from local lakes and ponds that freeze over.

The Amish will get together and have a day where they harvest ice as a group. They use circular saws to cut the ice, and they’ve got picks to retrieve it from the water, and then haul it away using horsepower.

They put the blocks in specially constructed ice houses. The ice house can be used to keep food cool year round. You can have ice that lasts even longer than a year or two from a single ice harvest.

These are thickly-insulated structures, often styrofoam insulation. Some Amish will use an icebox which could actually be just an old freezer.

Some Amish simply have a refrigerator that that doesn’t have any power source, but they just use it for its insulation, and they’ll put the ice inside the refrigerator. Some Amish may use an old-fashioned icebox.

Now, some Amish don’t harvest their ice, but rather they purchase it. In communities like a Geauga County, Ohio or Allen County, Indiana, you will find ice vending machines throughout the community.

So these ice machines, you just simply take the ice and leave your leave your money. You may have the ice man delivering ice in some communities as well.

3. Basement

So besides ice and refrigerators, a third way Amish keep food cool is simply using the natural cooling of the basement.

You won’t achieve the same level of coldness in a basement as you will with the refrigerator or ice. But, of course, it’s a great place to store your canned goods and things that need to be kept a little bit cooler.

Basements are standard features of Amish homes. And Amish make good use of their basements. You’ll typically see basements pretty well stocked in Amish homes.

Other Cooling Methods Use By Amish

Besides the three above, here are some other ways Amish keep food cool.

Cold Spring

Some Amish may have a cold spring on their property that they use for food cooling. This is a natural cold water source, which may have a small structure (spring house) build over it. An old-fashioned way of cooling, but not too common, as it depends on having the cold water source on your land.

Cold Pantry

You may have something like a cold pantry. I’ve seen this where the pantry room has a window.

You open the window, and especially in the cooler months, that lets the cold air in, keeps things cooler. And some Amish may use simply coolers to keep their food cool.

Cooling from outside sources

You may actually rely on help from non-Amish neighbors in some cases. One of my friends in Northern Indiana has provided freezer space on his property for several Amish families.

They’re run off of standard electricity, but it’s permitted in that district. And, at least in that church, that’s seen as okay.

Some other Amish would not permit that. The idea there is that it’s only for a limited use, specific purpose, and it’s not on the Amish families’ properties.

Different cooling solutions for different Amish groups

So Amish keep food cool a number of ways. Again, it’s typically going to depend on the specific church or community in what’s permitted in that church’s Ordnung (rules and standards which vary across churches).

And like with many things, different Amish churches come to different arrangements.

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