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Bog butter (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Peat bogs, being low temperature, low oxygen, highly acidic environments, have excellent preservative properties. Experiments conducted by researcher Daniel C. Fisher demonstrated that pathogen and bacterial counts of meat buried in peat bogs for up to two years were comparable to levels found in control samples stored in a modern freezer,[9] suggesting that this could be an effective preservation method.

I've always thought we could improve the performance of refrigerators / freezers by replacing the air with a inert non-reactive gas like nitrogen. Food in a cool nitrogen environment will not oxidize, because there is no oxygen! This could be done with a top down cooler (where the lid is on top), just fill with nitrogen.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Wouldn't anaerobic bacteria still run rampant?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

good point!, but we are removing one source of spoilage... would that improve overall storage time? I'm not sure

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Maybe a refillable liquid nitrogen container so it forces all the oxygen out every time you open it.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nitrogen is denser then air, so you can have a float indicator at the rim of the unit, if the nitrogen dips to low you pump in more until the float... floats. All mechanical, no electronics needed!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Atmospheric air is mostly Nitrogen. Nitrogen from a bottle mixes readily with atmospheric air.

Sulfur hexafluoride would work a lot closer to what you are describing. Although assessing the safety of dissolving any gas into your food would require careful consideration. Also, sulfur hexafluoride is a very strong greenhouse gas, so that could easily negate any other benefits.