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Zeer pots (pot-to-pot fridges)

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Does anyone in the UK have any experiences of these in our climate?

http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/potinpot-refrigerator-zeer.html

I anticipate being in a situation where I'm going to be without a fridge freezer for about six to eight weeks, and putting food outside to take advantage of the cooler temperature is unfortunately not a realistic option.

As I'm currently living alone and can easily walk to both a market and a supermarket, while not having them will be inconvenient, I feel that I can work around the problem. I can go without a freezer altogether (most of what I put in the freezer is unhealthy food that I should cut down on anyway). Therefore basically I just need something fridge-temperature to store portions of meat and veg that I can't use in one go, for use within a few days, plus cheese (and if space allows, milk and beer) so a zeer pot looks like a realistic solution. But would it actually work in a cooler climate, given that it relies on evaporation? Would sticking one in the warmest part of the house do the trick?

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  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
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    The article you link to suggests this was some kind of new idea in the 90s,but that's cobblers. The principle of using evaporation from a wet layer around a container has been around for a long time. Africans aren't so daft that they'd have waited thousands of years to invent it!

    As a student in the 1970s, I had the joy of using an Osocool, which worked on the same principle. It did work to a certain extent, but it wasn't like a real fridge and I didn't keep stuff in there long. I suspect these work best in hot conditions, when reliably topped-up, not when left to the tender care of a dozen students, more interested in home brewing....

    Picture and more details here:

    https://www.ssvc.org.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=106942

    I can only say 'try it and see.' It won't work out of doors at this time of year, so the warmest part of the house seems right.
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