[Sca-cooks] coopering
Stefan li Rous
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Thu May 7 00:06:24 PDT 2009
Selene commented:
<<< The invention of the barrel revolutionized food and liquid [wine]
transportation in a way that would not be equalled until Refrigeration.
One must wonder how it changed from the days of the Vikings to the
Conquistadors? Not much, I'll betcha. Well, this sounds like a new
long-term research project, heigh-ho! >>>
The introduction and use of iron hoops to replace rope and wood hoops
appears to have been the biggest change.
One point that may not be apparent to many is that is wasn't only the
secure storage capabilities of the barrel that made it popular, but
that because of the curved sides, it is fairly easy for a single
person to move and steer even a very large, loaded barrel. You can
swivel the barrel on it's center to easily steer it around obstacles
and they store tightly in confined spaces such as ship holds. And
they are less breakable than the Classical World's equivalent which
was the amphora.
The wooden cask/barrel stayed in use until the early 20th century
when it was replaced by the steel drum, usually of 55 gallons. A that
point we gave up the ability to easily rotate and steer the drums
because of the difficulty of manufacturing the curved steel sides. By
that time we had machines to help move them around and with steel's
strength didn't need the extra support that the curved sides gave.
Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.florilegium.org ****
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