Eli5: How did people make and keep ice in medieval times, and how do we manufacture ice cubes now ?
In: Technology
I suspect this is more of a r/askhistory or r/askhistorians type question. The quality of the answers tends to be better vetted.
As far as I know, most of Europe didn’t really have the kind of winters needed for large scale winter ice production. Large scale ice harvesting of frozen lakes and rivers didn’t really happen until the early 1800s, and the European arrival into the Americas. In the mid 1800s the northern states of US and Canada actually exported a lot of ice to the south, Caribbean and Europe.
In the winter when rivers and lakes/ponds froze over, large blocks of ice would be carved out and taken to an icehouse for storage till summer. The ice covered in straw, mud or even manure which insulated it and the large blocks prevented it from thawing completely.
There are some stories of ultra rich nobilty having servants go to some remote mountain or glacier and bring back ice to serve at parties. But that was more of a rare event and for special occasions, not the norm.
In ancient Egypt and other very dry climates they could use the massive thermal swing between day and ice, plus the low humidity to trigger evaporative cooling to make ice in buildings called [Yakhchāl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhch%C4%81l)
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