Pantry

A pantry is a room where food and other household goods may be stored for a while.

Some food, such as butter, eggs, milk, and such need to be kept cool. Before modern refrigeration was available, there was the pantry. The pantry was a room or large cupboard made to keep cooler than the temperature in the kitchen. Built on the north side of the house close to the kitchen, it had no windows, but had air ventilation. The walls were brick or wood. As the air in the pantry warmed, it rose, escaping through the upper vent. This in turn drew cooler air in from the lower vent, providing constant circulation of cooler air.

In the summertime, the temperatures in the pantry would be several degrees lower than the ambient temperature in the house. In wintertime, the temperature in the cold pantry would be considerably lower than that in the kitchen.

A pantry was the place to keep foodstocks that did not need to be kept refrigerated. Remember, food was bought regularly in those days, and not stored for long. Breads, butter, cheesecakes, eggs, pastries, and pies were kept in a cold. Vegetables could be brought up from the cellar in smaller amounts and stored in the cold pantry until ready to use. The pantry was a place to store fresh berries and fruit, cheese, butter and such.

Pantry Media

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  A contemporary kitchen pantry

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  Nineteenth-century pantry in Museu Romàntic Can Papiol in Vilanova i la Geltrú

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  Butler's pantry at the Little White House

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  Cold pantry exterior vents

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  A California cooler in the Spooner Ranch House in Montaña de Oro State Park