Vintage Story: Food Preservation & Cellar Mastery
In **Vintage Story**, food is a precious resource that constantly battles the "Rot" mechanic. To survive the long, punishing winters where no crops grow and game is scarce, you must master the art of preservation using temperature control and airtight containers.
1. The Storage Vessel
Crafted from clay, these provide a significant preservation bonus (approx. 4x). They are best for raw vegetables, grains, and flour. They do not require a seal but are most effective when kept cold.
2. Sealed Crocks
The ultimate preservation method. By cooking food in a meal, placing it in a crock, and sealing it with Fat or Beeswax, you can keep meals fresh for multiple real-world weeks.
3. Ambient Temperature
The colder the environment, the slower things rot. This is why building an underground "Cellar" is the most important task for any developing homestead.
Building a "Valid" Cellar
The game engine looks for specific room criteria to trigger the "Cellar" temperature bonus:
- Enclosure: Every side (including top and bottom) must be a solid, non-transparent block. Soil, Cobblestone, or Stone are the most effective.
- Max Volume: The interior must be no larger than 150 blocks (roughly a 7x7x3 room). Any larger, and the cooling effect is lost.
- Light Level: The room must be in total darkness. Gaps in the walls or the use of windows will raise the internal temperature.
- Isolation: Avoid using "warm" blocks like furnaces or fires inside or adjacent to the cellar walls.
Preservation Multipliers Compared
| Container Type | Rot Multiplier | Best For... |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory | 1.0x (Standard) | Snacks while traveling. |
| Chest / Reed Basket | 2.0x | Dry goods like Flax and Grain. |
| Storage Vessel | 4.0x | Vegetables, Fruit, and Root Crops. |
| Sealed Crock | 10.0x - 20.0x | Prepared stews and cooked meats. |
Advanced Techniques & Winter Hunting
During the winter months, the entire world acts as a cellar. However, once spring arrives, anything left outside will rot instantly.
- Salt: If you find a salt deposit, you can create Salted Meat, which lasts nearly as long as sealed crocks but doesn't require fat.
- Pickling: Combine vegetables with salt and water in a barrel to create pickles. These are very stable but require several in-game days to process.
- Cleaning Containers: When food rots, it leaves behind "Rot" in the container. To reuse a vessel or crock, right-click it on a water source to clean it out.
Pro Tip: Fat is a rare and valuable resource gathered from hunting high-tier animals like boars and wolves. If you are low on fat, use Beeswax (found by finding wild beehives) as it is a renewable alternative for sealing your food crocks.
Protect your harvest through every season. Set up a Vintage Story server with Supercraft and enjoy high-speed world saves for your massive, multi-year food vaults.