Was ice cream invented before freezers?

Yes, ice cream was invented before freezers. The earliest known recipes for ice cream date back to the 4th century BC, when dessert made from snow, fruit, and honey were enjoyed by the wealthy in China. This dessert would be buried underground in snow pits until summer, when it would be dug out and consumed.

The first ice cream recipes to appear in Europe were published in the 17th century, and these recipes used a mixture of snow, ice, and salt to lower the freezing point. The ice cream would be churned by hand in a metal container, and it was often flavored with fruit, nuts, or spices.

The first mechanical ice cream freezer was invented in 1843 by American Nancy Johnson, and this made it possible to produce ice cream on a larger scale. In 1851, Jacob Fussell of Baltimore opened the first ice cream factory in the United States, and this marked the beginning of the commercial ice cream industry.