In colder larders (4°C/40°F or lower), larded meat could last for months, while in warmer conditions, the fat turned rancid within weeks.
By the 18th century, the term had expanded: at that point, a dry larder was where bread, pastry, milk, butter, or cooked meats were stored.
Fish or vegetables were laid directly onto the shelves and covered with muslin or handfuls of wet rushes were sprinkled under and around.
[4] In medieval households, the word "larder" referred both to an office responsible for fish, jams, and meat, as well as to the room in which these commodities were kept.
[9] For alligators and crocodiles, larders are underwater storage places for their fresh kills until such time as they wish to consume the carcass when its flesh is rotten.