History of Kitchen Appliances

After the development of eating utensils there were several kitchen appliances that came into use. The pioneer kitchen appliances are knives, blender and cutters.

Evolution of Kitchen
Before the age of electricity, running water and modern appliances, there was no kitchen. Kitchen came into existence after that. Before there was a hearth for cooking, a paper or cutting board for preparation and a dining area in a central gathering place. Kitchen continued developing its independent identity into the 1970s and 80s. Kitchen came to be defined as a separate room for food preparation.

Kitchen Appliances
With the development of kitchen along with the eating utensils, several other kitchen appliances came into use. The use of these appliances does not have a very long history but they are coming more into picture along with certain experiments from over the years.

In 1679, French physicist Denis Papin invented the pressure cooker, called Papin's Digester, this airtight cooker produced a hot steam that cooked food more quickly while preserving nutrients.

Jordan Mott invented the first practical coal stove in 1833. Mott's stove was called the baseburner. The stove had ventilation to burn the coal efficiently. The Carpenter Electric Heating Manufacturing Co. invented an electric stove in 1891.

In 1850, Joel Houghton patented a wooden machine with a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on dishes, called the dishwasher. Josephine Cochran put the idea into practical use and unveiled the invention at the 1893, World Fair.

The first electric toaster was invented in 1893 in Great Britain by Crompton and Co (UK) and re-invented in 1909 in the United States. Later in 1919 Charles Strite invented the modern pop up toaster.

In 1910 L.H. Hamilton, Chester Beach and Fred Osius formed the Hamilton Beach Manufacturing Co. that became well known for their kitchen appliances. In 1922, Stephen Poplawski invented a blender. He put a spinning blade at the bottom of a container and used this appliance to make soda fountain drink. In 1953, Fred Osius improved on Poplawski's idea and invented the famous Warning Blender.

Arthur Leslie Large invented the electric kettle in 1922. General Electric introduced the electric kettle with an automatic cut-out in 1930.

In 1927, Norwegian invented the cheese slicer. He took a thin slice of steel, cut it and bent it down while the back side of the steel slice was bent up. This he used to slice cheese effectively and easily.

It was during a radar-related research project around 1946 that Dr. Percy Spencer, an engineer with the Raytheon Corporation, noticed something very unusual. He was testing a new vacuum tube called a magnetron and he discovered that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. He made several experiments then he fashioned a metal box with an opening into which he fed microwave power. The energy created a higher density electromagnetic field. When food placed under the box, the temperature of the food rose rapidly. This gave way to the invention of microwave.

With the technological advancements several kitchen appliances came into existence. The nineteenth century created numerous kitchen use inventions like potato masher, potato peeler, food choppers and sausage stuffers.