Kitchens have been around for centuries, however, it was not until post-civil war period that the majority of kitchen appliances were invented. The reason was that most people no longer had servants and housewives working alone in the kitchen needed culinary help. Also the advent of electricity greatly advanced the technology of labor saving kitchen appliances.
The Stove
Stoves have replaced open fires.
In the Middle Ages, Europeans built fires on brick hearths and cooked in cauldrons hung above them. Sixteenth century inventors began looking for ways to make cooking safer and more efficient. The heat chamber, a rudimentary stove, enclosed fire on three sides with brick and was covered by an iron plate to set a pot on. In the early 1800s, Benjamin Thompson invented a large iron stove, which had one fire and several holes where pots could be hung. A smaller iron stove was invented in 1834. Soon, inventors improved iron stoves by adding oven compartments, and covering open holes with rings to place pots on. Early gas stoves, developed in the mid-1800s, were large, but soon the oven was integrated into the base, and the size reduced to fit into most kitchens. By the 1930s, electric stoves grew more popular than gas. Glass-ceramic cooktops emerged in the 1970s.
The Microwave
Microwaves were invented in the 1940s.
While researching radar in 1946, Percy Spencer discovered microwave cooking when a candy bar in his pocket melted while he was testing a vacuum tube called the magnetron. Spencer built a metal box into which he fed microwave power. When food was placed in the box and microwave energy fed in, the temperature of the food rose very rapidly. The first units, available in 1947, were very large and expensive, and had to be water-cooled, which necessitated plumbing installations. Soon, improvements produced a smaller microwave with an air-cooled magnetron, and sales increased. Microwaves were first used in restaurants and food-processing plants, but Tappan introduced a home model in the mid-1950s. In 1967, Amana released the first countertop microwave, which was smaller, safer and less expensive. By the mid-1970s, about 60 percent of U.S. households owned a microwave.
The Dishwasher
A woman, Josephine Cochrane, is credited with inventing the dishwasher.
In the1800s, several inventors attempted to create a dishwashing machine, but none of them worked efficiently. In the 1880s, society hostess Josephine Cochrane grew tired of finding her china chipped by the servants who washed it, so she vowed to create her own dishwashing machine. Cochrane understood that jets of water would work best to clean dishes. She made wire racks to hold dishes and arranged them in a copper boiler. A motor turned the racks around while hot soapy water was squirted up and over the dishes. Initial sales were disappointing, because the machine required huge amounts of hot water, which took hours to heat. Only hotels and restaurants bought them, but her concept led to more successful designs later. Other companies produced dishwashers powered by steam and designed for restaurants that worked by passing racks of dirty dishes on a conveyor belt under jets of hot water. The first electric dishwasher was introduced in the 1920s but it didn’t catch on with the public until the mid-1940s.
The Refrigerator
Refrigerators replaced iceboxes.
Before refrigerators, people used other preservation techniques, such as salting and canning, but they altered the taste and nutrients of food. Keeping food cold was the only way to prevent alteration, but iceboxes were inefficient and burdensome. Experiments with artificial refrigeration began in 1748, and Oliver Evans designed the first refrigeration machine in 1805. Soon, Michael Faraday discovered that liquefying ammonia causes cooling. Jacob Perkins invented the first refrigerator in 1834 using the vapor compression cycle, in which volatile liquids are evaporated to absorb heat. Early refrigerators used toxic gasses, such as ammonia, to cool, but many consumers died from inhaling the gasses. An alternative, Freon, was invented in the 1930s, but it was banned in the 1990s because of its effects on the environment. Early refrigerators were made of a wood cabinet and a water-cooled compressor. In the 1920s, steel and porcelain cabinets replaced wood. Through the 1960s, refrigerators were improved with additions like automatic defrost and ice makers.
A range hood is a device containing a fan that hangs above the stove or cooktop in the kitchen. It is used to remove airborne grease, combustion products, smoke, odors, heat, and steam from the air by a combination of filtration and evacuation of the air.
Large Kitchen Appliances
- Dishwasher
In 1850, Joel Houghton patented a wooden machine with a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on dishes, it was hardly a workable machine, but it was the first patent. - Garbage Disposer
Architect, inventor John W. Hammes built his wife the world’s first kitchen garbage disposer in 1927. After ten years of design improvement, Hammes went into business selling his appliance to the public. His company was called the In-Sink-Erator Manufacturing Company. - Ovens or Stoves
The first historical record of a stove being built refers to a stove built in 1490 in Alsace, France. - Microwave Ovens
The microwave oven was invented by Percy L. Spencer. - Refrigerator
Before mechanical refrigeration systems were introduced, people cooled their food with ice and snow, either found locally or brought down from the mountains.
Small Kitchen Appliances
- Apple Parer
On February 14, 1803, the apple parer was patented by Moses Coates. - Blender
In 1922, Stephen Poplawski invented the blender. - Cheese-Slicer
The cheese-slicer is a Norwegian invention. - Corkscrews
Corkscrew inventors were inspired by a tool called the bulletscrew or gun worm, a device that extracted stuck bullets from rifles. - Cuisinart
Carl Sontheimer invented the Cuisinart food processor. - Eating Utensils
The history of forks, sporks, knifes, and spoons. - Green Garbage Bags
The familiar green plastic garbage bag (made from polyethylene) was invented by Harry Wasylyk in 1950. - Electric Kettle
Arthur Leslie Large invented the electric kettle in 1922. General Electric introduced the electric kettle with an automatic cut-out in 1930. - Weber Kettle Grill
George Stephen invented the original Weber Kettle Grill in 1951. - Mason Jar
John Mason patented the screw neck bottle or the “Mason Jar” on November 30, 1858. - Electric Mixers
The first patent that can claim to be for an electric mixer was issued on November 17, 1885 to Rufus M. Eastman. Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972), the mother of 12 children, also patented an electric food mixer (at a later date). - Mixmaster
Ivar Jepson invented Sunbeam Mixmaster, which he patented in 1928, and first mass marketed in 1930. - Paper Towels
The Scott Paper Company was founded in Philadelphia by Irvin and Clarence Scott in 1879. Brothers Seymour and Irvin Scott ran a paper commission business for twelve years, but the poor economy in the 1870s forced them out of business. Irvin and his younger brother, Clarence, then decided to form their own company out of the remains of the first. Irvin reportedly borrowed $2,000 from his father-in-law and added it to the $300 the two brothers had to form the capital of Scott Paper Company. In 1907, Scott Paper introduced the Sani-Towels paper towel, the first paper towels. They were invented for use in Philadelphia classrooms to help prevent the spread of the common cold from child to child. - Peelers
The nineteenth-century created numerous kitchen use inventions: toasters, potato mashers, apple/potato peelers, food choppers and sausage stuffers were all invented. Over 185 patents for coffee grinders and over 500 patents for apple/potato peelers were patented in the 1800s. Early peelers were made of iron and the patent number and other information was included in the casting. Peelers ranged from the familiar and simple round swiveling rod with a knife blade that peeled skin, to contraptions full of gears and wheels that could peel, core, slice and section. There were separate peelers designed for different fruits and vegetables; there were even peelers that removed the kernels from ears of corn. - Pressure Cooker
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. - Saran Wrap
Saran polyvinylidene chloride or Saran resins and films (called PVDC) have been wrapping products for more than 50 years. - Soap and Detergents
The history of soaps and detergents - Squeegee
The single blade window cleaning squeegee was invented by Ettore Sceccone in 1936. - Toaster Toasting bread began as a method of prolonging the life of bread. It was very common activity in Roman times, ‘tostum’ is the latin word for scorching or burning.
- Tupperware
Tupperware, plastic containers with airtight lids, was invented by Earl Silas Tupper. - Waffle Iron
The waffle iron was patented on August 24, 1869, invented by Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York. The patent (United States #94,xxx) described the invention as a “device to bake waffles.
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