Antecedents & Alternatives Timeline

 

 

 

 

 

Alternatives to the Microwave

Some alternatives to the microwave include the oven and the stove. The electric oven, which was patented January 5, 1897 by W.S. Hadaway Jr., allowed the correct amount of heat to be available to cook food immediately when the electric current was turned on. [1] However, a Canadian manufacturer had electric stoves by 1892 and a hotel had prepared an entire meal exclusively using electricity to showcase it. [2] At the turn of the twentieth century, middle-class women wanted kitchens that were more efficient. Because of the kitchens new clean and sleek makeover, it was now more socially acceptable for middle and upper-class women to do work themselves. [3]

Before the 20th-century stoves were used in homes as a heater as well as for cooking. Using the stove as a heating source became obsolete in the 20th century due to the development of central heating, leading to cooking being the main function of stoves. For example, the Franklin Stove was used as a space heater and also had a removable grill, giving it the ability to also cook food. [4] Today, stoves are seen as superior to the microwave for large meals. You no longer see advertisements for cooking a turkey dinner in a microwave. Stoves would have beat the microwave in top kitchen appliances if it weren’t for the microwave’s convenience.

 

Endnotes 

[1] Bramen, Lisa. “Cooking Through the Ages: A Timeline of Oven Inventions.” Smithsonian.com. November 18, 2011. Accessed April 03, 2017. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/cooking-through-the-ages-a-timeline-of-oven-inventions-380050/ 

[2] Sharp, James. Baking Oven. U.S. Patent 305113 issued September 16, 1884.

[3] Hadaway Jr., W.S. Automatically Controlled Electric Oven. U.S. Patent 574537 filed May 4, 1896 issued January 5, 1897. https://www.google.com/patents/US574537

[4] Ibid.

[5] Spencer, Percy. Method of treating foodstuffs. U.S. Patent 2495429 filed October 8, 1945 issued January 24, 1950.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Smith, Andrew F. Eating History – 30 Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. 204

[8] Osepchuk, J.M. “A History of Microwave Heating Applications.” Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on page 32, no. 9 (1984): 1205

[9] Ibid., 1207

[10] Ibid., 1205

[11] Ibid., 1207

 

Alternatives Citations 

[1] Hadaway Jr., W.S. Automatically Controlled Electric Oven. U.S. Patent 574537 filed May 4, 1896 issued January 5, 1897. https://www.google.com/patents/US574537

[2] Bramen, Lisa. “Cooking Through the Ages: A Timeline of Oven Inventions.” Smithsonian.com. November 18, 2011. Accessed April 03, 2017. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/cooking-through-the-ages-a-timeline-of-oven-inventions-380050/ 

[3] Turner, Katherine, Strasser, Susan, Belasco, Warren, Boylan, Anne, and Mohun, Arwen. Good Food for Little Money: Food and Cooking among Urban Working -class Americans, 1875–1930, 2008, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

[4] James, Leonard., James, Roger Jr. Franklin Stove. U.S. Patent 3213846 filed June 20, 1963 issued October 26, 1965. https://www.google.com/patents/US3213846