Kitchen Revolution: 6 Landmark Inventions for the Kitchen

Electric stove, refrigerator, coffee maker — familiar household appliances found in many homes. Today, when we pour ourselves coffee in the morning or blend a smoothie in a blender, few people think about their inventors. It's actually interesting who and when invented the things we can't imagine our daily life without.

Electric Stove

It all started in 1883 in Canada, when an electrical appliances dealer Thomas Aherne contemplated creating safer electric stoves: gas models often caused fires and could not be used everywhere. Indeed, when in 1893 at the World's Fair in Chicago he demonstrated the first prototype, it did not attract public interest.

It took another 25 years for the idea to reach another continent, Germany, where German Emil Rathenau eventually launched mass production of electric stoves.

The first models looked like ordinary sideboards, and instead of conventional burners, they used metal plates placed on legs near the stove to support cookware. These plates heated for two or three hours and were quite expensive — but there were many buyers of electric stoves.

Microwave Oven

The ability to heat or cook food in minutes in a microwave oven is due to American physicist Percy Spencer. According to legend, during one of his shifts, Spencer accidentally put a sandwich (or another version, a chocolate bar) on an active device generating microwave radiation. It's not surprising that it heated up. More precisely, it wasn't surprising for us, but in 1945 it was a real breakthrough that inspired the scientist to create a device for fast defrosting of food.

The invention was first used in military dining halls: microwaves were not suitable for home use due to their large size and weight. Japanese scientists helped by reducing the dimensions, adding a rotating plate and built-in control system.

In the late 1970s, the era of microwave ovens began. The first Miele oven — model M 690 — could fit on any table thanks to its small size. Later, they released a modified model that could be built-in.

Coffee Machine

Many people love coffee. It's no surprise that the first coffee maker appeared as early as 1800: its invention is attributed to French Archbishop Jean-Baptiste de Belloy-Moragre. In fact, it was the first drip coffee maker: drops of water seeped through a layer of ground coffee beans. It's not necessary to say that preparing coffee this way could take hours, and the accelerating pace of life required more efficient methods for brewing the energizing drink.

Such methods were found: 1827 was memorable for two inventions. A device by Parisian canner Moritz: it consisted of two vessels and a filter with coffee. When the water in the lower vessel boiled, the coffee maker was flipped — it produced a rather strong beverage.

And the first prototype of a geyser coffee maker by engineer Lawrence, which worked using water pressure. In 1833, another variant appeared, patented by a London master Samuel Parker. A hundred years later, an Italian entrepreneur Alfonso Bialletti launched mass production of a more advanced coffee maker called 'Moka Express'.

However, in the first models, there was a problem with preserving the taste and aroma of coffee beans. They couldn't provide optimal temperature, pressure, and other important conditions for preparing proper coffee. Gradually, the idea of creating coffee machines was embraced by various brands, and simple models of coffee makers evolved into appliances that even a professional barista would lose to.

This is evolution!

The Miele CVA 7845 coffee machine can do everything and more: for example, it prepares 25 coffee and tea beverages, adjusting the optimal water temperature for each. Depending on the type of coffee beans and beverage, parameters change: grind, amount of coffee, temperature, necessity for pre-brewing — all of these significantly affect the taste. By choosing the ideal combination of parameters, you can save settings in the coffee machine's memory.

Controlling household appliances from a smartphone is not surprising to most people today. However, owners of most coffee machines still need to manually fill the reservoir with water themselves. But the CVA 7845 coffee machine has an advantage in this matter: it has a DirectWater option that allows connecting the device to the water supply system. This means that, as soon as you wake up, you can start brewing your energizing drink with one button and not worry about whether there's enough water in the reservoir — the device will fill it on its own.

By the way, the new coffee machine also cleans and maintains itself: it has an automatic scale removal function AutoDescale and an AutoClean function that frees you from having to rinse the milk delivery tubes and de-grease the brewing mechanism.

What's left for you? To enjoy delicious coffee.

Refrigerator

Previously, to keep food and drinks cold, people used stores of ice or snow, trying to adapt cold streams. It wasn't until 1910 that the first American refrigerator appeared — a compressor unit by Odifreddi. It looked like a chest, finished in red wood. Beautifully, more or less functionally, but very expensive — it cost as much as a car.

The process continued when in the mid-19th century, American John Gorrie discovered a method for producing artificial ice. In Europe, Alfred Mellooz created a model with an autonomous compressor in 1915, placed at the bottom of the refrigerator. The idea of using freon for cooling was proposed by American Thomas Midgley, and in 1928 refrigerators with freon were launched into mass production.

Dishwasher

In Europe, the history of dishwashers began with German company Miele, founded in the late 19th century by Karl Miele and Reinhard Zinkann. By that time, their company was already known for producing metal and wooden washing machines. The first electric dishwasher designed by Miele in 1929 was a round metal vessel with two baskets for dishes and cutlery. The ability to connect to the water supply system was missing, so the dishwasher had to be filled manually. For a few minutes, water was sprayed onto dishes using a rotating electric propeller. Most housewives found it much easier to wash dishes by hand, and there was little demand for this new invention.

It wasn't until 1963 that Miele introduced the world's first automated dishwasher — G45. In 1978, microcomputer control and sensors were added to the company's products, which not only simplified its use but also reduced water and electricity consumption.

1987 marked another milestone in the history of dishwashers: Miele patented a slide-out tray for cutlery. In modern models, it is adjustable in width and height. Another useful feature is AutoOpen, which automatically opens the dishwasher door at the end of a cycle.

For lovers of minimalist design, in 2013 the company introduced a model with the Knock2Open function: gently tapping the front panel causes the dishwasher to automatically open the door without using the handle.

In 2019, the company launched a dishwasher G 7000 with the AutoDos function that automatically dispenses detergent. Another useful feature is AutoStart, which schedules the automatic start of the appliance at a convenient time for you.

Mixer

The first mixer was invented by engineer Herbert Johnson for bakery shops in 1908. They weren't suitable for home use: the devices weighed about 29 kilograms and cost as much as a brand new Ford.

To win the trust of housewives, the mixer had to get lighter and cheaper. Eventually, the first compact and relatively quiet device that any family could use was put on sale in 1919.