Nearly every household in the UK have ownership of a microwave in their kitchen, making it one of the most important quick fix cooking appliances to have. These have certainly moved from their former reputation of when they were first introduced into the public market, as being a dangerous health hazard for users. Since its invention this has since been recognised as a myth as there have been no notable evidence of it ever causing adverse health related issues on users.
Where many people of the younger generation are not accustomed to world without microwaves, older generations can remember well what it was to live in a society whereby even television were not so common. Industrial microwave ovens were used more in its early stages of creation in big catering and food industries, for its purpose of being a strong cooking device ploughing out warm dishes quicker than a conventional oven.
History
Where did the microwave oven come from and how did it land in our kitchens? If we take a look back in time, like many other great inventions this was in fact discovered accidentally when working on radar related project in the 1940's, by one named Dr Percy Spencer. Spencer was a self taught engineer working with the Raytheon Corporation. Whilst in the middle of testing a new vacuum tube known as a magnetron, he noticed his chocolate bar in his pocket had completely melted. The discovery sparked his own curiosity and so embarked on another experiment, this time using popcorn kernels near the tube and standing further away. The results were nothing short of amazement and excitement as he watched the popcorn splutter and crack everywhere in his office.
Next he moved on to using an egg, which consequently exploded in the face of one of the experimenters involved with the project. Spencer then decided to feed the microwave power into a metal box, creating an electromagnetic field high in density and disallowing it from escaping. He noticed that when he placed food in the metal box, its temperature would rapidly rise causing it cook in short rapid sessions.
Raytheon saw the potential for this metal box that cooked or warmed food up, thus filing a U.S patent over Spencer's microwave. The device was placed in a restaurant in Boston, which was tested for its performance. The Radarange was then built in 1947, which was 6 foot tall and 750 pounds in weight. This was the first known industrial microwave oven, costing around 5000 dollars. It consumed over three times the amount of power that modern models consume and had to be water-cooled.
By 1954 a more commercial model was introduced into the market which consumed 1600 watts and was sold for 2000 to 3000 dollars each. An attempt of a home version of the microwave oven was marketed priced at around 1300 dollars, but did not sell well. However, in 1965 Raytheon released a countertop Radarange version, after acquiring Amana, pricing the product at just under 500 dollars.
During the 1960's another company, known as a Litton, had just bought out Studebaker's Franklin Manufacturing, and began manufacturing and building microwaves very similar to the Radarange. Litton came up with a new configuration that made the microwave look shorter and wider - a shape that is now more familiar to modern consumers. It also had a unique magnetron feed, causing the oven to withstand a no-load condition permanently. This helped to boost the sales of the microwave in the market and see an increase in its popularity. Sales rose from 40,000 units to one million in 1975, with the market in Japan building less expensive and more efficient microwaves.
It comes as no surprise then that other companies jumped on the microwave manufacturing business, with Litton being the leading brand that all restaurants and food establishments became familiar with. As time passed on, the microwave had improved causing the price of them to fall dramatically, and establishing various types of microwave ovens, such as the common household microwave oven and industrial microwave ovens. Both of which consume very different amounts of power and result in differing cooking techniques.
Author Resource:-
Anna Stenning is an expert on how industrial microwave ovens were invented, having worked in kitchens where these were used to cook food in plentiful amounts.
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