The History Of The Microwave
March 14, 2022
History of the Microwave
How did the microwave become such an integral part of the kitchen?
The spinning plate, the bright white light, the race to open the door before the buzzer beeps. The Microwave is an integral part any modern kitchen, with many microwaves integrated into the design. But where did the microwave come from, who invented it and are we using it how its designer originally envisioned?Who invented the first microwave?
What would life be like today if someone had left their chocolate bar in their lunchbox instead of popping it in their pocket? We might have to reheat our leftovers In oven and warm our baby’s bottle on the stove. Luckily Percy Lebron Spencer didn’t leave his snack in a lunchbox or his desk. And by doing so, he changed the history of modern kitchen appliances.Percy Lebron Spencer was a self-taught engineer who grew up poor and never finished school, but that didn't stop him from getting a job with Raytheon Corp, a developer and manufacturer of radars during WW2. Spencer worked with microtubes that produced microwave radiation which was used in military radars.
Whilst testing one of the magnetrons he realised the chocolate bar he had popped in his pocket for a midmorning snack had melted. Intrigued, Spencer tested an array of other food, including popcorn kernels, and watched in amazement as they exploded. He realised, in a flash of inspiration, that the foods had been exposed to the microwaves he had been working with for so long.
He built a metal box and pumped in the radio waves, knowing that because the microwaves couldn’t pass through metal, the energy was trapped. He found that this energy cooked food was much faster than a conventional oven, and he patented the microwave in 1945.
What was a microwave designed for?
The microwave oven of the 1950’s was meant to be a game changer in the way that housewives of the time prepared their family meals. Look at any vintage microwave adverts of the time and they promised to make meals quicker and tastier. And not just any meals. Whole roasts in less than forty minutes, hamburgers in seconds, and perfect steaks every time. It was clear that people at the time truly believed that the microwave would replace the stove and range oven. However, we must remember this was the atomic age, the space age. The future had arrived and everything had to be fast. Thankfully, the microwave didn’t replace the oven, it complemented it.How do microwaves work?
With science. Inside the metal box, which stops the harmful waves from escaping, the magnetron - microwave generator - takes the electricity from the plug socket and converts it into high-powered pencil length radio waves. These waves blast into the food compartment through a channel, heating the food as it spins, ensuring even cooking. To do this the microwaves bounce around the box until they hit the food, where they pass through it and make the food molecules vibrate faster. The faster they vibrate, the hotter the food becomes.It’s been said that the microwave cooks your food faster because it heats it from the inside out. This isn’t quite true. With a standard oven, the food is cooked from the outside in, meaning that the temperature has to be low enough to cook the inside without burning the outside. A microwave cooks every part of food at the same time, giving a quicker time and the impression that the heat works itself out from the centre.