Interesting History of Microwave Ovens

Do you know that microwave oven was found accidentally as a by product of another technological invention? The history of microwave-oven dates back to war II, when two scientists invented a tube called magneto that produces microwaves. During the war times, these magnetos were placed in Britain's radar system that helped them to identify Nazi fighter planes. Some years later, scientists found that microwaves also can cook food. you'd be surprised to understand that the very first micro wave oven was quite heavy and almost as large as a refrigerator.

How The microwave Was Discovered

The history of microwave oven suggests that the microwave's ability to cook food was discovered by Dr. Percy Spencer in 1946. He was working with the Raytheon Corporation on a radar related scientific research . When he was testing a magnetron, he noticed that the candy that was placed inside his pocket had melted. This was quite unusual and this made Dr. Spencer try another experiment. During the second testing he placed some popcorn kernels near the magnetron tube and to his surprise the popcorn sputtered and cracked. Further experiments revealed that micro wave ovens can effectively increase the within temperature of varied foods quite faster than a standard oven.

1161 Radarange was the primary Raytheon microwave-oven, marketed in 1954. This oven was very large and highly expensive - costing about $5000, which was the rationale why it had been only used for commercial purposes like in institutions and restaurants. Also, the magneto tube had to be cooled with water after use which required proper plumbing installations.

The history of microwave took a fresh turn when the utilization of microwave-oven in households started in 1967. Amanda (subsidiary of Raytheon) marketed its first domestic Radarange counter top micro wave oven. This oven was smaller, safer and prized economically around $500. During the primary few years, sales were quite slow. But within the following years, many companies joined the microwave-oven market and began producing small, economical models.

By the top of 1971, the worth of counter top micro wave ovens had significantly decreased and their features had been improvised. More and more people were going to know the benefits of micro wave oven and began accepting the merchandise . The year 1975 was a crucial year within the history of micro-wave oven because by that point the amount of microwave-ovens that were sold surpassed that of gas ranges. subsequent few years saw increasing demand numbers for microwave-ovens and therefore the product which was once considered a luxury product had made its way into most households.

With the passage of years, the micro-wave oven saw many changes within the style and features. With the expanding demand, the merchandise kept changing to suit every size, shape, taste and price. Now, microwave, oven comes loaded with exciting features of convection, defrosting, automatic food setting, sensor cooking etc. which may fulfill the requirements of every and each cooking application.