Best Small Kitchen Appliances

retro toaster

Although the concept of a kitchen has been around forever, it was not until post-civil-war that the majority of kitchen appliances became a kitchen staple.  Being that families no longer had servants doing the heavy lifting kitchen duties, housewives needed an easier more efficient way of performing kitchen  related tasks with less human powered help.  Also, electricity being more readily available, allowed for the speedy technological advancements that brought labor saving kitchen appliances to the average home.

According to Mary Bellis on, About.com you can see the history of some of our most beloved kitchen appliances

History of Kitchen Appliances

Large Kitchen Appliances

• Dishwasher
  In 1850, Joel Houghton patented a wooden machine with a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on dishes, it was hardly a workable machine, but it was the first patent.
• Garbage Disposer
  Architect, inventor John W. Hammes built his wife the world’s first kitchen garbage disposer in 1927. After ten years of design improvement, Hammes went into business selling his appliance to the public. His company was called the In-Sink-Erator Manufacturing Company.
• Ovens or Stoves
  The first historical record of a stove being built refers to a stove built in 1490 in Alsace, France.
• Microwave Ovens
  The microwave oven was invented by Percy L. Spencer.
• Refrigerator
  Before mechanical refrigeration systems were introduced, people cooled their food with ice and snow, either found locally or brought down from the mountains.

Small Kitchen Appliances

• Apple Parer
  On February 14, 1803, the apple parer was patented by Moses Coates.
• Blender
  In 1922, Stephen Poplawski invented the blender.
• Cheese-Slicer
  The cheese-slicer is a Norwegian invention.
• Electric Mixers
  The first patent that can claim to be for an electric mixer was issued on November 17, 1885 to Rufus M. Eastman. Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972), the mother of 12 children, also patented an electric food mixer (at a later date)
• Peelers
  The nineteenth-century created numerous kitchen use inventions: toasters, potato mashers, apple/potato peelers, food choppers and sausage stuffers were all invented. Over 185 patents for coffee grinders and over 500 patents for apple/potato peelers were patented in the 1800s. Early peelers were made of iron and the patent number and other information was included in the casting. Peelers ranged from the familiar and simple round swiveling rod with a knife blade that peeled skin, to contraptions full of gears and wheels that could peel, core, slice and section. There were separate peelers designed for different fruits and vegetables; there were even peelers that removed the kernels from ears of corn.
• Pressure Cooker
  In 1679, French physicist Denis Papin invented the pressure cooker, called Papin’s Digester, this airtight cooker produced a hot steam that cooked food more quickly while preserving nutrients.
• Toaster Toasting bread began as a method of prolonging the life of bread. It was very common activity in Roman times, ‘tostum’ is the latin word for scorching or burning.
• Waffle Iron
  The waffle iron was patented on August 24, 1869, invented by Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York. The patent (United States #94,xxx) described the invention as a “device to bake waffles.