A Look Back at the Microwave Oven.
Today, the microwave is a household staple. It’s more necessary than the stovetop. Let’s learn its fascinating history and how it popularized to every home around the world:
Microwave History: That Good Kind of Accidental Discovery
The Invention
The history of the microwave began during World War II when the American government needed a solution to strengthen their radio waves. Engineer Percy Spencer was tasked to increase the radar technology.
One day in 1945 while working on the project, he found that candy bar in his pocket melted. Fascinated and curious, he came back to work the next day with a raw egg. He placed the egg in the radar’s tube, and the egg exploded from the rapid heating. Even more fascinated and even more curious, he came back the following day with corn kernels. Popcorn!
And, thus, the microwave was officially born.
Selling the Microwave
The 750-pound microwave was first sold in 1947 as the “Radarange” (as it combined the words radar and range stovetop) for a whopping $3,000 USD at that time – that’s well over $30K if it was sold today.
That pricing clearly did not take off, so for the next two decades, the Radarange was used for commercial food preparation in industrial kitchens and ocean liners.
In 1967, Radarange created a more compact and lighter model for $495 USD (today that’s about $3,500). While still expensive, the price and luxury were far more approachable for some households.
How the Microwave Evolved
Through the 70s and 80s, more companies picked up on it and began producing their own models. It went from the branded Radarange to “microwave ovens” to simply “microwaves”. The name “microwave” comes from the short wavelengths of the radio waves that are used for cooking.
And how does it work? The frequency of microwaves agitates water molecules, which also means that paper plates and dishes are not heated as they do not contain water. All heating takes place in the food and not the container.
Microwave Tips
While microwaves are safe, you should avoid heating up food in plastic containers as the chemicals in the plastic can leach into the food. And, never put any metal (like utensils, foil, containers, etc) in the microwave as it will create sparks and cause a fire.
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