| Salesman: "This machine will cut your
| |
| | afterwards, the market exploded with
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| workload at home in half!"
| |
| | toaster ovens, sandwich grills, pasta
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| Housewife: "In that case, I'll take two!"
| |
| | makers, ice cream makers, yogurt makers
|
| An old joke, but as the 21st century
| |
| | and the like. This reached a zenith with
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| unfolds, it becomes truer than ever.
| |
| | the advent of the food processor. Seen as
|
| Compared to previous generations, people
| |
| | a sort of companion to the home computer
|
| today can find working in the kitchen
| |
| | (a.k.a. the "word processor", since
|
| easier and even fun. The gadgets that
| |
| | nobody could think of any other use for a
|
| compete for precious counter space in
| |
| | computer in the days before the web),
|
| kitchens across the country are ready to
| |
| | these kings of the counter top combined
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| slice, dice, peel, blend, bake and grill
| |
| | blender, grater, masher, slicer, dicer
|
| in ways that would have amazed the
| |
| | and a few more things all in one package.
|
| great-grandparents of their owners.
| |
| | Right on the heels of the food processor
|
| A century ago, the idea of kitchen
| |
| | was the bread machine. As the nation
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| appliances simply didn't exist. There
| |
| | longed for a healthier, more natural
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| were hand-operated vacuums, and many
| |
| | diet, something that could mix, knead and
|
| homes had only an icebox, a washtub, and
| |
| | bake a staple foodstuff such as bread was
|
| a sink with cold water, usually operated
| |
| | seen as ushering in a new way of thinking
|
| by a pump. Often the pump was outside the
| |
| | about what we eat. Unfortunately, while
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| back of the house, or in the street for
| |
| | many homes have bread machines today, few
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| communal usage. With the advent of
| |
| | actually get any use. The loaf pans are
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| electricity, the idea of labor-saving
| |
| | smaller than commercially sold loaves,
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| devices slowly took hold. Fifty years
| |
| | the mix makes the bread much more
|
| later, iceboxes were replaced by
| |
| | expensive, the machine needs cleaning
|
| refrigerators, which did away with having
| |
| | after each loaf, and nobody wants to
|
| ice delivered. Toasters became one of the
| |
| | actually have to slice bread anymore. So
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| first devices anywhere in the home to use
| |
| | not every step forward has been fully
|
| power. One early counter top machine seen
| |
| | embraced by the masses.
|
| in many homes was the electric can
| |
| | The future for kitchen appliances
|
| opener. Seen at the time as a frivolous
| |
| | however, looks brighter than ever. In a
|
| novelty, nowadays it's hard to imagine
| |
| | world where the can opener looks quaint
|
| opening cans without them (especially
| |
| | alongside the modern no-stick grill, the
|
| since nobody can remember where the
| |
| | next big revolution will be the
|
| old-fashioned hand crank opener is).
| |
| | interconnecting of all these devices to a
|
| Following close behind it was the
| |
| | home intranet. By the end of this
|
| coffeemaker, taking over from the
| |
| | century, most western kitchens may be a
|
| percolator that used to sit on a burner
| |
| | network hive of activity, as devices
|
| of the stove. And its close cousin, the
| |
| | share information between themselves,
|
| teakettle. Machines like the blender were
| |
| | larger equipment such as the oven and
|
| first developed for commercial use, and
| |
| | fridge, and even across the Internet. No
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| quickly found their way into domestic
| |
| | doubt new machines will be introduced,
|
| service.
| |
| | some bizarre hybrids of what we already
|
| The next big advance in kitchen
| |
| | have, some as unknown to us as a
|
| technology was the microwave oven in the
| |
| | microwave would have been in 1907. Our
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| 1970's. It was to kitchens what the VCR
| |
| | great-grandchildren will chuckle to
|
| was to the living room - revolutionary in
| |
| | themselves as they ponder all the effort
|
| itself, it can now be seen as the
| |
| | we put into buttering our toast or
|
| beginning of a whole wave of gizmos to be
| |
| | stirring our coffee each morning. Are you
|
| lined up beside the sink. Soon
| |
| | ready for the kitchen of the future?
|
