Everything you Need to Know About Microwave Ovens

If we told you that microwave ovens originate from war weapons, you’d be confused right? But it is true! Microwaves have become a necessary kitchen appliance in all homes. The uses have steadily been increasing over time as are the advantages, especially to homemakers.

While all of us know about their uses and their current condition, not all of us are familiar with how microwave ovens started and evolved over time to end up as their current form. Through this write-up, we are going to take you through history as well as the evolution of microwave ovens over time!

Where it All Started

 As World War II ended, the magnetron that had been used to generate microwaves for short-range military radar lost most of its use as well. Magnetron creators included a company called Raytheon. Raytheon, at that time, was known as the best microwave brand.  It was looking for further applications for its technology when it came across heating through radio waves.

The concept of heating food through radio waves was not a new one. In 1933, during the World’s Fair in Chicago, an engineer Westinghouse exhibited heating a steak between two metal waves using radio waves.

Percy Spenser from Raytheon took that innovation further as he accidentally discovered how microwaves heated the food a lot quicker than radio waves.

The Accident

The discovery of the application of microwaves for heating food started with peanuts! One day, quite a few years ago, Percy Spenser was working in the lab where magnetrons were made. The engineers were testing the power tubes of the radar sets when a peanut bar in his pocket started to cook. He was surprised and while the others dismissed it as coincidence, Spenser was intrigued.

Next, he came up with popcorns. He placed the bag of corn kernels near the magnetrons and the next thing they knew, popcorns exploded all over the place!

Commercialization

While Spencer filed for the patent in 1946, the commercial usage of the technology or the availability of microwave oven online took a long time still. Raytheon started licensing the technology in 1955 as the first microwave oven for the consumers went on sale! The microwave oven price was almost $11,000 in today’s currency.

Ten years after the first microwave was introduced, Raytheon acquired Amana Refrigeration and the Amana Radranges came on the market at a comparatively affordable microwave oven price of $495.

The Microwave Ovens of Today

A famous company by the name of Litton takes credit for the wide, boxy shape of the microwave ovens of today. The sales of microwave ovens really took off in the ’60s and had reached millions by 1975. By the late 1970s, technology had become cheaper and this meant that the electronic parts were more affordable. The microwave ovens of the 1980s were thus more affordable and practical. By 1997, a study stated that 9 out of 10 households in America owned a microwave oven.

From this point forward, the microwave ovens evolved to include new functions like grilling, convection, and defrosting along with several others. The best microwave brand, Orient Electronics, is the most innovative manufacturer of several types and kinds. From traditional shops and markets, people also started looking for microwave ovens online. The mode of sale is thus slowly changing and more people are shifting towards buying microwave oven online now!