Who invented the slow cooker: the first prototypes, improving models

Technologies are actively developed and implemented in our life, making it more comfortable. So, kitchen assistants make the cooking process much easier and faster. A bread machine, a double boiler, an oven, an air grill and many other household appliances are used in almost every kitchen. But a special place in this list is occupied by the multicooker, which has incorporated the capabilities of all of the above devices. The invention was not spontaneous and has its own interesting history of development. So let's find out who invented and invented the multicooker.

When did the first crock-pots appear

The first prototypes of modern multicookers were Japanese rice cookers of the mid XX century. As part of the development of the military industry, the question was raised of automating the preparation of rice for the needs of the army in the field.

The proposed solution was a wooden cooking container with a heating element having a primitive function of automatic shutdown. Although not having a sufficient level of security, this made it possible to cook rice in large quantities with minimal human resources.

Subsequent device upgrades allowed to expand the range of dishes, which began to include other cereals and some soups, a heating and temperature control mode was added. All this became possible thanks to the transition from analog circuits to programmable microprocessors.

By the end of the century, the progressive functionality of machines interested investors and rice cookers appeared on the Japanese market. Manufacturers tried to expand the possibilities of their use, and culinary specialists began to publish recipe books oriented specifically to multicookers.

Yoshitada Minami

The inventor of the multicooker in its modern presentation is considered to be Japanese Yoshitada Minamiwhose concept was implemented by the company Toshiba in 1956. A distinctive feature of his invention, which made a breakthrough in the development of kitchen technologies, was the complete automation of the cooking process.

All devices before it could be called automatic only partially. In one way or another, they still needed constant human supervision.

Minami managed to exclude the cook from this chain thanks to the idea of ​​creating two combined containers, one inside the other. Only water was poured into the outer one, while washed rice was poured into the inner one.

After the cereal completely absorbed water, a sensor was triggered on the wall of the external tank, signaling the completion of the process and turning off the supply of electricity to the heating element.

From this moment, the cook only had to fill the device with ingredients, press the power button and after a while get the product ready for use from it.

How multicookers developed

The Toshiba model was extremely successful. The device immediately gained popularity. To ensure market demand, the company produced up to 200,000 copies per month. In such circumstances, the company could not help but appear competitors.

In the second half of the 20th century, the main one was another company from Japan, Zojirushi. Their innovations have become a new stage in the development of multicookers. Since 1965, they begin to equip their devices with adjustable timers. This allowed not only to control the time and intensity of cooking, but also opened up the possibility of cooking several dishes at the same time, with a separate timer for each.

In addition, it was Zojirushi who made the function of maintaining temperature at the same level mandatory in their models. This advanced the level of automatism of multicookers even further, since from now on it was not even necessary to get products out of it on time. They could be stored there for a long time, while remaining hot.

Japan lost a relative monopoly in the production of multicookers in the 90s of the last century. Championship passed to China. China companies have successfully adopted the Japanese experience and technology, and their products favorably at a low price.

Conclusion

Competing for markets, manufacturers continue to improve devices today. Perfect progress has made from this device a full-fledged kitchen robot capable of taking on all the processes in the kitchen. A modern multicooker can cook in any way:

• stew;
• to cook;
• fry;
• oven and others

The variability of its settings, modes and design has little in common with analogues from the last century. One only has to remember a wooden box with two contacts and compare it with today's device with two dozens of built-in programs and a futuristic design.

A variety of kitchen assistants are available on store shelves, differing in capacity, portability, capabilities and cost. Buying a slow cooker can not only simplify cooking at home many times, but also diversify your menu with new dishes.