Times Have Changed - Cooking Food

Title added to image by Three-shots from Pixabay

The tools used to cook food have changed over time from way back when cave people cooked over an open fire to modern times when there is a vast variety of utensils to cook in and appliances to cook on with different forms of energy to provide the necessary heat. However, I am not going to go into details of the ovens, grills, hot plates, frypans, rice cookers, pressure cookers, pie/pizza/waffle makers, and so much more that can be used to change ingredients from their raw state into a delicious hot meal. You can go to a store to find out that information or grab a coffee and do a search on the internet.

This post is about how times have changed in my lifetime, starting with a few recollections from childhood of the way people got food cooked back then. I will include an advertisement from a retro magazine and then move on to my own cooking experiences and the present time.

Recollections from childhood
When I was a young child we had a wood stove as well as a basic electric stove for cooking. The electric stove had two hot plates and an oven. Our wood stove had a small stainless steel water tank with a tap sitting on one side so we had a ready supply of hot water as there was no hot water service back then. We didn't use the wood stove in hot weather and once Mum returned to work, it didn't get used much at all. Mum and Dad decided to get the wood stove removed and it was replaced with a pantry cupboard.

Grandma also had a wood stove and an electric stove. As Grandma was at home most of the time she used her wood stove frequently. She baked amazing slabs of kuchen (German cake) in that wood stove, as well as many other delicious treats. The oven was much bigger than the one in the electric stove. The heat from the wood stove spread throughout the kitchen making it cosy.

Diverging from the topic of getting food cooked for a moment, Grandma used to heat bran bags about the size of a pillow in the wood stove too. The calico bags were filled with bran and popped into the oven to heat before bedtime in winter. They were fantastic for warming up a cold bed and they were safe. When the bag started to feel cold you could wriggle your feet and more warmth would be released. They also smelt lovely.


Advertisement from a retro magazine
Some people had a gas stove but gas wasn't available where we lived. I don't know if bottled gas was available. I didn't know anyone who had a gas stove but I saw this advertisement for gas cooking in the May 1st 1957 Australian Home Journal.

An advert from the National Gas Association of Australia in Home Journal          Image:M Vonow

Changes over the last forty years
There was a basic gas stove in the house we rented after getting married in 1975. It was my first experience of cooking with gas and I loved the instant heat.

I also loved the electric fry pan I got as a wedding present. Some years later we rented a house where the oven didn't work. I learnt to bake cakes in the electric frying pan by placing coins in the pan and putting the cake tin on them. Cakes baked fine but vanilla cake didn't brown. That didn't matter because I iced my cakes.

We got our first microwave oven in 1983 but they had been around for a while by then. It was very exciting to be able to cook things so quickly. At first I often cooked the main meal in this new microwave, carefully following recipes from a cookery book. After a while I found I mostly used it for defrosting and heating things up. Some things just taste better baked in the oven and I do like a crispy topping as one gets from an electric or gas oven.




Present times 
In my previous house we had a gas stove which cooked food quickly with no need to wait for the hot plates or oven to heat up. It took me a little while to adjust to using an electric stove again in this house. 

I am not one for lots of gadgets but I do own a bread maker. Years ago I used to make the occasional loaf of bread in my oven but a bread maker cuts down on the work and provides a draught free environment for the dough to rise. I love the smell of bread baking on a cold day, it makes the house feel warmer.

I use my microwave mostly for defrosting and heating things. I also use it to cook scrambled eggs and vegetables. My electric frypan is used once or twice a week when I need something bigger than a frypan that can be used on a hot plate.

Sometimes I use my slow cooker, great for making bacon and pea soup and for cooking cheaper cuts of meat.

Oh, I also have a sandwich press and a popcorn maker. 

Even though I don't have a great variety of cooking appliances, I certainly have more than my grandmother had in her kitchen. Times have changed.