The way of cooking has changed over time something we don’t think about much. Our ancestors have been cooking with stone and turtle shells, now we have beautiful enamelware, cast iron, and stainless steel pots and pans.
Cast iron has been used to make tools for thousands of years, but many people still prefer to use it. Some people, on the other hand, like to use pots and pans with current cooking surfaces like enamelware, pottery, and stainless steel. On the other hand, some people like to use cookware that is chemically linked, like Teflon and ceramic coats.
Cookware, an essential facet of culinary evolution, embodies the tale of humanity’s journey through time. From humble beginnings of stone and fire to the sleek designs of modern stainless steel and ceramic-coated pans, the metamorphosis of cookware mirrors our progress and ingenuity in the culinary realm. Delving into the historical canvas of cookware unveils not just the evolution of utensils but the evolution of human civilization itself.
In this article, we will see how the materials and styles of pans have changed over time.
Table of Contents
In the beginning, people had to find fire.
Human development took a huge step forward when we learned how to make fire. People built fires to stay warm, which was their main goal. As well as to keep dangerous animals away.
Archaeologists all over the world have found animal bones in fire pits, which suggests that people may have accidentally found cooked meat when they threw away food scraps.
Without a doubt, food scraps and anything else that could catch fire were added to the fire to keep it going.
When did people start cooking with fire?
In Israel’s Qesem Cave, there is proof that people used fire 300,000 to 400,000 years ago. A stove was found in the cave, which means that there was probably a fire going all the time.
Why is having a fire pit that stays put important?
It suggests that the people who lived there did not move around a lot and hunt and gather food. One cave in South Africa, on the other hand, shows that our ancestors used fire two million years ago.
When did people in the Stone Age first start cooking food?
Maybe 1.9 million years ago, but this isn’t certain. Sadly, fires don’t leave much for historians to look through, which makes timing hard.
Why did people in the past cook food?
Cooking meat not only makes it taste better, but it also gets rid of germs. It’s important to note that getting meat would have been hard. It would have been very dangerous and possible to get hurt to hunt animals with very simple tools. But humans knew that cooking food made it last longer.
When you cook food, the plant and protein cells break down. This makes the food easier to cut, chew, and absorb. Since eating raw meat burns calories, making meat gives you more calories than eating raw meat. There are even ideas that cooking food helped the human brain grow and evolve, which is called evolution.
The History Of Cookware
When did people start to boil water?
It’s likely that people started boiling water a lot later than they started making meat. But some people think that Neanderthals used birch bark to boil water.
How did people in the past boil water?
A process called “stone boiling” is likely what they did. Stones were used in fire pits, which is most likely how people boiled water in the past.
To stone cook, you put stones in a fire and heat them up. After that, the hot rocks are put into a container with water. Additionally, this causes the water to become warmer. The video shows how people in the past might have boiled water.
Finding out about stone boiling was a big deal.
People could drink clean water because boiling water killed germs and cleaned up still water. It was a huge find, and the stone-boiling method gave people a new way to cook. People also knew how to cook meat and veggies.
What Safe Drinking Water Does to Our Kitchenware.
Boiling water in a stone made it safe for people to drink. But people needed places to keep their water, which is what led to the creation of early pottery like bowls and jars made of clay.
People could use these clay pots over open fires to cook food and boil water. This early type of pottery was the first thing we used to cook with. This led to the use of heated clay to make pots stronger, which is what made earthenware possible. We still use pots and vases made of clay.
A clay pot that has been fired is sometimes called stoneware. Before canning came along, a lot of people stored and preserved food in stoneware.
The History of Cooking Tools
In the past, pottery could keep food separate from ash and hold food. Additionally, clay pots keep heat in, which speeds up the cooking process. People made an oven that could stand on its own.
Even now, we still use self-contained, but the names change based on the style and material of the pot. Among these are.
- Pots and pans
- Using Braisers
- Dishes for casseroles
- Tagines, roasters, and other new types of cookware led to new ways of cooking, like blanching, boiling, and simmering.
- Strong steaming
- Since humans could now boil, they could cook high-energy starchy foods that needed to be boiled, like potatoes.
- Corn and rice
How long ago was earthenware first used?
Pottery was first used in China and then spread to other parts of the area before people learned about it in the West. No one knows when people first made pottery. That was a long time ago, though.
Archaeologists have found ritual pottery from 25,000 to 29,000 BCE. This is the world’s and China’s oldest known pottery. For the most part, early pottery skills spread from the East to the West.
Japanese and Chinese people still make some of the most beautiful pottery by hand. Some sought-after examples often have flaws that make each dish beautiful in its way.
Art from the Jomon era
During the Neolithic period, people grew the first cereals. Millet was one of the first foods that people grew, and it was found in some of the oldest pottery found in China. At that time, the grain was a very important food source. In Asia and Africa, earthenware pots would also be useful for storing rice for soups.
Also, people in Europe boiled grain crops in decorated clay bowls. Other early crops are barley, Einkorn wheat, and Emmer wheat.
Early Copper Cookware
Around 9000 BCE, people made tools out of copper. Around 4500 BCE, the Mesopotamians worked on making copper metal better. Copper was the first metal that was used on a big level. Historians don’t know for sure when dishes made of copper first started being used. A lot of evidence shows that the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all used copper.
It was also simple to work with because it could be rolled into sheet metal. Iron, on the other hand, had to be shaped while it was still hot. On the other hand, traders can form copper while it cools down. Copper also does a great job of moving heat around.
Copper pots and pans were used by these ancient civilizations for:
- Packing materials
- Pots for cooking
Large copper cauldrons can be used in homes for:
- Coming to a boil
- Making food
People who work with copper, tin, and tinkers.
Copper pots and pans were popular for hundreds of years. Copper pots and pans were used in colonial America, but they were more expensive than cast iron. People who worked with copper or tin would make cookware out of metal in big towns. They also fixed up old copper pots and pans.
Tinkers were people who fixed copper dishes in places that didn’t have enough coppersmiths to hire full-time. Tinkers were good at getting from one place to another, which was how they made a living. If they had a horse and cart, they probably sold metal goods and fixed pots and pans.
Cast Iron
Cast iron, which we love, has been around since the 5th century BCE in China. Since cast iron is less expensive than steel, it was first used to make pots, pans, and tools for farming. China made a simple blast furnace in the first century. However, Europeans used cast iron techniques until the 15th century. During the European movement, Americans started shaping cast iron into pots and pans.
Here is an interesting piece about the good things about cast iron if you want to learn more. In Europe, however, cast iron wasn’t used until the 1400s. Before this, cast iron was very fragile and wasn’t used until technology got better. The method of casting made it better in terms of quality and power.
Instead, people in early Europe smelted iron and made it into bowls and other cooking tools. On the other hand, cast iron was put into a mould. But cooking methods stayed the same in both Europe and Asia. And people all over the world cooked on hearths over open flames.
Before the wood range was invented, people cooked on an open fire with heavy iron pots and pans. Designs have been popular since the days when people cooked with metal pots and pans over an open flame.
- Handles so that pots and pans can be hung on a pole above the heat, not in it.
- Ring on the base to spread the heat and keep it from getting too hot.
- Longer handles will keep heat from moving quickly to the handle.
- Feet to get the pots and pans out of the hot fire.
What did people use to cook with in the 18th and 19th centuries?
- Pots for stews
- Pots for beans
- Boiling pots
- Tea kettles
- Pots and pans
- Bowls for Scotch
People did fry their food, but until mass farms and freezers came along, meat was a luxury. A lot of people raised animals and canned meat, and a lot of people in cities had chickens in their backyards.
People liked to cook with Dutch ovens. The Dutch Oven was the best thing to cook with. Not as much muesli, stews and soups as we do now. It was also a great pot for cooking over the fire or on a wood range all day.
The New World was a great place for farming and making things.
The world would never be the same again after the Industrial Revolution. Because England’s cities grew quickly, the number of rich, middle-class, and poor people also grew. Huge steps forward in technology, and scientists and creators were the stars of the day.
Also, America grew very quickly and became the world’s industry. It became very important for companies like Favourite Stove and Range, Griswold Manufacturing Company, and Wagner Manufacturing Company to be big.
At the same time, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa in the South Pacific focused on farming to feed England’s growing population.
What changed with cooking tools?
A lot of people still used Dutch ovens and cooked over open fires. But as people got richer, they switched from cooking over an open fire to using wood ranges, which Benjamin Franklin invented. James Sharp, an English engineer, got a patent for the gas oven in 1826. Thomas Ahearn made the first electric range in 1892.
Soon, the long arms on cooking tools got shorter. And the bail wire handles on Dutch ovens are now side handles on pots. So it’s easy to carry into and out of the range. Now that there was plenty of meat, our habits slowly changed, and frying became more common. By the 1900s, skillets had taken the place of the Dutch oven as the most popular cooking pan.
Many new technologies and metal alloys are adding to the evolution of cookware.
Of course, people have played around with different things over the years, like
- Using stoneware
- Iron and steel
- Teflon Glass Foam Aluminium
- Iron and steel
Without a doubt, we have made progress in improving our equipment. But pottery and cast iron plates are still popular because they last a long time. You could also use stainless steel. In many homes and business kitchens, it is now the only way to cook.
How cooking has changed over time, from simple bowls to modern pots and pans
In the last couple of hundred years, equipment made of iron, copper, and aluminum has become more popular. Many people now like to use stainless steel for their cooking because it doesn’t mix with acidic foods and lasts a long time.
The pros and cons of each metal or clay item are different. Some pans heat up faster and plates that heat up more evenly. There is equipment for everyone, no matter what they need. Those who came before us deserve praise for this.
Conclusion
The narrative of cookware history is a testament to human adaptability and innovation. It traverses ages, showcasing transitions from ancient fire pits to today’s sophisticated culinary technology. As we celebrate the legacy of pots, pans, and utensils that have transformed our kitchens, we honor the ingenuity of our ancestors while embracing the technological strides that continue to redefine the art and science of cooking. Cookware’s evolution stands as a testament to human creativity, reflecting the fusion of tradition and progress that shapes our gastronomic journey.