Oven History

For many of us, our oven is a familiar staple in the kitchen. Even if you’re not a keen baker, you’re likely to use your oven for family roasts, reheating leftovers, or even warming breakfast. Since the oven is such an essential part of the kitchen, it can be easy to overlook, and many of us have given very little thought to how the domestic oven evolved. So, here we’ll delve into a brief history of the domestic oven. Modest Beginnings Across different civilizations, stone was used to cook foods. In many areas of the world, including the Mediterranean and throughout the Roman Empire, stone was used to contain flame and provide heat to cook food. Typically, wood was used to feed the fire within the enclosure to roast meat and bake bread. This method of cooking differed from the open air fire, which was used to boil water and make soup. Containing the heat was the primary goal of the oven, and this allowed for different types of cooking. Despite the advancements over the years, the basic function of these ancient ovens has remained. The European Influence When the Europeans arrived in America, the traditional stone stove had an upgrade. Colonial homemakers had ventilated brick ovens to cook foods and feed their families. While these ovens lacked the control knobs that we have on modern ovens, they essentially had the same function. Oven users of this time needed to manually add and remove fuel, typically wood, to stoke the

Cooked food has been a part of our civilization for thousands of years. Throughout the Mediterranean, Africa and the Roman Empire, wood fires in a stone enclosure have been used to broil meat and bake bread. This was the basic premise for the oven, as it provided a different heat source for cooking compared to the open air fire used to heat water and make soup. While there have been some fantastic advancements over the centuries, this basic concept for the original oven has remained. The First Official Oven While open fires have been used for thousands of years to not only keep warm, but cook food, this cooking method was a challenge. Imagine trying to prepare one of your simple weekday meals over an open flame or in a metal cauldron. This changed with the development of the oven. The first official oven in recorded history was built in 1490. It was in France and made using brick and tile. Although there may have been other ovens before this date, the French oven is the first one recorded. The European Influence When the first European settlers arrived in modern day America, traditional stone stoves were slightly upgraded. Colonial homemakers began cooking on ventilated brick ovens to feed their families. Of course, these types of ovens still lacked the modern conveniences we take for granted today, like control knobs and thermostats. The oven user of the time needed to add or remove wood manually to stoke or cool the fire