It can be fun to look at contraptions and gizmos from the past, as antique inventions can inspire a sense of nostalgia or pride in us and even make us cringe. They can also help us visualize history. More than anything however, old items help us see where humanity has been and give us an idea about where we are headed.
One realm of life that antique items can help us understand is the home kitchen. In the past, the kitchen was arguably the lifeblood of the home. It was where the caretaker of the home, usually mom, cooked meals and ran her home management business. As surely as the times have changed with respect to gender roles, the home kitchen has changed dramatically as well. Here is a list of things that used to be common in kitchens that you don’t see anymore.
1. Pressure cooker
Imagine a device that can take the toughest meats and transform them into something that’s not just edible, it’s downright delicious. If you didn’t go too far in your imaginings, you might have just envisioned a pressure cooker. On the face of things, a pressure cooker looks like a lidded pot, but it’s really more like a portable pressure chamber. When cooking with a pressure cooker, liquid is a must as the pressure comes from the trapped steam, according to The Kitchn. The pressure inside a pressure cooker raises the boiling point of the liquid inside the pot to speed up cooking time, force moisture into food and caramelize and brown foods nicely.
2. Wood barrel tap
Though most of people can go to the store and buy beer or wine as they please, there’s something magical about being able to have said beverages on tap. For that, modern people have to go down to the neighborhood bar or pub. If you had only been born a little bit ago when a home wood barrel tap was a socially acceptable household item, you would actually be able to have that bar experience at home with your personal keg of beer or wine.
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