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The History of the Microwave Oven

Ask most people and they will be shocked to learn that the microwave oven is not a recent invention at all. The microwave oven was actually discovered, quite by accident in 1945. At that time it was water cooled, weighed in at over 750 pounds and cost over $5000. The microwave of this time period used three times as much power as the microwave that you commonly use in your private homes today.

The first commercial model of microwave oven was put on the market in 1954 and cost between two and three thousand dollars and used about two times as much power as today’s microwave oven. At that time, the first microwave for home use cost almost five hundred dollars and was fairly large.

How Far Have They Come?
Just judging from the size of the microwave alone, the appliance has come a long, long way from its accidental discovery. There is a wide range of sizes available, different price ranges, new features that may have never been thought of ever before and new colors for them. Where only a few brand names sold microwave ovens in the past, there are now dozens of companies that sell them. Competition is beneficial to the consumer in a number of ways including lowering the price on their products.

With the Appliance Comes Accessories
There are a number of accessories that you might need to have when you buy a microwave including the cookware, browning pan and other items. The more often you use your microwave, the more accessories and items that you need to have. There are a number of things you do not need, especially if you never intend to cook these items. For instance, the hot dog microwave cooker is not going to be a very helpful product for those who do not eat hot dogs.

Don’t get carried away with microwave features either. You know what you intend to do with your microwave, so make sure that you are not buying one that is going to have more features than you ever really need. For instance, if you do not ever actually cook or defrost food, or you never eat popcorn, why would you need those buttons?

The Price Breakdown
Thankfully, prices have come down dramatically for home-use microwave ovens. It is important to keep prices in mind when you are looking for a new or replacement microwave oven which can range from under fifty dollars to a couple hundred now. The original pricing on the microwave oven was nearly five hundred dollars and up making even the most expensive models of today seem reasonable in comparison. Again, the price that you pay will vary depending on the brand name, the size, the amount of power and the features of the item that you are buying.