Gadgets: Small Household Appliances

Abstract

Most early electrical appliances depended on the heating effect of electricity. Cookers, kettles, fires and toasters were all a means of supplying heat in the appropriate manner. It was the controllability of electricity and its ability to supply that heat in a precise and efficient manner that gave these items their popularity. However, electricity could do a great deal more than this—it could produce motion, as shown by the many railways that were electrified. The problem was in trying to make the motors small enough for domestic use.

Although a food processor is not an absolutely essential piece of equipment, because you can certainly chop, grate, slice, knead and mix everything by hand, it does do all these things very quickly and efficiently and saves you time and energy.

Delia Smith, cookery writer