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A Taste of Innovation: The Inventors & Inventions Behind the Modern Cookout
Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff of summer, and nothing evokes the feelings of summer better than the smell of food cooking on an open flame. In preparation for the holiday weekend, shopping lists suddenly change from the wintry fare of hearty soups and casseroles to hamburgers, hot dogs and condiments. But, have you ever wondered about the inventors and inventions behind these classic summer foods?
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from the May 2006 Issue of InventHelp's free newsletter for Inventors |
Cowboys and Slow Cookin'
To barbecue means to slow-cook meat at a low temperature over wood or charcoal. Barbecue’s origin dates back to the Wild West of the 1800s. Cowboys were often forced to dine on tough, stringy brisket that required five to seven hours of cooking to tenderize.
The popularity of barbecue exploded after the invention of charcoal, invented by famous innovators Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. Ford, who popularized the gas-powered car and invented the assembly line, created the charcoal briquette from wood scraps and sawdust from his car factory. E.G. Kingsford, a name now synonymous with the barbecue, bought the invention and mass-produced it, introducing millions to the art of slow-cooking.
Where's the Ham?
Hamburgers are one of the most popular foods in America, but the name can be just a bit misleading. Why would a food made from beef be called a "hamburger"? The answer is simple -- many believe that the hamburger was invented in Hamburg, Germany!
The invention of the hamburger is somewhat of a mystery. According to one legend, German immigrants who traveled to the United States brought with them their favorite dish: Hamburg Style Beef. Others argue that patrons of the St. Louis Fair were the first to enjoy the first hamburger on a roll in 1921. It was not until J. Walter Anderson, a short-order cook, invented the modern hamburger bun in 1916 that this popular food began to take on its quintessential appearance. After this innovation, Anderson went on to found the White Castle chain in 1921.
The average American eats three hamburgers every week, and new varieties of the hamburger continue to be invented. While beef is still the most popular, millions enjoy turkey burgers and the Gardenburger, an all-veggie patty, which was invented by health guru Paul Wenner in 1981.
A Frankfurter by Any Other Name...
The hot dog, also known as the frank, wiener, Coney and red hot, is
unarguably a barbecue classic. Austrians and Germans both lay claim
to the invention of the hot dog, and its myriad names reflect this conflict.
The name "frankfurter" is a tribute to the hot dog's alleged
birthplace of Frankfurt, Germany. But, the people of Vienna (or Wien),
Austria point to the term "wiener" to prove their claim as
the hot dog's inventors.Here in the United States, the storied reputation
of the Coney Island hot dog started modestly enough, with one man and
his stand. In the 1860s, Charles Feltman, a German butcher, opened up
the first Coney Island hot dog stand in Brooklyn, New York. He sold
more than 3,600 hot dogs that year, and upon his death in 1910 he left
a business worth more than one million dollars.
Nathan Handwerker, a former employee of Felton's, started Nathan's Famous, which stakes the claim of "world's greatest hot dog purveyor." Rumor has it Handwerker used two spice suppliers to keep his recipe invention a secret. Every year on Independence Day, hot dog connoisseurs from all over the country flock to the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island.
Like the hamburger, a hot dog is not a hot dog until it's served on a bun. Antonoine Feuchtwanger, a sausage vendor, and his brother-in-law, a baker, used their creative ingenuity to invent the modern bun after Feuchtwanger complained that customers would walk off with the complimentary gloves he provided to keep hands clean. The long, soft rolls were invented specifically to fit the hot dog, which Feuchtwanger called a "red hot."
Pass the Ketchup
No barbecue would be complete without fixin's, especially in InventHelp's hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa. -- also the original home of the Heinz Ketchup factory.
Legend has it that Henry John Heinz invented ketchup by adapting a Chinese recipe for "cat sup", a blend of tomatoes, starch and seasoning. The strictly guarded recipe has remained almost unchanged for more than 100 years, although new colors and varieties have been invented in recent years. Today, Heinz operates in more than 200 countries and markets some 600 products.
We at InventHelp® know that without the visionary talent of these inventors and their tasty inventions, Memorial Day celebrations wouldn't be nearly as savory. We wish you a great holiday weekend filled with good friends, good conversation and, of course, good food.
Back to Articles for Inventors | Back to May 2006 Newsletter
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