The Technology of Grandma’s Kitchen

Microwave ovens, slow cookers, non-stick frying pans and plastic containers have been around for some time now, and they most certainly are a functional part of our lives. I doubt anyone would argue that their existence has everything to do with quantity, very little to do with quality, and that grandma’s kitchen will never be the same again.

I am part of the generation who has witnessed the transformation of these new things first hand, and I’m a firm believer that new doesn’t always mean improved. But it’s a fast-paced world and one must keep up, which is what these things are meant to accommodate.

I remember several years ago when I got my first apartment. The microwave oven and automatic coffee maker were crucial to my daily living. Even though I noticed that neither my morning coffee nor microwave meals tasted as good as the old way, I never made a move to change things. It was just too much work.

I think my social history is very similar to the average American who grew up in a rural community. Our grandmother’s cooked with pressure cookers, cast iron skillets, bacon grease, and canned many of their own foods. Since the women folk were housewives they had the time to use such systems.

My mom was part of the 60s and 70s generation that went to work for the second income. Why? A lot will say that the economy required it, but I think they all just wanted more.

I don’t suppose it’s a bad thing to want more for your children than you had, but it really depends on what “more” is. More toys? More clothes? Or just more general “stuff” that helps keep up with the Jones.

My mom loved the microwave. When she came home from a hard day at work she’d put in leftovers and dinner was ready in five minutes. You’ve got to admit, five minutes is a lot more appealing to a tired mind and body than an hour of stirring, boiling and frying.

Mom also liked the slow cooker. She’d get up in the morning, sear a beef or pork roast in a skillet, then drop it down in a slow cooker full of water, and that night when we got home—WA LA! Dinner was ready. Very nice invention for the working mom.

My problem with both inventions is the difference in how they make food taste. For example, pizza hot out of the oven certainly tastes better than one wrapped in plastic and cooked in a microwave.

My grandmother made her beef roasts in a pressure cooker. She’d brown it first in a cast iron skillet then add it to the pressure cooker half full of water.

Maybe it’s the pressure cooker that seals the flavor better, or maybe it’s the cast iron skillet that gives it a special taste.  Or maybe it was grandma’s special touch. I can’t be sure, but the new methods can’t top it.

Grandma also had a stainless steel coffee maker for years. Those old coffee makers brought the water to a boil and the coffee perked. It didn’t matter what brand of coffee she used it was still good in that coffee maker.

Today I’ve noticed that the best coffee comes from the same type of systems. Some of the automatic drip makers do a fair job but only if they are made of stainless steel. I have had several plastic coffee makers and none of them could make a good cup of coffee.  I tried the high dollar coffee, too, but found no significant improvements.

I’m no scientist or engineer but I honestly believe that the difference I’ve experienced is between plastic and metal containers. The same goes today for our favorite soda pop. Grandma used to buy hers in 10 or 16-ounce glass bottles—the kind that required a bottle opener to remove the steel cap. We’d grab a cold one out of the refrigerator and drink it right out of the bottle.

We also had a pool hall in my hometown that sold 10-ounce bottles of soda pop from a horizontal cooler—the ones that held icy water and had a sliding door on the top.  I don’t care what anyone says, whether it was Dad’s Root Beer, Nesbitt’s Red Cream Soda, or that good ol’ Mountain Dew, they tasted best out of those 10-ounce glass bottles.

Glass soda pop bottles are pretty much extinct now. Today there is the aluminum can and the plastic bottle. I can tell the difference in the taste between plastic and cans, and I don’t believe it’s a figment of my imagination. If it is, then fine, but I make my living off my imagination and it hasn’t let me down yet.

From a business standpoint I understand why glass or even metal containers are no longer used. They are more expensive and business is about making a profit. So long as people still buy it the new way, then nothing is hurt.  Nothing except my ability to let go of the past.

I remember when butter or margarine became available in plastic containers. My grandmother saved every one. We’d open up her deep freeze to get some ice cream and there’d be scores of those containers filled with everything from frozen berries to leftover spaghetti. Not being a man of the kitchen, but a man of the workshop, I can appreciate the secondhand uses of plastic containers. I have a few of those margarine containers myself filled with nails, screws and whatnot.

I’ve commonly saved tin coffee cans. They are durable and great for larger bolts and nails or similar hardware. But wouldn’t you know it, now they are obsolete and plastic coffee containers have taken over. I suppose they still work the same but I’ll miss the metal ones. It will be interesting to see if the plastic containers survive being filled with fence steeples and bounced around in the back of a pickup truck with heavy posts and fencing tools.

Oh well. It’s another one of those things that can’t be stopped and we’ll all just have to adapt. But some day if I feel like getting up at 5 a.m. and have about six hours to kill, I might just get out the cast iron skillet and ol’ pressure cooker and rustle up some grub the old fashioned way.

I’d likely be disappointed, though. I might be able to supply the time and all the old utensils, but one thing I’m certain I will never be able to duplicate is grandma’s special touch.

Visit Steven Law’s Web site at www.stevenlaw.com. © 2003 Steven A. Anderson