Forks, fridges and 13 other food inventions NO ONE thought would work

Inventors who had the last laugh

You may not have given much thought to how your favourite appliances, gadgets and foodstuffs came to be. But many of the food and cooking inventions we now take for granted had less than illustrious beginnings. Here, we reveal 15 inventions that were initially dismissed for being impractical, improper or downright delusional, yet went on to change the culinary world forever.

Read on to discover the genius food inventions that were mocked when they came out, counting down to the most impactful of all.

We've based our ranking on how ridiculed yet impactful each invention was, and on the opinions of our well-travelled (and well-fed) team. The list is unavoidably subjective.

15. Air fryer

Air fryers have become increasingly popular over the past few years, but it took time for them to catch on. It’s believed the world’s first air fryer was released by American brand Philips in 2010. It was designed and patented by Dutch inventor Fred van der Weij, who was looking for a healthier alternative to fried foods. The concept was simple: circulate hot air through small chambers concentrated on the food to make it crispy.

15. Air fryer

Many people just couldn’t see how it differed from the standard convection oven they used daily. After all, wasn't baking food in an oven the same thing? But during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more people cooking from home and sharing recipe tips on social media, the countertop appliance came into its own. Today air fryers are popular around the world, particularly with those looking to save space, cook healthier meals and save on energy costs.

14. Electric rice cooker

Traditionally, Japanese cooks would make rice in a kamado, a type of stove fuelled by fire, which incidentally inspired the Big Green Egg barbecue. But getting the heat intensity right proved tricky. In 1923, Mitsubishi Electric produced the first electric rice cooker. As many households still didn’t have electricity, it was predominantly used on ships. By the 1940s and 1950s, commercial versions were introduced, but the manual appliances weren’t well received.

14. Electric rice cooker

When Toshiba developed the first automatic version for home use, perfecting the technology between 1951 and 1955, it revolutionised the way people cooked rice. While sales were low initially, the makers continued to tweak the design and technology to accommodate more styles of cooking and rice varieties. By 1980, automatic cookers were present in roughly 95% of Japanese households and today they’re common in kitchens around the world, used for making everything from sticky rice to porridge.

13. Toaster

The concept of toast is nothing new. The word itself derives from the Latin word tostum, meaning scorching or burning. Long before electricity, the Romans used this method as a way of preserving bread, holding slices over an open fire with a long fork or placing them on a rack. As the Romans completed conquests around the world, the popularity of toast soon spread to Europe and the Americas.

13. Toaster

General Electric’s D-12 toaster, patented by Frank Shailor in 1909, is widely considered to be the first commercial toaster. The problem was the appliance could only heat one side of the bread at a time, and someone had to watch carefully and manually flip the bread over. Luckily, the Copeman Electric Stove Company stepped in, introducing a 'toaster that turns toast' in 1913. By 1921, mechanic Charles Strite patented the automatic pop-up toaster we know and love today.

12. Microwave

In 1946, shortly before the Cold War, American scientist Percy Spencer was tasked by the military with developing magnetron technology to increase the power of radar sets. This device was essential for NATO to identify airborne Soviet threats. But in the middle of his experiment, he realised the magnetron was emitting heat-generating microwaves that had melted the chocolate bar in his pocket.

12. Microwave

Fast-forward a year and several more experiments (involving eggs and popcorn) and Spencer released the RadaRange, a commercial microwave oven that used the magnetron’s electromagnetic technology. But weighing in at over 750lb (340kg) and measuring over six feet (1.82m) tall, these huge machines weren’t an overnight success. It was another 20 years before technology allowed for the creation of smaller machines that were in turn more affordable, ultimately leading to the microwave becoming the kitchen staple it is today.

11. KitchenAid Stand Mixer

While KitchenAid may now have a global reputation for its colourful stand mixers, it hasn’t always been that way. US-based engineer Herbert Johnson came up with the H5, the first known household eggbeater, in 1919. Hoping to revolutionise the culinary scene on a huge scale, the gadget was met with a short burst of excitement in its first few years, becoming popular commercially and among affluent households. However, most housewives were put off by the hefty price tag and the colossal size of the first machine.

11. KitchenAid Stand Mixer

It wasn’t until the release of the brand’s Model K in 1936 that the appliance became a properly sought after kitchen item. This new stand mixer was both prettier and more compact, appealing to a wider audience and its iconic shape (complete with bullet-shaped head) has largely remained unchanged ever since. A range of different coloured offerings – including Petal Pink, Sunny Yellow and Satin Chrome – launched in 1955 and the rest is history, with the brand's mixers now found in homes across the world.

10. Canned food

In 1795, as the French Revolutionary Wars waged on, Napoleon Bonaparte and the French government issued a prize of 12,000 francs to anyone who could solve one of the army’s most pressing issues: food preservation. While some methods like smoking and pickling were popular, no one knew quite how effective they were at keeping germs at bay. Things changed when candymaker Nicolas Appert had the radical idea to store food in Champagne bottles, cork it in a similar way to wine and seal with wax before boiling.

10. Canned food

Appert’s method, tweaked over the next 14 years, won him the prize and he moved from glass jars to tin cans. There was just one problem: can openers didn’t exist, and the heavy-duty cans had such robust lids that they had to be chiselled open. Other inventors created their own patents, but these proved costly for both producers and consumers. Eventually, smaller steel cans were produced and tin openers were invented, leading to a surge of interest in canned foods, particularly for feeding soldiers worldwide.

9. Slow cooker

Loved for its versatility and simplicity, the slow cooker became a kitchen staple for many during the 1970s. However, its path to success wasn’t a smooth one. American inventor Irving Naxon came up with the idea for a portable cooking device in the 1930s and began selling the invention – then known as the Naxon Beanery – two decades later. While the concept of cooking over a longer period was genius, its marketing was not; the product was initially positioned as a way of cooking cholent, the Jewish stew made from beans and meat, but little else.

9. Slow cooker

Following the failed first release, Naxon sold the machine to Kansas-based Rival Manufacturing in 1970. The brand, known for its savvy kitchen gadgets, didn’t know what to do with the product and eventually passed it over to the team’s test kitchen. Employee Marilyn Neill began experimenting and realised the device could cook up not just beans but endless recipes. It was rebranded as the now-renowned Crock-Pot in 1971 at the National Housewares Show in Chicago and was an instant success. It went on to inspire a wave of copycat brands, with the slow cooker still proving a popular device over five decades later.

8. Coffee machine

Coffee making has changed significantly over the last 200 years. Among the first ‘machines’ was the percolator, which saw a pot with boiling water on the bottom and ground coffee on the top heated on the stove. But as café culture grew across Europe during the 19th century, the process proved too slow for impatient customers. Enter Italian Angelo Moriondo, who invented and patented what is regarded as the first espresso machine in 1884.

8. Coffee machine

But while it was successful at making coffee quickly, Moriondo's invention didn’t catch on. The machine could only brew in bulk and produced a drink that resembled filter coffee rather than espresso, the beverage of choice. By the early 20th century, fellow Italians had built on the idea, making improvements to filtering and heating methods to produce a cleaner brew. Over the years, coffee machines have continued to evolve into automatic versions for home use, though traditional methods like percolators and drips are still very popular.

7. TV dinner

In 1945, New York–based Maxson Food Systems sold frozen dinners to commercial airlines using the flash-freezing method created by businessman Clarence Birdseye two decades earlier. But it was supposedly a Swanson salesman that developed the concept for what it called ‘TV dinners’ in 1954. Looking for a way to help the company save 260 tonnes of Thanksgiving turkey from going to waste, he came up with the idea of serving a frozen Thanksgiving meal in a box.

7. TV dinner

Around this time, more women were taking up jobs, so TV dinners became a convenient option for the working wife and mother. Not everyone was impressed, though; rumour has it that Swanson received numerous angry letters from men who were missing their homecooked meals. But the increasing ownership of televisions, combined with effective marketing campaigns and presidential endorsements (as the picture shows, former president Ronald Reagan was a fan) meant TV dinners soon cemented their place in American culture.

6. The whisk

The first ever whisks were made of twigs (often apple, birch or willow) tied together in bundles. As the natural wood contained sap, they gave the dishes they were used on a distinct fragrance – and they were entirely inefficient at mixing. It wasn’t until the wire version was invented in the early to mid-19th century that whisks became more ergonomic and practical. That said, no one quite knows when and where the balloon whisk was invented – some say it was sometime before 1841.

6. The whisk

The teardrop design and flexible steel wires made the balloon whisk particularly easy for mixing in a round bowl. In the late 19th century, as aerated, fluffy dishes like meringues became more popular, the rotary eggbeater was invented, and American bakers seemed to prefer this to manual whisks. But when cookery writer Julia Child touted the benefits of a balloon whisk in her first TV appearance in 1963, it brought the humble utensil back into fashion.

5. Tupperware

Ever since it released its first product in 1946, the Tupperware brand has been synonymous with food storage. Surprisingly, it all started with a paint tin. Chemist Earl S. Tupper (pictured) was working in a plastics factory after the Great Depression, when he had the idea of designing storage containers with an air- and liquid-tight seal, similar to those on paint cans. The idea was to help 'war-weary families' reduce food waste, and so the idea for plastic containers with a burping seal was born.

5. Tupperware

But while the idea was well received by the media, consumers were apparently less impressed. The containers were often difficult to open, and people had to be shown how to use them. Cleverly switching tactics, the brand began selling directly to customers via Tupperware parties. This saw self-employed salespeople, often women, go directly into people’s homes to demonstrate how Tupperware products could preserve food and save money. While its future is uncertain (Tupperware filed for bankruptcy in 2024 due to a decline in demand and financial losses), there’s no contesting the colossal impact the brand has had on food storage in both professional and home kitchens.

4. The dishwasher

For many, it’s hard to imagine life without the handy dishwasher – but there was once a time its inventor faced criticism. While Joel Houghton may have been granted a patent in 1850 for a hand-turned style of dishwasher, the variation we know and love today was thought up by Josephine Cochran (pictured). Swapping the cleaning sponges for water pressure, she got a patent for this device in 1886 and went on to found Garis-Cochran Manufacturing in the 1890s.

4. The dishwasher

After Cochran’s invention had a successful commercial launch, she sought out investors to market the machine on a wider scale. Unfortunately, she was met with backlash and sexism. On several occasions, Cochran was mocked and told to resign and let a man take over the business. Determined not to give in, she took her device to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 and went on to win an award. It wasn't long until orders came flooding in from all over and by the 1950s, the dishwasher became a household essential.

3. Ice cubes

When, in 1806, Frederic Tudor (pictured) came up with the idea to ship ice from his family’s country estate in Boston to the Caribbean, everyone thought the venture would fail. Tudor, however, was convinced it was a commercial opportunity and that people in the West Indies would jump at the chance to sip ice-cold drinks in the sunshine. But after splashing out on a boat and sending his first shipment to Martinique, he was ridiculed by the media and received little interest from islanders.

3. Ice cubes

After spending a tumultuous few years in debtor’s prison, then running from the law, Tudor’s perseverance paid off. By 1819 he was travelling the US, convincing previously sceptical bartenders and even medical staff to serve chilled beverages to customers and patients. Fast-forward to the 1830s and the now ‘Ice King’ was shipping thousands of tonnes of ice from Boston to other American cities, as well as to India and further afield, leading to America's booming ice industry.

2. The refrigerator

The refrigerator is arguably the most influential invention in the world of food and drink. But it wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. Before the invention of electricity and refrigeration, people would preserve food by storing it in cold water by a river, using an ice house (similar to the one pictured) or techniques like pickling and smoking. The first instance of artificial refrigeration dates back to 1748, when Scottish professor and physician William Cullen demonstrated how the cooling technology would work.

2. The refrigerator

It wasn’t until the 1860s that the manufactured icebox brought this technology to life, followed by the first electric refrigerator in 1913. At the time, ice was big business for America, as the country's second largest export after cotton; because of this, corporations initially slammed the idea of the refrigerator, fearing it would negatively impact the ice industry and put thousands out of a job. Refrigerators were also seen as a luxury item that was prohibitively expensive, noisy and required a lot of upkeep. But thanks to developments in technology, the fridge evolved into the streamlined kitchen essential we rely on today.

1. The fork

It’s hard to imagine forks being considered anything but practical. Yet when they were first introduced, many couldn’t see the benefit of these utensils over hands, perhaps because the original design only featured a couple of tines for spearing food or holding it in place while cutting. There’s evidence forks were used as far back as the time of the Ancient Greeks, but the table fork as we know it today is said to have become popular during the reign of the Byzantine Empire.

1. The fork

The use of forks spread across Italy and France from the 10th century onwards. But the British were sceptical, calling the utensil a ‘feminine affectation’. It’s said that even the church was against the use of forks, deeming them an excessive luxury. It wasn’t until the 18th century that people really caught on, around the same time the four-tine, curved design was developed.

Now discover the delicious foods that were invented entirely by accident

Last updated by Lottie Woodrow.