The Evolution of Pots and Pans

The Evolution of Pots and Pans

In the earliest days of the primitive human race, food was cooked over an open flame or placed on hot rocks which were heated in an open flame. As time progressed and civilization marched on, the invention of dishes came along. With the ability to boil water in a controlled environment, suddenly a multitude of new recipes and new methods of cooking became available to everyone.

As time progressed, the simple concept of food preparation items has become a veritable forest of options and choices for the skilled cook, with no shortage of fancy pots and pans to choose from. With Teflon cookware coatings, nonstick surfaces and all manner of new improved cookware items, the dishes in the modern day are truly amazing and serve a variety of functions.

It's interesting to note that in the earliest days of mankind; simply boiling a pot of water was almost an insurmountable task. While there are all manner of archaeological findings which gave credence to the idea that the earliest dishes were clay, even before these clay dishes came along there was a need for heating and cooking of food, even before sanitary food preparation came along.

Many times, these foods were cooked on hot rocks, over an open flame or simply eaten raw. It is a commentary on how advanced our civilization has become that we no longer depend on these somewhat unappealing and difficult methods of preparing food with limited cookware.

In fact, some products such as pots and pans are so advanced in the modern day that we have eliminated much of the difficulties of cooking altogether. Simply flick a switch and the gas instantly comes on. Push a button and a timer is set. By utilizing all these modern-day functions, in addition to the aforementioned revolutionary invention of pots and pans, cooking in the modern day has become routine, even boring in some cases.

While it seems somewhat commonplace, some of the revolutionary breakthroughs with pots and pans include pressure cookers, slow cookers and crock pots, staples of the modern-day kitchen. But these items were not always so common and quite often preparing food in primitive times was more of an adventure than a chore.

From chopping up firewood to getting a roaring flame started, all the way down to applying the food to open heat, the difference between cooking in primitive times compared with the modern day with cookware is like night and day. There really is no comparison, as we have grown so efficient and so simple that it is no longer even in doubt how easy it is to prepare food.

Fortunately, along with the pace of civilization, the evolution of pots and pans has kept up nicely. With the ability to prepare food on nonstick surfaces in stainless steel pots and pans and other types of modern-day cookware implements, the modern day cook can focus solely on preparation of the food, rather than dealing with all of the external and peripheral difficulties of primitive life. Rather than piling up firewood and starting a fire, the modern-day cook simply turns on the stove burner.

In primitive times, the food would have been cooked on a spit or laid on a flat hot rock. Today, we simply chuck these products into a pan and set the timer, confident that our food will be cooked correctly thanks to modern technology. With such modern conveniences, it is no surprise that so few people make the effort to go back to nature and live on the land as our forebears were so accustomed to.

It is easy enough to take the evolution of pans for granted, but without these extremely fascinating leaps in technology, we would very likely still be cooking food with a hot rock or holding our meat over an open fire. The wonders of modern technology have brought us a long way and mankind has made great advances, not the least of which is the way in which we prepare our food.

Without these leaps in technology, mankind would still be subject to all manner of difficulties, not to mention parasites that are easily spread through uncooked foods and unclean surfaces. After all, cooking food on a big rock can't be all that sanitary.