A stove is a heat-producing device. Typically the word is used to refer to a kitchen appliance used for either generating warmth or for cooking. In British English the term cooker is normally used for the cooking appliance, and stove for a wood or coal burning room heating appliance. A kitchen is a room used for food preparation. ... The term Appliance refers to two classes of objects: One class of objects includes items that are custom-fitted to an individual for the purpose of correction of a physical problem, such as prosthetic and energy input. ... Heat (abbreviated Q, also called heat change) is the transfer of thermal energy between two bodies which are at different temperatures. ... Cooking is the act of preparing food for consumption. ... Diagram showing the geographical locations of selected languages and dialects of the British Isles. ...

There are many types of stoves. In the common experience, a kitchen stove is used to cook food, and refers to a device which has both burners (also known as a cooktop, or in British English as a hob) and an oven. A kitchen is a room used for food preparation. ... A burner describes several things; a CD recording tool: CD burner. ... This term is used in Southeastern Pennsylvania Dutch Country to describe a cast iron griddle. ... An oven is an enclosed compartment for heating, baking or drying. ...

A glass-ceramic cooktop (2004)

Stoves may generate heat by: A glass-ceramic cooktop. ... A glass-ceramic cooktop. ... Glass-ceramic is a mixture of glass and ceramic materials (mainly lithium-, silicon-, or aluminium-oxides) yielding a material that is impervious to even extreme temperature shocks. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• burning natural gas (most common in the US)
• electrical resistance (second most common in the US)
• burning wood (rather rare in the US, most common in developing nations). Burning wood for "ambiance" and in barbecues is fairly common in the US, and is considered "the fastest-growing form of pollution in most American cities".
• burning oil (very rare in the US, mainly used for always-on stoves.
• burning solid fuel (usually coal and becoming less common due to concerns about environmental pollution)

Common features of modern stoves

Modern stoves typically have from three to six burners or hotplates, an oven, and knobs for controlling heat on burners, which may be located on the backsplash, on the cooktop, or on the front of the stove closest to one's hips.

Middle to high end models also may feature locking mechanisms for the oven door, automatic cleaning mechanisms that raise the oven temperature to over 500 degrees fahrenheit and reduce accumulated food spills to ash, one or more timers, a digital display, and may even be programmable such that they start and stop heating at preset times. Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of hot and cold; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. ... This article describes degree as a unit of temperature. ... This article is about the temperature scale; see also Fahrenheit graphics API. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), who proposed it in 1724. ...

History

Early stoves in the Western World

In Europe, the history of the kitchen stove begins in earnest in the 18th century. Before, people cooked over open fires fuelled by wood, which first were on the floor or on low masonry constructions. In the Middle Ages, waist-high brick-and-mortar hearths and the first chimneys appeared, so that one didn't have to kneel or sit anymore to cook. The fire was lit on top of that construction; the space underneath was used to store and dry wood. Cooking was done mainly in cauldrons hung above the fire or placed on trivets. The heat was regulated by placing the cauldron higher or lower above the fire. World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... A kitchen is a room used for food preparation. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a organic material found as the primary content of the stems of woody plants, especially trees, but also shrubs. ... Dressed masonry in Barcelona, Spain, with lintel and arch. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Chimney stacks on a Newcastle upon Tyne building A chimney is a system for venting hot gases and smoke from a stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. ... A cauldron (from Latin caldarium, hot bath) is a large metal-made pot (kettle) for cooking and/or boiling over an open fire, usually attached to a hanger with the shape of an arc. ... Camera Tripod A tripod refers to any three-legged structure. ...

Open fire has three major disadvantages that prompted already 16th century inventors to look for improvements: it is dangerous, produces a lot of smoke, and the heat efficiency is poor. Attempts were made to enclose the fire to make better use of the heat it generated and thus reduce the wood consumption. A first step was the fire chamber: the fire was enclosed on three sides by brick-and-mortar walls, covered by an iron plate. This technique also caused a change in the kitchenware used for cooking, for it required flat-bottomed pots instead of cauldrons. Only in 1735 the first design that enclosed the fire completely appeared: the Castrol stove of the French architect François Cuvilliés was a masonry construction with several fireholes covered by iron plates with holes. It is also known as a stew stove. Towards the end of the 18th century, the design was refined by hanging the pots in holes through the top iron plate, thus improving heat efficiency even more. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... See: Pottery Cannabis (marijuana) Cooking pot Gardening or Garden Pol Pot A technical slang for potentiometer Pot is an alternate name for pood, a Russian unit of mass of about 16 kg Pot (poker) POT (Pirates of the Theatre) Chamber pot This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which... Events 16 April - The London premiere of Alcina by George Frideric Handel, his first the first Italian opera for the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. ... Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect is a person licensed in the art of planning, designing and overseeing the construction of buildings, or more generally, the designer of a scheme or plan. ...

Early stoves in East Asia

Raised kamado

Chinese and Japanese civilisations had discovered the principle of the closed stove much earlier. Already from the Chinese Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206/207 BC), clay stoves that enclosed the fire completely are known, and a similar design known as kamado (かまど) appeared in the Kofun period (3rd - 6th century) in Japan. These stoves were fired by wood or charcoal through a hole in the front. In both designs, pots were placed over or hung into holes at the top of the knee-high construction. Raised kamados were developed in Japan during the Edo period (1603 - 1867). The Qin Dynasty (Wade-Giles) (秦朝 221 BC - 207 BC) was preceded by the Zhou Dynasty and followed by the Han Dynasty in China. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC - 220s BC - 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC Years: 226 BC 225 BC 224 BC 223 BC 222 BC - 221 BC - 220 BC 219 BC... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC - 200s BC - 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC Years: 211 BC 210 BC 209 BC 208 BC 207 BC - 206 BC - 205 BC 204 BC... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC - 200s BC - 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC Years: 212 BC 211 BC 210 BC 209 BC 208 BC - 207 BC - 206 BC 205 BC... Clay is a generic term for an aggregate of hydrous silicate particles less than 4 μm (micrometres) in diameter. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei Kofun is an era in the history of Japan... (2nd century - 3rd century - 4th century - other centuries) Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east. ... (5th century — 6th century — 7th century — other centuries) Events The first academy of the east the Academy of Gundeshapur founded in Persia by the Persian Shah Khosrau I. Irish colonists and invaders, the Scots, began migrating to Caledonia (later known as Scotland) Glendalough monastery, Wicklow Ireland founded by St. ... Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents of animal and vegetable substances. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Edo period (江戸時代) is a division of Japanese... Events March 24 - Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England April 28 – Funeral of Elizabeth I of England in Westminster Abbey July 17 or July 19 - Sir Walter Raleigh arrested for treason. ... 1867 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Iron stoves

In the 18th century the first iron stoves appeared. An early example is the Franklin stove, a wood burning stove said to have been invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1742. It had a labyrinthine path for hot exhaust gases to escape, thus allowing heat to enter the room instead of going up the chimney. The Franklin stove, however, was designed for heating, not for cooking. Benjamin Thompson at the turn to the 19th century was among the first to present a working iron kitchen stove. His Rumford stove used one fire to heat several pots that were also hung into holes so that they could be heated from the sides, too. It was even possible to regulate the heat individually for each hole. His stove was designed for large canteen or castle kitchens, though. It would take another 30 years until the technology had been refined and the size of the iron stove been reduced enough for domestic use. Stewart's Oberlin stove was a much more compact iron stove, patented in the U.S. in 1834. It became a huge commercial success with some 90000 units sold in the next 30 years. In Europe, similar designs also appeared in the 1830s. In the following years, these iron stoves evolved into veritable cooking machines with flue pipes connected to the chimney, oven holes, and installations for heating water. The originally open holes into which the pots were hung were now covered with concentric iron rings on which the pots were placed. Depending on the size of the pot or the heat needed, one could remove the inner rings. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... A Franklin stove The Franklin stove (named after its supposed inventor, Benjamin Franklin) is also known as the circulating stove. ... Franklin, an engraving from a painting by Duplessis Dr. Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was an American printer, journalist, publisher, author, philanthropist, abolitionist, public servant, scientist, librarian, diplomat, and inventor. ... Events January 24 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor. ... Benjamin Thompson. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wikiquote has quotations relating to: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government Official website of the United States government - Gateway to governmental sites White House - Official site of the US President Senate. ... 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Events and Trends Dutch-speaking farmers known as Voortrekkers emigrate northwards from the Cape Colony. ...

Gas and electric stoves

Many stoves use natural gas to provide heat.

All these stoves were fired by wood, charcoal, or coal. The first gas stoves were developed already in the 1820s, but these remained isolated experiments. (James Sharp in Northampton, England, patented a gas stove in 1826 and opened a gas stove factory in 1836.) At the world fair in London in 1851, a gas stove was shown, but only in the 1880s did this technology start to become a commercial success. The main factor for this delay was the slow growth of the gas pipe network. The first gas stoves were rather unwieldy, but soon the oven was integrated into the base and the size reduced to fit in better with the rest of the kitchen furniture. In the 1910s, producers started to enamel their gas stoves for easier cleaning. A high-end gas stove called the AGA cooker was invented in 1922 by Swedish Nobel prize winner Gustaf Dalén. It is considered to be the most efficient design and is a much sought after kitchen "must have" in certain circles—despite the hefty price tag. Photo by Quadell. ... Photo by Quadell. ... Natural gas - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a organic material found as the primary content of the stems of woody plants, especially trees, but also shrubs. ... Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents of animal and vegetable substances. ... Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground either by underground mining, open-pit mining or strip mining. ... Natural gas - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Events and Trends Nationalistic independence movements helped reshape the world during this decade: Greece declares independence from the Ottoman Empire (1821). ... This is about Northampton in England, for other placves of the same name see Northampton (disambiguation) Northampton Guildhall Northampton is a large market town and a local government district in central England upon the River Nene, and the county town of Northamptonshire. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... 1826 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Worlds Fair is the generic name for various large expositions held since the mid 19th century. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Events January 23 - The flip of a coin determines whether a new city in Oregon is named after Boston, Massachusetts, or Portland, Maine, with Portland winning. ... Events and Trends Technology Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... Events and trends Science Einsteins theory of general relativity Max von Laue discovers the diffraction of x-rays by crystals Alfred Wegener puts forward his theory of continental drift War, peace and politics Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary leads to World War I October Revolution in... The AGA cooker is a stored-heat cooker invented in 1922 by the Nobel Prize-winning Swedish physicist Dr. Gustaf Dalén (1869 - 1937), who also founded the AGA company. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Photographs of Nobel Prize Medals. ... Nils Gustaf Dalén ( November 30, 1869 - December 9, 1937) was a Swedish inventor and founder of AGA. Laureate for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1912 for his work on automatic gas regulator controlled buoys. ...

The AGA, and similar products such as the Rayburn Range are examples of always-on stoves which continue to burn fuel even when cooking is not being performed. Stoves (or ranges as they are also known) such as these are often used instead of boilers or furnaces to supply hot water and central heating to the rest of the house. The Rayburn is a type of stove similar in nature to the AGA. Indeed they are manufactured in Telford at the same factory as the AGA. The Rayburn was launched in 1946 with two hotplates, and one or two ovens and the ability to heat water. ... A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated under pressure. ... A furnace is a device for heating air or any other fluid. ...

First attempts at building electrical stoves were made in the 1880s, but its real debut was at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, where an electrified model kitchen was shown. But like the gas stove, the electrical stove had a slow start, partly due to the unstable technology, and partly because first cities and town needed to be electrified. By the 1930s, the technology had matured and the electrical stove started to slowly replace the gas stove, especially in domestic kitchens. Events and Trends Technology Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... World Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 The World Columbian Exposition (also called The Chicago Worlds Fair), a Worlds fair, was held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbuss discovery of the New World. ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented First atom was split with a particle accelerator Golden Age of radio begins in U.S. Science Nuclear fission discovered by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann Pluto, the ninth planet from the Sun, is discovered by Clyde Tombaugh British biologist Arthur...

The electrical stove technology has developed in several successive generations:

• The first technology used resistor heating coils which heated iron hotplates, on top of which the pots were placed.
• In the 1970s, glass-ceramic cooktops started to appear. Glass ceramic has a very low heat conduction coefficient, but lets infrared radiation pass very well. Electrical heating coils or infrared halogen lamps are used as heating elements. Because of its physical characteristics, the cooktop heats quicker, there is less afterheat, and only the plate heats up while the adjacent surface remains cool. Also, these cooktops have a smooth surface and are thus easier to clean, but they are also markedly more expensive.
• A third technology, developed first for professional kitchens, but today also entering the domestic market are induction stoves. These heat the pot directly through electromagnetic induction and thus require pots and pans with ferromagnetic bottoms. Induction stoves also often have a glass-ceramic surface.

The iron hotplate technology is still in widespread use, although newly equipped kitchens nowadays usually get a stove using one of the later technologies. An ideal resistor is a component with an electrical resistance that remains constant regardless of the applied voltage or current flowing through the device or the rate of change of the current. ... A coil is a series of loops. ... Events and trends Although in the United States and in many other Western societies the 1970s are often seen as a period of transition between the turbulent 1960s and the more conservative 1980s and 1990s, many of the trends that are associated widely with the Sixties, from the Sexual Revolution... Glass-ceramic is a mixture of glass and ceramic materials (mainly lithium-, silicon-, or aluminium-oxides) yielding a material that is impervious to even extreme temperature shocks. ... Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than visible light, but shorter than microwave radiation. ... The halogens are a chemical series. ... An induction hob is a cooker hob that uses electromagnetic induction in the hob to heat a metal cooking pot. ... Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electrical potential difference (or voltage) across a conductor situated in a changing magnetic field. ... Ferromagnetism is a phenomenon by which a material can exhibit a spontaneous magnetization, and is one of the strongest forms of magnetism. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Electrical oven technology has also advanced: in the convection oven, a stream of hot air is used for heating food instead of the heat produced by coils directly as in a conventional electrical oven. An oven is an enclosed compartment for heating, baking or drying. ... Convection ovens use heated air that is forced into the oven by fans located in the back of the oven, generally for cooking food. ...

Gas and electric stoves are the most common today in western countries. Both are equally mature and safe, and the choice between the two is largely a matter of personal preferences and of what installations already exist in a house: if a house has no gas supply, adding one just to be able to run a gas stove is an expensive endeavour. In particular, professional chefs often prefer gas stoves, for they allow them control the heat more finely and more quickly. A chef (also executive chef or chef de cuisine), from the French for chief or head person, is the executive in charge of a kitchen, responsible for recipe and menu creation, staff training, and overseeing all cooking. ...

See also

• Furnace
• Kitchen
• Oven

A furnace is a device for heating air or any other fluid. ... A kitchen is a room used for food preparation. ... An oven is an enclosed compartment for heating, baking or drying. ... File links The following pages link to this file: Abu Dhabi Abraham Lincoln Australia Adolf Hitler Animation Andorra Alaska Anatomy Asia Albert Einstein Asterales Automobile Aircraft Alexander Graham Bell Apple Computer American Civil War Ancient Egypt Asteraceae Alps Arches National Park Aarhus Almond Caesar Augustus Acacia Acropolis Acupuncture Amaranth Alexander... The Wikimedia Commons is (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free images, sound and other multimedia files. ...

External links

• History of iron stoves (http://www.anderweit.de/I_anderweit/I_4_Programm/3931824160.pdf) – in German.
• The History of Stoves and Ovens (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blstoves.htm) From About.com
• How Stoves Work (http://www.repairclinic.com/0088_13_3.asp) Article by RepairClinic.com
• Early Chinese stoves (http://www.yutopian.com/cooking/history/), with images.
• Early Japanese stoves (http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/kamado.htm), with a good image.