Microwave ovens

corblimey

I'm trying to determine when microwave ovens first became a "standard" in Irish kitchens. I've got anecdotal evidence that it was mid-70s for the UK so Ireland probably didn't come that soon after, but I know it was early 80s before we got one. Was it only the trailblazers who had em in the 70s, and were using them for everything?

telecinesk

I know this is ridiculous, but first place i saw them was watching "Dallas" on tv... Yeah I know , oh and Brookside. Then we got this clunky thing mid 1986/7. Man the fun we had watching a cup of water go nuts after microwaving it. I have no ide how none of us got severe burns.

L1011

Late 1980s and probably reached their peak in the late 1990s - not as many people have them now as did.

irishgeo

i think everyone tried the glass of water as the first thing they did.

Day Lewin

The first one I saw was when I was working in a delicatessen in Ranelagh in 1975. It was pretty much just like the one I have in my kitchen right now (new)
We used it for heating cups of soup and slices of quiche and pizza, for takeaway lunches. Sometimes a rasher or two, or an apple strudel, for our own lunch.
A micro is handy for a lot of little jobs like those, rather than for actually cooking a meal, in most cases.

rubadub

corblimey wrote: »

I've got anecdotal evidence that it was mid-70s for the UK so Ireland probably didn't come that soon after,

I would have said mid 80s for the UK and here. You would see them in old tv programs if they were that common.

http://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_britain/70s/70s_high_tech_household.html

Microwave ovens were not available in Britain until the end of the 70s, even then they did not catch on that quickly. The first 'Which' report on microwave ovens was written in 1979. There were concerns about what would happen if the microwaves escaped and confusion over whether the ovens were radioactive. For most people though, they were simply too expensive.



By 1979, there were a variety of microwaves on the market, priced between 150 and 400. [500 to 1400 in today's money]. Models with a separate convection heating element were even more expensive. Both traditional oven makers, Creda and Belling and electronics giants Philips, Hitachi, Sanyo, Sharp and Toshiba, made microwave ovens in the 70s.

For most people in the UK the microwave revolution did not begin until well into the 80s. Jimmy Tarbuck's advertisements for Sharp microwaves helped promote microwave cooking in the UK in the early 80s.

you can check old argos catalogue for stuff like this http://retromash.com/argos/

Nekarsulm

I remember my Dad getting one for my Mum for Christmas. About 1980 . It was a present from us all to her.
We still have it, works perfectly. Zanussi.

emeldc

We got our first microwave in the ESB shop in 85/86. They were over IR£300 if I remember correctly. We added it to the ESB bill and paid it off over 3 years. To put the price into perspective, my mortgage on a new 2 bed townhouse in Bray at the time was IR£250 pm :rolleyes:

demanufactured

Mid 90s

TheDriver

I remember they were ovens, grills and microwaves in one with thoughts of cooking chickens etc in it!

Amalgam

irishgeo wrote: »

i think everyone tried the glass of water as the first thing they did.

Followed by scrambled eggs..

Still using a Miele Deluxe M686 from about 1983. Bought in McKennas at Deansgrange, South County Dublin.





Built like a tank internally. I dismantle and degrease/decrud it every few years. Minimal design and layout, the absolute minimum.

Microwave cookbooks were a great source of fiction.. Nothing ever looked as good as their pictures, particularly fish or meat!