in-the-newsGiving Thanks for Our Inventors: Turkey

The Inventors That Improved the Taste & Safety of the Thanksgiving Turkey

Our gravy train is chugging right along to the main course of our Thanksgiving feast, the turkey! Turkey is a delicious part of our meal on Thanksgiving, but did you know that it has also inspired inventors to create innovative technologies? Dr. Rangaswamy Srinivasan made LASIK surgery possible when he discovered that lasers were safe for the human eye by testing them on turkey leftovers. Now let’s move on to the tools that help us roast the perfect turkey! 

Image: Drawings from Teel’s basting device patent.

 

Basting in Flavor & the Gravy Train

First up, we have Florence Teel, who flew our turkey prep to new heights in 1941 with her basting device, ensuring our birds are succulent with flavor. Teel’s device empowered home cooks to focus more on enjoying their time in the kitchen and less time on the mechanics of cooking. The design is simple yet effective, it has a long flexible tube attached to a bulb that holds liquids like melted butter or marinade. Once filled you can squeeze the bulb directing all the liquid onto the turkey.  

Her device made significant contributions to kitchen technology with a design that allows the oven to retain heat and moisture for perfectly cooked dishes! Thanks, Florence! 

 

Image: Drawings from Harvey E. Lyons’ combined strainer and fat separator patent

 

The next stop on this gravy train is the combined strainer and fat-separator, invented by Harvey E. Lyons in 1921, which helps us ditch the grease in our gravy while keeping all the tasty goodness. Lyons’ combined strainer and fat separator provided a single tool that could serve multiple purposes in the kitchen, saving both time and space! His device features a spout to strain the liquids while keeping the fat and solids behind. Thanks to Lyons’s invention we can enjoy smoother and less greasy gravy! 

 

Is the Turkey Ready Yet? 

But, even with 20/20 vision, we still need meat thermometer inventors like George Ford and Anthony Volk to indicate when our food is fully cooked. George Ford was an American inventor who spiced things up in the kitchen in the early 20th century, by perfecting food thermometers. Teaming up with Anthony Volk, they co-invented a thermometer that turned up the heat on kitchen technology, making sure that food safety was served with every meal! 

 

Image: Patent drawings for Volk’s first Disposable Cooking Thermometer, the Vue-Temp.

 

It wasn’t till October 25, 1966, that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded a patent for a “thermally responsive signaling device,” which eventually became known as the Dun-Rite pop-up turkey timer. This patent was an enhancement of an earlier one submitted by George G. Kliewer.  

 

Try the Pop-Up Thermometer Experiment  

Join educators Patty Lipka and Reggie Duncan to explore the science behind the pop-up turkey timer and learn how to conduct an experiment at home that mimics how it works using vegetable oil, a ping pong ball, and some hot water. Check out the video, download the recipe card, and give this experiment a try to see the results for yourself!