Nicolas Appert (French: Nicolas Appert, November 17, 1749 – June 1, 1841) was born in Chalon, Champagne, France. He invented the airtight food preservation method. people.
In 1800 AD, French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte offered a bounty of 12,000 francs for practical food preservation methods that could be used by marching armies (he was often quoted as saying "an army depends on it"). Stomach forward".) After 10 years of experimentation, Appel presented his invention in 1810 and won a bounty.
The following year, Appel published "L'Art de conserver les substances animales et végétales" (L'Art de conserver les substances animales et végétales). This is one of the earliest books to mention modern food preservation methods.
Maison Appel became the world's first commercial cannery, approximately 100 years before Louis Pasteur demonstrated that heat kills bacteria. Appel patented his invention and set up a company to preserve various foods in closed bottles. Appel's method used thick-walled, wide-mouth glass bottles to hold a variety of foods, including beef, bird meat, eggs, dairy and cooked foods.
His greatest publicity achievement was the preservation of a whole sheep. He left an air chamber at the top of the bottle and used a vise to securely insert the cork into the mouth of the bottle. The entire bottle is then wrapped in canvas to protect it, and finally immersed in boiling water for cooking. The cooking time is the amount of time that Appel determines will render the contents thoroughly cooked.
In honor of Appel, canning is sometimes called "Apelification", but it should be noted that this is not the same as Pasteurization. Appel's early method of preserving food in boiling water used temperatures higher than those used in pasteurization (70°C), which could cause the food being preserved to lose some of its flavor.
Appel's method is extremely simple and feasible, making his method spread quickly. In 1810, the Englishman Peter Durham applied for a patent for his invention, but he used tin cans and created the "modern canning" method. In 1812, the British Brian Donchin and John Hall acquired these two patents and began to produce preserved foods.
Just ten years later, Appel's canning method had spread to the United States. Even so, mass production of tin cans was not common until the early 20th century, in part because they were quite difficult to open before the invention of the can opener (before the invention of the can opener, soldiers would cut the cans open with bayonets or use rocks to break them open). smash open).
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Memorial after Appel's death
In 1991, the French artist Jean-Robert Ipstegui made it in bronze A statue of Appel was erected in Chalon, Champagne. In 1986, a commemorative plaque was added to his birthplace.
In 1999, a bust of Appel made by Richard Bruye was installed at the Chicago Department of the Institute of Food Technologists and the Musée de Chalons in Massy and Champagne.
The Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology of Chalon in the Champagne region has an Appel Room.
France and Canada each have a Rue Nicolas Appel.
1955 French stamp.
Nicolas Appel's 2010 "French National Celebration":
Appel Stamp Project, 2010, Principality of Monaco
2010 Presentation: "Boxed" Champagne Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology in Chalonen
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Nicolas Appel