At the turn of the nineteenth century a revolutionary meat slicer was invented in Holland by Wilhelm Van Berkel. It is credited as the first device to move the carriage and food into a spinning blade. The pre-cursor to the famous Hobart device.
People were no longer content with simple bread and cheese. Social conditions and a moderate degree of prosperity fueled their demand for more meat and sausage. Using simple carving knives, butchers were kept busy all day slicing meat.
The Berkel meat slicer invention revolutionized the butcher's trade, where the quality of cut and the speed of the slicer became the predominant benefits of the new machines.
Antique Berkel meat slicers are difficult to find and they now draw a premium. Berkel stopped making the vintage style slicers in the 1960s.
Famous quotes containing the word meat:
“Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink
Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;”
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)