Blog

Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet/bath/bathroom tissue, or toilet roll)^[1] is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding region of feces (after defecation), and to clean the external genitalia and perineal area of urine (after urination).^[2]

It is commonly supplied as a long strip of perforated paper wrapped around a cylindrical paperboard core, for storage in a dispenser within arm’s reach of a toilet. The bundle, or roll of toilet paper, is specifically known as a toilet roll,^[3] loo roll,^[4] or bog roll (in Britain).^[5]

There are other uses for toilet paper, as it is a readily available household product. It can be used for blowing the nose or wiping the eyes (or other uses of facial tissue). It can be used to wipe off sweat or absorb it. Some people may use the paper to absorb the bloody discharge that comes out of the vagina during menstruation. Toilet paper can be used in cleaning (like a less abrasive paper towel). As a teenage prank, “toilet papering” is a form of temporary vandalism.

Most modern toilet paper in the developed world is designed to decompose in septic tanks, whereas some other bathroom and facial tissues are not. Wet toilet paper rapidly decomposes in the environment. Toilet paper comes in various numbers of plies (layers of thickness), from one- to six-ply, with more back-to-back plies providing greater strength and absorbency. Most modern domestic toilet paper is white, and patterned or textured. Some people have a preference for whether the orientation of the roll on a dispenser should be over or under.

The use of paper for hygiene has been recorded in China in the 6th century AD, with specifically manufactured toilet paper being mass-produced in the 14th century.^[6] Modern commercial toilet paper originated in the 19th century, with a patent for roll-based dispensers being made in 1883.

History

See also: List of Chinese inventions

Although paper had been known as a wrapping and padding material in China since the 2nd century BC,^[7] a reference to the use of toilet paper dates back as early as c. 589 when the scholar-official Yan Zhitui (531–591) wrote:

Paper on which there are quotations or commentaries from the Five Classics or the names of sages, I dare not use for toilet purposes.^[6]

During the later Tang dynasty (618–907 AD), an Arab traveller to China in the year 851 AD remarked:

… they [the Chinese] do not wash themselves with water when they have done their necessities; but they only wipe themselves with paper.^[6]

During the early 14th century, it was recorded that in what is now Zhejiang alone, ten million packages of 1,000 to 10,000 sheets of toilet paper were manufactured annually.^[6] During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD), it was recorded in 1393 that an annual supply of 720,000 sheets of toilet paper (approximately 2 by 3 ft (60 by 90 cm)) were produced for the general use of the imperial court at the capital of Nanjing.^[6] From the records of the Imperial Bureau of Supplies of that same year, it was also recorded that for the Hongwu Emperor‘s imperial family alone, there were 15,000 sheets of special soft-fabric toilet paper made, and each sheet of toilet paper was perfumed.^[6]

Elsewhere, wealthy people wiped themselves with wool, lace or hemp, while less wealthy people used their hand when defecating into rivers, or cleaned themselves with various materials such as rags, wood shavings, leaves, grass, hay, stones, sand, moss, water, snow, ferns, plant husks, fruit skins, seashells, or corncobs, depending upon the country and weather conditions or social customs. In Ancient Rome, a sponge on a stick^[8] was commonly used, and, after use, placed back in a pail of vinegar. Several talmudic sources indicating ancient Jewish practice refer to the use of small pebbles, often carried in a special bag, and also to the use of dry grass and of the smooth edges of broken pottery jugs (e.g., Shabbat 81a, 82a, Yevamot 59b). These are all cited in the classic Biblical and Talmudic Medicine by the German physician Julius Preuss (Eng. trans. Sanhedrin Press, 1978).

The 16th-century French satirical writer François Rabelais, in Chapter XIII of Book 1 of his novel sequence Gargantua and Pantagruel, has his character Gargantua investigate a great number of ways of cleansing oneself after defecating. Gargantua dismisses the use of paper as ineffective, rhyming that: “Who his foul tail with paper wipes, Shall at his ballocks leave some chips.” (Sir Thomas Urquhart‘s 1653 English translation). He concludes that “the neck of a goose, that is well downed” provides an optimum cleansing medium.^[9]

The rise of publishing by the eighteenth century led to the use of newspapers and cheap editions of popular books for cleansing. Lord Chesterfield, in a letter to his son in 1747, told of a man who purchased

a common edition of Horace, of which he tore off gradually a couple of pages, carried them with him to that necessary place, read them first, and then sent them down as a sacrifice to Cloacina; thus was so much time fairly gained…^[10]

In many parts of the world, especially where toilet paper or the necessary plumbing for disposal may be unavailable or unaffordable, toilet paper is not used. Also, in many parts of the world people consider using water a much cleaner and more sanitary practice than using paper.^[11] Cleansing is then performed with other methods or materials, such as water, for example using a bidet, a lota, rags, sand, leaves (including seaweed), corn cobs, animal furs, sticks or hands; afterwards, hands are washed with water and possibly soap.

On 18 July 2024 the sale of ruble-note artwork on toilet paper was banned by a Moscow judge.^[12]

As a commodity

Joseph Gayetty is widely credited with being the inventor of modern commercially available toilet paper in the United States. Gayetty’s paper, first introduced in 1857, was available as late as the 1920s. Gayetty’s Medicated Paper was sold in packages of flat sheets, watermarked with the inventor’s name. Original advertisements for the product used the tagline “The greatest necessity of the age! Gayetty’s medicated paper for the water-closet”.

Seth Wheeler of Albany, New York, obtained the earliest United States patents for toilet paper and dispensers, the types of which eventually were in common use in that country, in 1883.^[13] Toilet paper dispensed from rolls was popularized when the Scott Paper Company began marketing it in 1890.^[14]

The manufacturing of this product had a long period of refinement, considering that as late as the 1930s, a selling point of the Northern Tissue company was that their toilet paper was “splinter free”.^[15] The widespread adoption of the flush toilet increased the use of toilet paper, as heavier paper was more prone to clogging the trap that prevents sewer gases from escaping through the toilet.^[16]

Softer, two ply toilet roll was introduced in Britain in 1942, by St Andrew Mills in Walthamstow; this became the famous Andrex.^[17]

Moist toilet paper, called wet wipes, was first introduced in the United Kingdom by Andrex in the 1990s. It has been promoted as being a better method of cleaning than dry toilet paper after defecation, and may be useful for women during menstruation. It was promoted as a flushable product but it has been implicated in the creation of fatbergs; by 2016 some municipalities had begun education campaigns advising people not to flush used wet wipes.^[18]

More than seven billion rolls of toilet paper are sold yearly in the United States where an average of 23.6 rolls per capita per year is used.^[19]

External videos
Documentarian Brian Gersten’s short film about the 1973 shortage, The Great Toilet Paper Scare

In 1973, Johnny Carson joked in his Tonight Show monologue about comments made by Wisconsin congressman Harold V. Froehlich about the possibility of a toilet paper shortage. Subsequently, consumers purchased abnormal amounts, causing an actual shortage in the United States for several months.^[20][21]

Toilet paper has been one of the commodities subject to shortages in Venezuela starting in the 2010s; the government seized one toilet paper factory in an effort to resolve the problem.^[22]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, toilet paper shortages were reported in March 2020 in multiple countries due to hoarding and panic buying.^{[23][24][25][26][27]} At first, few believed the pandemic would be serious. Later, people realized they might need to stock up on certain items in case of a shelter-in-place order, or in case they did not know how long such an order would last; suppliers could not assure that they could keep up with demand.^[28][29] However, manufacturers continued to produce even more than they had before. Demand was higher for the types of toilet paper used at home.^[30] In some countries the bidet was already seen as a solution, and a survey before the pandemic had indicated an increasing number of Americans would be interested.^[31] Amid the panic buying during the pandemic, the Australian toilet paper brand Quilton donated a million of toilet paper rolls to vulnerable Australians who were struggling due to the shortages of toilet paper.^[32]

In 2022, British toilet paper packaging started displaying bowel cancer symptoms to raise awareness, following campaigning from blogger and journalist Deborah James, who later died from the disease in June 2022. At the time, half of all Britons could not name any of the main symptoms of bowel cancer. Andrex were the first brand to take the lead on the matter, then various supermarkets followed suit.^[33][34]

• Anal cleansing instruments known as chūgi from the Nara period (710 to 784) in Japan. (The modern rolls in the background are for size comparison.)
• A print by William Hogarth entitled A Just View of the British Stage from 1724 depicting Robert Wilks, Colley Cibber, and Barton Booth rehearsing a pantomime play with puppets enacting a prison break down a privy. The “play” is composed of nothing but toilet paper, and the scripts for Hamlet, inter al., are toilet paper.
• A 1792 French Revolutionary caricature, depicting the French population using the Monarchist Brunswick Manifesto as toilet paper.
• Rolls of toilet paper, produced by Nokia in the 1960s, at the Vapriikki Museum Centre in Tampere, Finland
• Le Troubadour (French) – 1960s package of toilet paper

Description

Toilet paper is available in several types of paper, a variety of patterns, decorations, and textures, and it may be moistened or perfumed, although fragrances sometimes cause problems for users who are allergic to perfumes. The average measures of a modern roll of toilet paper is c. 10 cm (3⁠15/16⁠ in.) wide, and 12 cm (4⁠23/32⁠ in.) in diameter, and weighs between 85 g (3.0 oz) and 196 g (6.9 oz).^[35] An alternative method of packing the sheets uses interleaved sheets in boxes, or in bulk for use in dispensers. “Hard” single-ply paper has been used as well as soft multi-ply.

Sheet size

The format of individual sheets of toilet paper, which is given by a perforation line, varies nationally. In Germany, Holland, France, Poland, Switzerland, for example, about postcard size is standard (about 100 × 140 mm), so about DIN format (DIN A6 105 × 148 mm). In England, the usual format is already somewhat wider, about 115 × 135 mm. The most extreme landscape format with 115 × 102 mm exists in Thailand. The most extreme portrait format (not counting toilet paper rolls without any perforation) is 100 × 366 mm; a promotional toilet paper from Schmidt Spiele in Germany.^[36] Manufactured toilet paper sheet in the United States was sized 4.5 in (110 mm) × 4 in (100 mm).^[37] Since 1999 the size of a sheet has been shrinking; Kimberly-Clark reduced the length of a sheet to 4.1 in (100 mm).^[38] Scott, in 2006, reduced the length of their product to 3.7 in (94 mm). The width of sheets was later reduced giving a general sheet size of 3.7 in (94 mm) long and 4.1 in (100 mm) wide. Larger sizes remain available.

Sheet ply

The ply of a toilet paper refers to the number of layers per sheet. Rolls are typically available in single-ply, 2-ply, 3-ply, and 4-ply.

Roll length

Phrases like “single roll”, “double roll”, “triple roll”, “jumbo roll”, and “mega roll” commonly used in retail advertising^[39] refer to the number of sheets per roll (though the actual number of sheets is also usually disclosed on packaging). A longer roll needs to be replaced less often, but the very largest sizes do not fit all toilet paper dispensers, especially in older homes.

Materials

Toilet paper is usually manufactured from pulpwood trees, but is also sometimes made from sugar cane byproducts or bamboo.

Toilet paper products vary greatly in the distinguishing technical factors, such as size, weight, roughness, softness, chemical residues, “finger-breakthrough” resistance, water-absorption, etc. The larger companies have very detailed, scientific market surveys to determine which marketing sectors require or demand which of the many technical qualities. Modern toilet paper may have a light coating of aloe or lotion or wax worked into the paper to reduce roughness.

Quality is usually determined by the number of plies (stacked sheets), coarseness, and durability. Low grade institutional toilet paper is typically of the lowest grade of paper, has only one or two plies, is very coarse and sometimes contains small amounts of embedded unbleached/unpulped paper; it was typically called “hard” toilet paper.^[40] A brand disinfected with carbolic acid was manufactured in Sheffield, United Kingdom under the Izal brand name by Newton Chambers until 1981.^[41] Mid-grade two ply is somewhat textured to provide some softness and is somewhat stronger. Premium toilet paper may have lotion and wax and has two to four plies of very finely pulped paper. If it is marketed as “luxury”, it may be quilted or rippled (embossed), perfumed, colored or patterned, medicated (with anti-bacterial chemicals), or treated with aloe or other perfumes.

To advance decomposition of the paper in septic tanks or drainage, the paper used has shorter fibres than facial tissue or writing paper. The manufacturer tries to reach an optimal balance between rapid decomposition (which requires shorter fibres) and sturdiness (which requires longer fibres). Compaction of toilet paper in drain lines, such as in a clog, prevents fibre dispersion and largely halts the breakdown process.

A German quip says that the toilet paper of Nazi Germany was so rough and scratchy that it was almost unusable, so many people used old issues of the Völkischer Beobachter instead, because the paper was softer.^[42]

Color and design

Colored toilet paper in colors such as pink, lavender, light blue, light green, purple, green, and light yellow (so that one could choose a color of toilet paper that matched or complemented the color of one’s bathroom) was commonly sold in the United States from the 1960s. Up until 2004, Scott was one of the last remaining U.S. manufacturers to still produce toilet paper in beige, blue, and pink. However, the company has since cut production of colored paper altogether.^[43]

Colored toilet paper remains commonly available in some European countries. Here in solid color toilet paper base, apart from the natural tones between white and gray or beige, pastel shades prevail: pink, apricot, light yellow and light blue. In rare cases, pale purple or pale green can be found. However, rich colors are rarely used, such as black, wine red, neon green, royal blue. Flat printed toilet paper is uncommon. If there is printing, it is often one color. Common print colors are pink and pinkish red, also blue, more rarely purple, orange, brown or green.^[36]

Design

Today, in the United States, plain unpatterned colored toilet paper has been mostly replaced by patterned toilet paper, normally white, with embossed decorative patterns or designs in various colors and different sizes depending on the brand. The patterns are in most cases “scatter patterns”, that is, a motif is distributed (“scattered”) several times (irregularly) over the surface. Stripes and dot patterns are rare. Occasionally, toilet papers have an embossed crocodile, wave, circle or check pattern. Some are additionally printed. Ornaments usually stand on their own as self-contained units. They never go uninterrupted (for example, as a border) from the first to the last sheet.^[36]

Motifs

Predominant is everything that is associated “softness” and “fluffiness”. There are decorations with bears, cats, rabbits, down feathers, clouds. Another motifs are things associated with “lightness”: Clouds, downy feathers, leaves of all kinds, butterflies, flying birds. Another association is anything associated with pleasant fragrance: especially flowers of all kinds. Rare are motifs intended to appear noble, such as the Bourbon lily. Less rare are allusions to water, such as fish, shells and other aquatic creatures.^[36]

Toilet papers are also provided with texts (jokes, poems), joke motifs (banknotes) or advertising imprints.

Texture

Toilet paper is offered in different qualities. The cheapest toilet papers have a texture close to crêpe paper. They are often made of recycled material. Expensive toilet papers are made from particularly absorbent, delicate tissue paper. Toilet paper usually has a smooth surface. With several intentions, it is occasionally embossed. On the one hand, the embossing can serve to stabilize the paper. Furthermore, wiping can become more effective. Thirdly, there are design reasons. In Switzerland, in particular, there are often toilet paper with burls. In Germany, the number of plies is considered a quality feature. In the USA, Great Britain and Japan, the quality feature is that the toilet paper is as delicate and fine as possible.^[36]

Additives

Some toilet papers are perfumed. Popular scents are chamomile, peach or rose. Other toilet papers are impregnated with antibacterial additives.

Installation

Dispensers

Main article: Toilet roll holder

A toilet roll holder, also known as a toilet paper dispenser, is an item that holds a roll of toilet paper. There are at least seven types of holders:

1. A horizontal piece of wire mounted on a hinge, hanging from a door or wall.
2. A horizontal axle recessed in the wall.
3. A vertical axle recessed in the wall
4. A horizontal axle mounted on a freestanding frame.
5. A freestanding vertical pole on a base.
6. A wall mounted dispensing unit, usually containing more than one roll. This is used in the commercial/away-from-home marketplace.
7. A wall mounted dispensing unit with tissue interleaved in a “S”-type fold so the user can extract the tissue one sheet at a time.

Some commercial or institutional toilet paper is wrapped around a cylinder to many times the thickness of a standard toilet paper roll.

Orientation

Main article: Toilet paper orientation

The over orientation

The under orientation

There are two choices of orientation when using a holder with a horizontal axle parallel to the wall: the toilet paper may hang over or under the roll. The choice is largely a matter of personal preference, dictated by habit. In surveys of American consumers and of bath and kitchen specialists, 60–70% of respondents prefer over. Most Americans think it should go over the top, like a waterfall.^[44]

Decoration

Main article: Hotel toilet paper folding

Toilegami refers to toilet paper origami. Like table napkins, some fancy Japanese hotels fold the first squares of toilet paper on its dispenser to be presented in a fashionable way.^[45]

Recreational use

Main article: Toilet papering

In the United States, toilet paper has been the primary tool in a prank known as “TP-ing” (pronounced “teepeeing”). TP-ing, or “toilet papering”, is often favored by adolescents and is the act of throwing rolls of toilet paper over cars, trees, houses and gardens, causing the toilet paper to unfurl and cover the property, creating an inconvenient mess.^[46]

Children and cats may unroll an entire roll of toilet paper by spinning it until it completely unravels on the floor, or as a game by children wadding up one end, putting it in the toilet bowl without tearing it and then using the flushing of the toilet to pull new paper into the toilet, with the objective of flushing the entire roll down the toilet section at a time without the toilet paper breaking. Special toilet paper insert holders with an oblong shape were invented to prevent continuous unrolling without tearing to discourage this practice.^{[citation needed]}

Toilet paper pranks include musical toilet paper holders and inserts that are activated by the unrolling of the toilet paper and will loudly play an embarrassing song calling attention to the person defecating.^{[citation needed]}

Other gags include custom toilet paper printed with jokes, stories or politician’s images.^[47]

Mechanics

Alexander Balankin and coauthors have studied the behavior of toilet paper under tensile stress^[48][49] and during wetting and burning.^[50]

Toilet paper has been used in physics education to demonstrate the concepts of torque, moment of inertia, and angular momentum;^[51][52][53] and the conservation of momentum and energy.^[54]

Environmental considerations

Further information: Environmental impact of paper

One tree produces about 800 rolls (400 pounds (180 kg)) of toilet paper and about 83 million rolls are produced per day.^[55] Global toilet paper production consumes 27,000 trees daily.^[56]

More than seven billion rolls of toilet paper are sold yearly in the United States alone. Americans use an average of 141 rolls per capita a year which is equivalent to 12.7 kilograms (28 lb) of tissue paper per year.^[57] This figure is about 50% more than the average of other Western countries or Japan.^[58] The higher use in the United States may be explained by the fact that other countries people use bidets or spray hoses to clean themselves.^[59] Millions of trees are harvested in North and South America leaving ecological footprint concerns.^[60]

As of 2009, between 22% and 48% of the toilet paper used in the United States comes from tree farms in the U.S. and South America, with the rest mostly coming from old, second growth forests, and, some from virgin forests.^[19]

Alternatives to virgin wood pulp

Toilet paper made from recycled paper avoids the direct environmental impact of cutting down trees, and is commercially available. Recycled newspaper can contain BPA, an endocrine disruptor.^[61]

Toilet paper produced from bamboo is commercially available, and is in some ways more environmentally friendly than virgin pulpwood, because bamboo grows faster, taking less land and less water. For North American consumers, the Natural Resources Defense Council recommends recycled tree pulp over bamboo toilet paper, because tree forests promote more biodiversity and bamboo products must be shipped from Asia.^[62]

Toilet paper produced from bagasse, a byproduct of sugarcane, is commercially available, and avoids cutting down any plants because sugarcane is already grown for sugar production.^[61]

The most environmentally friendly alternatives are to rely solely on soap and water for anal hygiene.

An oven is a tool that is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way.^[1] In use since antiquity, they have been used to accomplish a wide variety of tasks requiring controlled heating.^[2] Because they are used for a variety of purposes, there are many different types of ovens. These types differ depending on their intended purpose and based upon how they generate heat.

Ovens are often used for cooking, usually baking, sometimes broiling; they can be used to heat food to a desired temperature. Ovens are also used in the manufacturing of ceramics and pottery; these ovens are sometimes referred to as kilns. Metallurgical furnaces are ovens used in the manufacturing of metals, while glass furnaces are ovens used to produce glass.

There are many methods by which different types of ovens produce heat. Some ovens heat materials using the combustion of a fuel, such as wood, coal, or natural gas,^[3] while many employ electricity. Microwave ovens heat materials by exposing them to microwave radiation, while electric ovens and electric furnaces heat materials using resistive heating. Some ovens use forced convection, the movement of gases inside the heating chamber, to enhance the heating process, or, in some cases, to change the properties of the material being heated, such as in the Bessemer method of steel production.

History

• Oven depicted in Jean-François Millet‘s painting, Woman Baking Bread (1854)
• Ancient Greek portable oven, 17th century BC
• Classical Pompeii oven
• Traditional clay stove from Serbia (Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade)

The earliest ovens were found in Central Europe and date back to 29,000 BC. They were roasting and boiling pits inside yurts used to cook mammoth.^[4] In Ukraine from 20,000 BC they used pits with hot coals covered in ashes. Food was wrapped in leaves and set on top, then covered with earth.^[5] In camps found in Mezhirich, each mammoth bone house had a hearth used for heating and cooking.^[6] Ovens were used by cultures who lived in the Indus Valley and in pre-dynastic Egypt.^[7][8] By 3200 BC, each mud-brick house had an oven in settlements across the Indus Valley.^[7][9] Ovens were used to cook food and to make bricks.^[7] Pre-dynastic civilizations in Egypt used kilns around 5000–4000 BC to make pottery.^[8]

Tandır ovens used to bake unleavened flatbread were common in Anatolia during the Seljuk and Ottoman eras and have been found at archaeological sites distributed across the Middle East. The word tandır comes from the Akkadian tinuru, which becomes tanur in Hebrew and Arabic, and tandır in Turkish. Of the hundreds of bread varieties known from cuneiform sources, unleavened tinuru bread was made by adhering bread to the side walls of a heated cylindrical oven. This type of bread is still central to rural food culture in this part of the world, reflected by the local folklore, in which a young man and woman sharing fresh tandır bread is a symbol of young love. However, the culture of traditional bread baking is changing with younger generations, especially with those who reside in towns and prefer modern conveniences.^[10][11]

During the Middle Ages, instead of earth and ceramic ovens, Europeans used fireplaces in conjunction with large cauldrons. These were similar to the Dutch oven. After the Middle Ages, ovens underwent many changes over time from wood, iron, coal, gas, and even electric. Each design had its own motivation and purpose. The wood-burning stoves saw improvement through the addition of fire chambers that allowed better containment and release of smoke. Another recognizable oven would be the cast-iron stove. These were first used around the early 1700s, when they themselves underwent several variations including the Stewart Oberlin iron stove that was smaller and had its own chimney.^[12]

In the early part of the 19th century, the coal oven was developed. It was cylindrical in shape and made of heavy cast iron. The gas oven saw its first use as early as the beginning of the 19th century as well. Gas stoves became very common household ovens once gas lines were available to most houses and neighborhoods. James Sharp patented one of the first gas stoves in 1826. Other improvements to the gas stove included the AGA cooker, invented in 1922 by Gustaf Dalén. The first electric ovens were invented in the very late 19th century; however, like many electrical inventions destined for commercial use, mass ownership of electrical ovens could not be a reality until a better and more efficient use of electricity was available.^[12]

Over time, ovens have become more high-tech in terms of cooking strategy. The microwave as a cooking tool was discovered by Percy Spencer in 1946, and with help from engineers, the microwave oven was patented.^[12] The microwave oven uses microwave radiation to excite water molecules in food, causing friction and thus producing heat.^[13]

Types

Further information: List of ovens

Double ovenA built-in oven fixture that has either two ovens,^[14][15] or one oven and one microwave oven. It is usually built into the kitchen cabinet.^{[citation needed]}Earth ovenAn earth oven is a pit dug into the ground and then heated, usually by rocks or smoldering debris. Historically these have been used by many cultures for cooking. Cooking times are usually long, and the process is usually cooking by slow roasting the food. Earth ovens are among the most common things archaeologists look for at an anthropological dig, as they are one of the key indicators of human civilization and static society.^[16]Ceramic ovenThe ceramic oven is an oven constructed of clay or any other ceramic material and takes different forms depending on the culture. The Indians refer to it as a tandoor, and use it for cooking. They can be dated back as far as 3,000 BC, and they have been argued to have their origins in the Indus Valley.^[8] Brick ovens are also another ceramic type oven. A culture most notable for the use of brick ovens is Italy and its intimate history with pizza. However, its history also dates further back to Roman times, wherein the brick oven was used not only for commercial use but household use as well.^[17]Gas ovenOne of the first recorded uses of a gas stove and oven referenced a dinner party in 1802 hosted by Zachaus Winzler, where all the food was prepared either on a gas stove or in its oven compartment. In 1834, British inventor James Sharp began to commercially produce gas ovens after installing one in his own house. In 1851, the Bower’s Registered Gas Stove was displayed at the Great Exhibition. This stove would set the standard and basis for the modern gas oven. Notable improvements to the gas stove since include the addition of the thermostat which assisted in temperature regulation; also an enamel coating was added to the production of gas stoves and ovens in order to help with easier cleaning.^[18]Electric ovenThese produce their heat electrically, often via resistive heating.^{[citation needed]}Toaster ovenToaster ovens are small electric ovens with a front door, wire rack and removable baking pan. To toast bread with a toaster oven, slices of bread are placed horizontally on the rack. When the toast is done, the toaster turns off, but in most cases the door must be opened manually. Most toaster ovens are significantly larger than toasters, but are capable of performing most of the functions of electric ovens, albeit on a much smaller scale.Masonry ovenMasonry ovens consist of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, or clay. Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were common in the 19th century. Modern masonry ovens are often fired with natural gas or even electricity, and are closely associated with artisanal bread and pizza. In the past, however, they were also used for any cooking task that required baking.Microwave ovenAn oven that cooks food using microwave radiation rather than infrared radiation (typically a fire source). Conceptualized in 1946, Dr. Percy Spencer allegedly discovered the heating properties of microwaves while studying the magnetron. By 1947, the first commercial microwave was in use in Boston, Massachusetts.^[19]Wall ovenWall ovens make it easier to work with large roasting pans and Dutch ovens. A width is typically 24, 27, or 30 inches. Mounted at waist or eye level, a wall oven eliminates bending. However, it can be nested under a countertop to save space. A separate wall oven is expensive compared with a range.^[20]Steam ovenAn oven that cooks food using steam to provide heat.^[21]

Some ovens can perform in multiple ways, sometimes at once. Combination ovens may be able to microwave and conventional heating such as baking or grilling simultaneously.^{[citation needed]}

Uses

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Cooking

Ovens are used as kitchen appliances for roasting and heating. Foods normally cooked in this manner include meat, casseroles and baked goods such as bread, cake and other desserts. In modern times, the oven is used to cook and heat food in many households around the globe.

Modern ovens are typically fueled by either natural gas or electricity, with bottle gas models available but not common. When an oven is contained in a complete stove, the fuel used for the oven may be the same as or different from the fuel used for the burners on top of the stove.

Ovens usually can use a variety of methods to cook. The most common may be to heat the oven from below. This is commonly used for baking and roasting. The oven may also be able to heat from the top to provide broiling (US) or grilling (UK/Commonwealth). A fan-assisted oven that uses a small fan to circulate the air in the cooking chamber, can be used.^[22][23] Both are also known as convection ovens. An oven may also provide an integrated rotisserie.

Ovens also vary in the way that they are controlled. The simplest ovens (for example, the AGA cooker) may not have any controls at all; the ovens simply run continuously at various temperatures. More conventional ovens have a simple thermostat which turns the oven on and off and selects the temperature at which it will operate. Set to the highest setting, this may also enable the broiler element. A timer may allow the oven to be turned on and off automatically at pre-set times. More sophisticated ovens may have complex, computer-based controls allowing a wide variety of operating modes and special features including the use of a temperature probe to automatically shut the oven off when the food is completely cooked to the desired degree.

Toaster ovens are essentially small-scale ovens and can be used to cook foods other than just toasting. A frontal door is opened, horizontally-oriented bread slices (or other food items) are placed on a rack that has heat elements above and below it, and the door is closed. The controls are set and actuated to toast the bread to the desired doneness, whereupon the heat elements are switched off. In most cases, the door must be opened manually, though there are also toaster ovens with doors that open automatically. Because the bread is horizontal, a toaster oven can be used to cook toast with toppings, like garlic bread, melt sandwiches, or toasted cheese. Toaster ovens are generally slower to make toast than pop-up toasters, taking 4–6 minutes as compared to 2–3 minutes.^[24] In addition to the automatic-toasting settings, toaster ovens typically have settings and temperature controls to allow use of the appliance as a small oven.

Extra features on toaster ovens can include:

• Heating element control options, such as a “top brown” setting that powers only the upper elements so food can be broiled without heat from below.
• Multiple shelf racks – Having options for positioning the oven shelf gives more control over the distance between food and the heating element.

Industrial, scientific, and artisanal

Outside the culinary world, ovens are used for a number of purposes:

• A furnace can be used either to provide heat to a building or used to melt substances such as glass or metal for further processing. A blast furnace is a particular type of furnace generally associated with metal smelting (particularly steel manufacture) using refined coke or similar hot-burning substance as a fuel, with air pumped in under pressure to increase the temperature of the fire. A blacksmith uses a temporarily blown furnace, the smith’s heart to heat iron to a glowing red to yellow temperature.
• A kiln is a high-temperature oven used in wood drying, ceramics and cement manufacturing to convert mineral feedstock (in the form of clay or calcium or aluminum rocks) into a glassier, more solid form. In the case of ceramic kilns, a shaped clay object is the final result, while cement kilns produce a substance called clinker that is crushed to make the final cement product. (Certain types of drying ovens used in food manufacture, especially those used in malting, are also referred to as kilns.)
• An autoclave is an oven-like device with features similar to a pressure cooker that allows the heating of aqueous solutions to higher temperatures than water’s boiling point in order to sterilize the contents of the autoclave.
• Industrial ovens are similar to their culinary equivalents and are used for a number of different applications that do not require the high temperatures of a kiln or furnace.