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Glam Journal

Who created the iron stove?

Author

Andrew Henderson

Updated on February 28, 2026

Who created the iron stove?

Benjamin Franklin
The first manufactured cast-iron stove was produced at Lynn, Mass., in 1642. This stove had no grates and was little more than a cast-iron box. About 1740 Benjamin Franklin invented the “Pennsylvania fireplace,” which incorporated the basic principles of the heating stove.

When was the first cast iron stove invented?

1795: Cast iron stoves had already been around for decades, but the version invented by Count Rumford (who is also credited with establishing the first soup kitchen) at the end of the 18th century was particularly popular.

When did Benjamin Thompson invent the Rumford stove?

Around 1800, Count Rumford (aka Benjamin Thompson) invented a working iron kitchen stove called the Rumford stove that was designed for very large working kitchens. The Rumford had one fire source that could heat several cooking pots.  The heating level for each pot could also be regulated individually.

What was the function of the iron stove?

Cooking became the predominant function of stoves in the 20th century as central heating became the norm in the developed world. Iron cooking stoves using wood, charcoal, or coal tended to radiate large amounts of heat that made the kitchen unpleasantly hot during the summertime, however.

What was the history of the kitchen stove?

In Europe, the history of the kitchen stove begins in earnest in the 18th century. Before, people cooked over open fires fuelled by wood, which first were on the floor or on low masonry constructions. In the Middle Ages, waist-high brick-and-mortar hearths and the first chimneys appeared, so that one didn’t have to kneel or sit anymore to cook.

1795: Cast iron stoves had already been around for decades, but the version invented by Count Rumford (who is also credited with establishing the first soup kitchen) at the end of the 18th century was particularly popular.

Around 1800, Count Rumford (aka Benjamin Thompson) invented a working iron kitchen stove called the Rumford stove that was designed for very large working kitchens. The Rumford had one fire source that could heat several cooking pots.  The heating level for each pot could also be regulated individually.

Cooking became the predominant function of stoves in the 20th century as central heating became the norm in the developed world. Iron cooking stoves using wood, charcoal, or coal tended to radiate large amounts of heat that made the kitchen unpleasantly hot during the summertime, however.

Who was the inventor of the wood burning stove?

Benjamin Franklin, American printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. Franklin stove, type of wood-burning stove, invented by Benjamin Franklin (c. 1740), that was used to warm frontier dwellings, farmhouses, and urban homes for more than 200 years.