Background
Nicholas Appert was born on 17th of November, 1749 in Chalons-sur-Marne, France. He was the son of an inn-keeper. Appert had eight siblings.
confectioner inventor Father of Canning
Nicholas Appert was born on 17th of November, 1749 in Chalons-sur-Marne, France. He was the son of an inn-keeper. Appert had eight siblings.
Appert did not receive any formal education but with his interest in the process of food preservation, he learned how to pickle food and brew beer from a very early age from his father.
Though it is not very clear at what age Appert started his career officially, it is stated that he was an apprentice at the Palais Royal Hotel in Chalons in France as a chef for a brief time. Around the year in 1780, Appert moved to Paris where he excelled his skills as a confectioner and became successful with his luscious pastries, candies, and cakes. He was also a champagne bottler. This skill would help him with his invention in the future for food canning.
It was during the end of the eighteenth century when Napoleon Bonaparte declared his interest in expanding territories. Since this was going to be a long journey, they knew that this would need some way of preserving food for the men in the military. Since food preservation was a very minutely exposed concept then, he declared a prize 12,000 Francs to whosoever who could bring out a method of preserving food for a long time without spoilage. Appert got aware of this and thus he began his conquest of finding new methods for food preservation for a long time.
During that time, there was only one book written by the author Lazzaro Spallanzani on Food Preservation techniques which involved only sterilization. With very less information and zero guidance on moving ahead, Appert used the method of heating food at water boiling temperature of 1000 C. For this process, he used a device called Autoclave which sterilized food by creating steam in intense pressure. Nicholas Apert got married to Elisabeth Benoist in the year 1785. They had five children together.
It was in the year 1804 when Appert started his own factory for canning which was located in the south of Paris in the town of Massy. After five years of experimenting with various ways of preserving food, by the year 1809, he was successful in showing some of his conclusive results of food preservation to the government for selected types of food items. For being awarded the prize, it was needed that the techniques on food preservation were published. Following the need, Appert got published his ‘Le Livre de to us les Menages, ou l'Art de Conserver pendant plesieurs annees toutes les Substances Animales et Vegetables (The Art of Preserving All Kinds of Animal and Vegetable Substances for Several Years)’ in 1810. After this publication took place, Appert was awarded his well-deserved amount of 12,000 Francs by the government. His publication became highly popular and it also got him a gold medal from the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry (Societe d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie Nationale). His publication was further translated into many other languages including English, Italian, German and Swedish.
Appert’s method for food preservation was highly successful and appreciated by many even though the process was very lengthy and time-consuming. It took time of five hours to have the food items in properly stored form to maintain them from getting spoiled. The procedure involved putting the food in glass bottles. The bottles were then lightly corked and were immersed in hot water. Once the bottles became hot, they were removed out of the water and then tightly corked, sealed with wax and secured with wire. These bottles could be stored for many years without the food inside getting rotten until the seal of wire is removed from the bottle. These were ideal for vegetables, soups, juices, dairy products, syrups, jams and many other items. Appert’s successful method of food preservation gained him the title of ‘Father of Canning’. Even though Appert had no idea on the science which got involved and made his method of food preservation successful, it was many years later when another person from France named Louis Pasteur was able to elucidate why the process worked by clearing up the link between food and microbes. This gave further justification to the process used by Appert.
Appert used the money he received from the government for successfully satisfying the need of food preservation on his canning factory’s expansion. This factory continued and worked for more than another hundred years till 1933. During a study in England, it was identified that there was an issue with the usage of glass bottles since they could easily break. Appert expanded his horizon and replaced the used of glass bottles to tin plated cylindrical steel cans. This aided in the movement of food for the French as well as the English forces.
Appert’s interest in the field of food preservation made him create many other inventions. He also devised a process of hauling out gelatin from bones without the use of acids. He was also responsible for the invention of the bouillon cube. Appert had brought in a revolution in the field of food preservation which was very little expanded then. His invention helped the militaries around the world and also was greatly commercialized among common people during wars.
Even though Appert received several appreciation and recognitions for the methods he created for food preservation, he died on 3rd of June, 1841 in Massy under poverty. The reason for his death is unknown. His burial happened in a common grave.
It is stated that even though the food canning method had come out, other than the militaries, it did not quite become very popular among the normal people. Canned food rapidly gained popularity after the wars broke out which needed common people to store food for the longer duration of time amid the wars.
It is also interesting to know that during those years, the cans used to storing food were not easy to open. With can-openers not invented yet, the instructions on the cans mentioned using knives, hammers, rocks or chisels to open up the container.
There is no information on the religious beliefs held by Nicholas Appert.
Nicholas Appert’s discovery of canned food happened under the French government which had put up a prize of 12,000 Francs for anyone who brings out a method of preserving food for a long time without spoilage. The amount he gained from his discovery was used in the expansion of his canning factory. When the French revolution began, Appert contributed a certain amount of money to the army and displayed his support during the execution of Louis XVI.
There is no information on the personal ideologies and views from Nicholas Appert.
Nicholas Appert is also called the Father of Canning due to his revolutionary discovery of methods for storing food for a long duration of time without rotting or spoiling. Though there are very limited or rarely any information on the personal life of Appert, from the discoveries that he has made, he is well identified as a person of will and determination.
Even though Appert had no formal education and no information on science, he spent several years experimenting with the ways to keep food edible for a long period of time and came out successful in it. His interest in food preservation led him to establish a canning factory in Massy in France which made him an entrepreneur.
Appert was smart and victorious in the goals that he had set out for himself and he also made a contribution to the army during the French revolution which showcases his love for the country.
Nicholas Apert got married to Elisabeth Benoist in the year 1785. They had five children together.