L. A. M. Phelan (1884–1971) was an American businessman and inventor. He is known mainly as inventor of the broaster equipment and method for pressure-cooking chicken, and founder of the

Broaster Company Broaster Company is an American foodservice equipment manufacturer headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin. It was founded by L.A.M. Phelan in 1954. The company is known for producing pressure fryers, licensing "Genuine Broaster Chicken", and oper ...

Biography

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Phelan worked on invention and development with Goodyear, Monsanto, American Car and Foundry, and

Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers was a U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various industries. Its business lines included agricultural equipment, construction equipment, power generation and power transmission equipment, and machinery for use in industrial setti ...

, on the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

project, as well others in the fields of carton making, oil burners, and steam traps. In the 1910s Phelan invented and developed various forms of the mercury switch, on which he obtained 52 patents. In 1920 he formed the Absolute Con-Tac-Tor Corporation to manufacture and market

contactor :''In semiconductor testing, contactors can also be referred to as the specialized socket that connects the device under test.'' :''In process industries, a contactor is a vessel where two streams interact, for example, air and liquid. See Gas- ...

mercury switches. Through a series of mergers, this technology became an important early product of

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

. In 1928, Phelan became head of the Taylor Freezer Corp. (now the

Taylor Company The Taylor Company, previously known as Taylor Freezer Corp., is an American manufacturer of food service equipment located in Rockton, Illinois. They are known as the supplier and maker of several machines that McDonald's uses, including their gr ...

), a manufacturer of conventional and soft serve commercial

ice cream freezer domestic ice cream maker is a machine used to make small quantities of ice cream for personal consumption. Ice cream makers may prepare the mixture by employing the hand-cranking method or by employing an electric motor. The resulting prepara ...

s. In 1946 he organized more than 40 of Taylor's employees as Tekni-Craft, one of America's first

worker cooperative A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and Workers' self-management, self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which ...

s, to which he sold Taylor's manufacturing and distribution rights. Phelan also invented the "Zest-O-Mat"

frozen custard Frozen custard is a cold dessert similar to ice cream, but made with eggs in addition to cream and sugar. It is usually kept at a warmer temperature compared to ice cream, and typically has a denser consistency. History Egg yolks have been integ ...

freezer and founded Zesto Products Dairy, which grew into a chain of more than 50 drive-in restaurants. From 1936 to 1949 he operated a manufacturer of X-ray tubes. In the early 1950s, approximately the same time as

Colonel Harlan Sanders Colonel Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 December 16, 1980) was an American businessman, best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC) and later acting as the company's brand amba ...

began franchising his

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

restaurant chain, Phelan developed the

broasting Broaster Company is an American foodservice equipment manufacturer headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin. It was founded by L.A.M. Phelan in 1954. The company is known for producing pressure fryers, licensing "Genuine Broaster Chicken", and ope ...

method of cooking chicken, for which he invented a modified commercial-grade

pressure cooker Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures which c ...

. He founded the Broaster Company in 1954 to manufacture and market the machines.

Notes

External links

About Zesto drive-in
American manufacturing businesspeople 1884 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American inventors {{US-business-bio-1880s-stub