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.

Biography

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

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed ...

American Car and Foundry ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...

, and

Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers was a United States, U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various Industry (economics), industries. Its business lines included list of agricultural machinery, agricultural equipment, heavy equipment, construction equipment, electric ...

, on the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

project, as well others in the fields of

carton A carton is a box or container usually made of liquid packaging board, paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard. Many types of cartons are used in packaging. Sometimes a carton is also called a box. Types of cartons Folding cartons ...

making,

oil burner An oil burner is a heating device which burns #1, #2 and #6 heating oils, diesel fuel or other similar fuels. In the United States, ultra low sulfur #2 diesel is the common fuel used. It is dyed red to show that it is road-tax exempt. In most ma ...

s, and

steam trap A steam trap is a device used to discharge condensates and non-condensable gases with a negligible consumption or loss of live steam. Steam traps are nothing more than automatic valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, d ...

s. In the 1910s Phelan invented and developed various forms of the

mercury switch A mercury switch is an electricity, electrical switch that opens and closes a electrical circuit, circuit when a small amount of the liquid metal mercury (element), mercury connects metal electrodes to close the circuit. There are several differ ...

, on which he obtained 52 patents. In 1920 he formed the Absolute Con-Tac-Tor Corporation to manufacture and market

contactor A contactor is an electrically controlled switch used for switching an electrical power circuit. A contactor is typically controlled by a circuit which has a much lower power level than the switched circuit, such as a 24-volt coil electromagne ...

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 automation, industrial automa ...

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

Taylor Company Taylor Company, previously known as Taylor Freezer Corporation, 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 ...

), a manufacturer of conventional and

soft serve Soft serve, also known as soft ice, is a frozen dessert and variety of ice cream, similar to conventional ice cream, but softer and less dense due to more air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve has been sold commercially since the lat ...

commercial ice cream freezers. 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 Company, firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one ...

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

frozen custard Frozen custard is a frozen dessert that is a type of ice cream that is made with egg yolks in addition to cream and sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and an additional flavoring such as cocoa, vanilla, or fruit such as strawberries ...

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 tube An X-ray tube is a vacuum tube that converts electrical input power into X-rays. The availability of this controllable source of X-rays created the field of radiography, the imaging of partly opaque objects with penetrating radiation. In contras ...

s. In the early 1950s, approximately the same time as Colonel Harlan Sanders began franchising his

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

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 opera ...

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

pressure cooker A pressure cooker is a sealed vessel for cooking food with the use of high pressure steam and water or a water-based liquid, a process called pressure cooking. The high pressure limits boiling and creates higher temperatures not possible at low ...

. 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