Robert C. Baker
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Robert C. Baker (December 29, 1921 - March 13, 2006), was the inventor of the chicken nugget, and a member of the American Poultry Hall of Fame.
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[edit] Education
A Lansing, New York native, Baker earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1943 and then went on to major in Pomology at the university's College of Agriculture.
[edit] Career
Robert Baker traveled the world innovating how people eat and view chicken. Accredited to him are more than 40 poultry, turkey and cold cut innovations, making him the "Thomas Edison of poultry". In particular he found a revolutionary way to bind breading to chicken, and he co-invented the machine responsible for deboning chicken.
He spent his entire academic life at Cornell University (1957-1989), and published some 290 research papers. In 1970 he founded the university's Institute of Food Science and Marketing.
Baker was elected a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists in 1997.
[edit] Trivia
- When Baker invented the chicken hot dog, naming was difficult. Men preferred the name bird dogs and women preferred chicken franks.
- McDonald's is often falsely credited with the invention of the chicken nugget. In fact Baker published his chicken nugget recipe in the 1950s as unpatented academic work, while McDonald's patented its recipe for Chicken McNuggets in 1979 and started selling the product in 1983.
- Dr. Baker's innovations made it possible to form chicken nuggets in any shape.
[edit] References
- Cornell University Obituary
- Cornell Sun Obituary
- "In Memoriam: Robert C. Baker." Food Technology. December 2006. p. 97.
- The San Diego Union Tribute Obituary
- Recipe for Baker's famous Cornell Chicken
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