We at Jacob Bromwell invite you to find a relaxing peaceful, and comfortable place as you are about to take a journey back in time like only a time machine, if it were real, could do! You are one of the chosen few who will be able to imagine what it was like in the old fashioned days when the funnel was just getting started as a very important tool in many jobs including cooking, baking, and preparing medicine at a local pharmacy. Now that you’re comfortable, allow me to guide you on this adventure as we travel back…back…and even further back in time. Hold on ‘cause here we go…

Back in 1819, nearly 200 years ago, Jacob Bromwell, inventor and businessman, was the only pioneer of his era known to perfect the funnel, also known as the oil funnel or kitchen funnel, while suggesting its countless uses. The number and variety of foods cooked with the use of his funnels are endless including cakes, cookies, and hot cereal made with fresh wheat or corn off the farm. Back in the day when our country was just beginning to grow and business was starting to boom, Jacob Bromwell somehow knew his kitchen funnel would not only be useful for grandma in the kitchen preparing biscuits for a farmer’s breakfast such as scrambled eggs or oatmeal, but a snack of fresh cookies for the little ones to take on their long walk to their one-room school house which would be proudly awaiting their arrival on the other side of town.

To fully appreciate the use of our traditional funnel, it may be best to provide a definition. In general, a funnel is a pipe with a wide, often conical mouth and a narrow stem. It is used to channel liquid or fine-grained substances into containers with a small opening. Without a funnel, spillage would occur.

Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminum, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construction should be sturdy enough to withstand the weight of the substance being transferred, and it should not react with the substance. For this reason, stainless steel or glass are useful in transferring diesel, while plastic funnels are useful in the kitchen. Sometimes disposable paper funnels are used in cases where it would be difficult to adequately clean the funnel afterward (for example, in adding motor oil to a car). Dropper funnels, also called dropping funnels or tap funnels, have a tap to allow the controlled release of a liquid. Our kitchen funnel was purposely made by Jacob Bromwell for the chef or baker.