How to Make Cutting and Peeling Safer and More Enjoyable

The kitchen presents a unique set of problems for elderly, ill, or disabled persons--or for persons who simply have trouble moving around and dealing with the demands of everyday living. After all, the kitchen is the one place where fine motor skills, visual acuity, patience, strength, and coordination all come together. If any of those skills are not present, the kitchen can be an unpleasant and unsafe place.

Perhaps you may have the desire and skills to take on a certain task, such as peeling a carrot or chopping an onion. But your hands or eyes may no longer be cooperating with you to help you complete the task.

Assistive devices are specially designed to fill in the gap between desire and completion. A dazzling array of kitchen assistive devices are available to help you with the cutting and peeling needed to cook nearly any meal that your heart desires.

Adapted Knives for Safer Cutting and Chopping

Do you remember the days when you could pick up any knife and chop up a stew's worth of vegetables? Now you can barely pick up a knife to do something as simple as slicing a tomato for a salad.

For the elderly or for persons with physical challenges, knife work rates at the top of the list for tasks that are both most necessary and most daunting. After all, you're dealing with a tool that can cut through the tough skin of a squash; imagine what it could do to a finger! If you have even the slightest amount of doubt at tackling kitchen work, you may greatly benefit from kitchen adaptive devices to make cutting easier.

Moving the Knife Handle to Fit the Hand

Well, why not try readjusting the knife handle? A wonderful line of kitchen tools under the Easi-Grip brand name offer handles that are 90 degrees, or perpendicular, to the cutting blade. With these tools, you can hold your hand in a more natural upright fashion, much in the manner you might hold a potato masher. And the handles are made of soft-grip plastic.

If you prefer your knives the old-fashioned way--with the grip in line with the blade--then you may wish to look at knives that simply have a softer, more "grippy" handle.

Rock 'n' Roll in the Kitchen?

Why not entertain the idea of knives with a different kind of cutting surface? Several different types of knives are available that allow you to rock or roll your cutting motion, rather than pushing straight down. The "rockers" have a C-shaped cutting surface that allow you to easily slide through food with steadily increasing pressure. The "rollers" operate in a similar way, but have a cutting surfaces that look much like pizza cutters--though with sharper blades.

Peeling Potatoes the Easy Way

Peeling potatoes and carrots has to be one of the least enjoyable kitchen tasks. Your hands are close to the vegetables or fruits, which means that they are in danger of being accidentally sliced. A veggie and fruit holder securely grips the food, while the ergonomically correct peeler with the extra-large rubber hands helps you with the peeling process!