“Standard” cooking tools are the things you’ll see most often used in cooking (see article on standard cooking tools). They’re often the cheapest and easiest to find. The problem is, they are not always easy for everyone to use.
“Adaptive” tools help people overcome challenges or make cooking more comfortable. Often adaptive tools are made with a special need in mind but help everyone. Mixing spoons with large, soft handles help people who have difficulty gripping. But they’re also more comfortable whether you struggle with gripping or not! This is a great example of “universal design.”
Sometimes one standard cooking tool can be used in place of another one. We call this an “alternative” tool. For example, you might find an egg beater easier to use than a whisk – but both tools do the same thing. Or you might find a pizza cutter easier or safer than a knife.
It doesn’t matter what you call them – standard, adaptive, or alternative. We just get excited when we find tools that make our lives easier. The list below shows some of our favorite tools and what they are commonly used for. You might think of other ways to use the tools. You can try some of these whether you struggle with some of the areas listed or not. You may find your new favorite!
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Tools for measuring
Dark colored cups help you see light colored ingredients. Light colored cups help you see dark colored ingredients. Big numbers help you read the measurements.
Helps with:
- Trouble seeing
- Trouble reading or telling numbers apart
Braille dots for people who read braille. Raised numbers for people who do not read Braille.
Helps with:
- Trouble seeing
- Learning by touch
You can put the cup down while you pour and see the measurement. Big grippy handles make it easier to lift and pour.
Helps with:
- Holding things still
- Hand strength
Beeps to tell you when the cup, bowl, or pot is close to full.
Helps with:
- Trouble seeing
- Getting distracted
Tools for mixing, spreading, and eating
Use for tasks where whisking is required like scrambling eggs, stirring pancake batter, or mixing sauces.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
There many different styles of adaptive silverware. Some just have big grips. Some have handles. Some are specially made to stay even while you lift to your mouth. You can even buy handle adapters alone to fit over regular silverware (or even your toothbrush!). Of course this can make eating easier, but it can also help with cooking. Silverware is used for things like spreading butter and scooping things from jars.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Helps bowl to stay in place while mixing. For even more grip, try putting a silicone mat underneath. Some bowls also have spouts, which can be helpful for pouring.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Place under cutting boards, mixing bowls, plates, etc to prevent slipping. Makes food easier to release from pan and make pan easier to clean. Can also be used as a placement to prevent slipping and mess while eating.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Silicone handles slip on to cooking tools or other items to create a handle to help you hold on.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Tools for cutting, grating, and peeling
You can wear a cutting glove on the hand that is holding food while the other hand holds the knife. They can also be worn to protect your hands when you are using a peeler or a grater. They are washable, but you can also wear a thin disposable glove over the top to clean them clean if you prefer. You still have to be careful while cutting to stay safe, but they provide some protection. It can take some practice to get used to the feel of wearing a glove.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
- Learning to using knives, peelers, and graters
Good for learning knife skills, but also works well for safely cutting many foods. Works well for softer foods like cooked chicken, bananas, lettuce. Does not work as well for hard, dense foods like potatoes.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
- New to using knives
Helps keep your hand and wrist at a neutral angle while cutting. Good for helping with wrist pain and hand weakness. Like any sharp tool, it will take practice to get used to the feel and to learn to control the knife. It may help to pair with a cutting glove and/or prep board.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Allows you to apply pressure to cut if you have trouble keeping your hand stable. Good for helping with wrist pain, hand weakness, and tremors. Like any sharp tool, it will take practice to get used to the feel and to learn to control the knife. It may help to pair with a cutting glove and/or prep board.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Kitchen shears are basically just fancier scissors made for use in cooking. They can be used for opening packages, cutting things like green onions, and even meat. For some people scissors may be safer or easier to use than a knife so can be a good way to get started cutting. The spring loaded handle helps make them easier to use and helps keep your hand from getting tired while cutting. These angled kitchen shears are also a good option for cutting food while it’s sitting on a surface.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Obviously a pizza cutter can be used to cut pizza, but it can also be a good option for slicing other foods and can be easier or safer for some people to use. There are also cutters with nylon blades available if you are not ready for the sharper metal blade.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
These are special cutting boards that are designed for one-handed cutting. Even if you have use of 2 hands, they can be a great option to keep food in place on the cutting board while focusing on using a knife and keeping the other hand safely out of the way. Some versions are simpler without the vice holder but include a corner edge to help keep things in place while spreading and little stakes to press food on to while cutting (see this one).
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
- Staying safe while cutting
This type of cutting board has the knife attached so that you can use a chopping motion and focus on keeping your fingers out of the way. This can also be used for one handed chopping.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
- Staying safe while cutting
A food chopper can be used for things that need to be diced or cut into small pieces. Food does have to be cut into small enough pieces to fit into the chopper, so it does not avoid chopping entirely, but it can be helpful if cutting things is a challenge. This type of chopper works best on things like onions, peppers, peppers, and nuts. It does not work as well for things like meat or very hard vegetables.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
- Staying safe while cutting
A vegetable holder can help keep things like onions and potatoes in place while cutting and keep your hand away from the knife. It also helps to guide your knife to help make a straight cut.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
- Staying safe while cutting
This style of vegetable peeler fits over your finger. It can be more comfortable to and help to keep fingers away from the blade. You may want to put a cutting glove on your other hand while peeling.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
- Staying safe while cutting
Cooking with heat
Spatula tongs can make flipping things in a skillet easier and safer. They help you get a better grip on the food and set down with more control, which helps to avoid splatter. Helps to hold things together like slices of bread when flipping grilled cheese.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
- Staying safe around heat
Oven gloves (smaller hands, larger hands)
Like oven mitts, oven gloves cover your hands and wrists to help protect you while handling hot items. However, the glove design, tighter fight, and grip pads allow you to more freely move your hands and fingers. This makes it easier to do things like take off lids, remove foil, etc.
Helps with:
- Trouble with fine motor use
- Staying safe around heat
An oven rack puller allows you to stay further away from the hot oven to pull the rack in and out. The little notches are designed to help you pull and push the oven rack.
Helps with:
- Staying safe around heat
Touching the edge of the oven rack by mistake is one of the most common ways to get burned. These cover the edge of the rack.
Helps with:
- Staying safe around heat
Stove sensors help tell you when the stove has been left on by accident. Some shut off the stove for you. Some examples are listed below. Newer “smart ovens” include these features. They are very expensive but may be worth considering if you are planning to buy a new stove.
- BurnerAlert Disc: Beeps to remind you that the stove is on. Works on gas, electric, or induction stoves.
- Wallflower smart plug: Makes noise when the stove has been on longer than usual. Works with a phone app and Amazon Alexa. Electric or induction stoves only.
- iGuardStove: Uses motion sensor to shut off stove automatically if it hasn’t been used. Can lock stove for use or put on a timer. Works with a phone app. Gas stove option is available, would need a plumber to install.
- Smart Choice StoveSentry: Senses unsafe temperatures near stove and plays an alarm. Works on electric or induction stove.
- Toch Smarturns: Smart knobs play and alert noise when the stove has been left unattended. Also works with a phone app to tell you when your stove is in use or has been left on. Works with gas, electric, or induction stoves.
Helps with:
- Memory issues
- Staying safe around heat
Outlet shut off adapters can be used for items you’re worried about being left on. You set the adapter for the longest amount of time you want something on and then they will turn off power. This can be good for things like crock pots, coffee pots, or other hot things that could be left on by accident. Note that these typically will not work for a stove/oven because they cannot handle the amount of electricity needed.
Helps with:
- Memory issues
- Staying safe around heat
Induction cooktops can be safer because the area of the burner itself does not get hot and because items are less likely to catch fire. Induction burners only heat items that have iron in them because they work using magnets. One downside is that you have to use stainless steel or cast iron cookware, which can be more expensive and harder to clean. It can also take more practice to use induction cooktop because food cooks faster than on gas or electric stoves. If you rely on using cook times in most recipes to tell you when food is done, this may not work well for you. You also have to remember that the pan gets very hot even though the burner does not.
Helps with:
- Staying safe around heat
Packaging and Storage
Food wrap can be hard to pull from the box without it sticking or crumpling. With a dispenser you can set the box on the counter and use two hands to pull the wrap and cut with a slider. Works with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Another option is to buy a box of plastic wrap that comes with a slide cutter and then reuse the box. Note that it may be best to avoid using food wraps altogether and finding containers with lids that are easier to use.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Elastic food covers are another option instead of using plastic wrap. They can be used to cover large dishes that do not have lids. Some brands are microwave safe so can be used in place of a cover when cooking in the microwave. There are reusable versions made from silicone which work but can be harder to put on.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Bags with sliders to close and open are much easier to use than ones where you have to pinch and press the whole top. They come in gallon size or smaller quart size. If you buy the kind that can go in the freezer, you can use for any purpose. That way you don’t have to worry about using the right kind of bag later if you want to freeze something.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Bag clips can be helpful to make it easier to close bags and keep food fresh. Some are flat and press close, others have a spring and pinch open. See clips with springs.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Spring loaded scissors do not take as much hand strength to use a regular scissors. Your hand also gets less tired using them. Can be used for cutting open packages and cutting things like green onions. Spring loaded cooking shears are more designed for cooking and being washed often. Angled kitchen shears help you keep scissors stable while you cut on the counter but are not usually spring loaded.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
Our favorite can opener is a battery powered, one touch opener that leaves a clean edge that isn’t sharp. It can be easier to leave the can on the counter so you don’t spill. Some people prefer ones that plug in and sit on the countertop. Look for something that has a big handle and easy to line the can up properly and takes away the sharp edge (like this one). An electric can opener can be a good alternative if pop tabs are too hard to open. Just because your can can has one doesn’t mean you have to use it!
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
There are many different styles of tools to help open jars and bottles. Some of them also have parts to help you remove pull tabs and bottle caps. There are also electric jar openers available if twisting motion is still difficult.
Helps with:
- Hand control and strength
- Trouble with fine motor use
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