Are You A Klutz In the Kitchen?

Hello friends, and happy Kitchen Klutzes of America Day!

I, too, am a kitchen klutz—and while I was one before I got sick, the brain fog, fatigue, and random twitches have certainly added to my klutziness.

You too? Cool; welcome to the party! Today I’ll present a few of my favorite products and tricks for disabled cooking, to help you keep your klutzy kitchening to silly, non-injurious slip-ups.

01 Grate just the cheese with a rotary grater

My muscle coordination is not what it was before, and I’ve definitely taken off a few fingernails as I get my grate on. And for some folks, the coordination it takes to grate a bunch of cheese is just too much of a barrier.

Not anymore, though; this clever tool grips a hunk of cheese for you and grates it in one smooth motion as you turn the handle. It’s probably the easiest type of grater you’ll ever meet! There are several on the market, but the one we have at home—and our fave, naturally—is the ZYLISS grater.

02 Save energy with a stool

For every minute I spend standing, my brain is getting weaker and weaker. Sitting helps keep me sharp, and my interactions with sharp knives safer. I really can’t say enough good things about keeping a kitchen stool around.

The stool I use is IKEA’s FRANKLIN, which is lightweight for easy moving, comes in black and white, and folds away for storage. My favorite feature, though, is that it has a back, and lets me lean back when I have a moment in between tasks. The price has been lowered to $34.99 since I bought it, making it a real steal.

If you care less about leaning back and more about quick mobility, though, you might want to look for a wheeled stool instead, so you can fly around the kitchen with a simple kick.

03 Keep those fingies safe with a combination knife and cutting board

Yes, this is a real thing! Eminently funny-looking, this turns slicing veggies into a simple scissor-like motion. To reduce the risk of danger to your digits, you can press the fingers holding the food up against the side of the “cutting board,” which is just a little bit away from the blade. Nice!

You can grab your own Clever Cutter at their website. And honestly, even a perfectly un-klutzy human would be delighted to have this in their home, just for the convenience of this smart tool.

04 Whole-hand protection for the extra-klutzy with cut-resistant gloves

If you don’t even want your hands anywhere near a sharp blade, these gloves are for you. Made of cut-resistant, food-grade HDPE, they’ll defy even the clumsiest cook to hurt their hands! You can run these through the washing machine to keep them clean, so go ahead and go nuts with the raw meat.

Get yourself a pair of these gloves on Amazon. And if you’re handy, you might want a second pair for the workbench!

05 No more burns with oven rack protector shields

Listen, my jaw dropped when I first ran into these. So simple, so clever—I can’t believe they don’t come standard with ovens! These are just little silicone pads that you pop onto the edge of each rack. Since they don’t conduct heat, they serve as a little “bumper” for folks who like to reach into the oven without doing the math.

You can find these all over the internet when you start looking, but here’s a link to one with particularly good reviews.

06 Tea without terror with a specialty kettle

I’ll admit I’ve dumped an entire, fresh cup of tea on my lap from a muscle spasm, and having done so, I know I do not want to do that with an entire kettle. If you’re particularly prone to sending the things you hold flying (no shame, that’s just how it is), but want some “Tea, Earl Gray, hot,” then consider buying yourself a kettle that doesn’t require a lift.

There’s a wealth of hot water boilers and dispensers out there that are freestanding and just take the press of a button to get that water flowing down into your cup. Zojirushi is a good, trusted brand for a sturdy appliance, but they do run a little pricier. If you’re on a tight budget or not yet sure this is the right device for you, you may want to go with another brand. Or, if you live in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, or France, there’s also a cute tilty kettle by Uccello that’s a little easier on the wallet.

07 Keep dry floors dry with the pouring assists

Do you have trouble holding those heavy jugs of milk or juice? If every lift & pour maneuver is perilous for you, you might like these alternatives!

First, there’s the Magic Tap, a dispenser that fits over various bottle openings and uses battery power to pull its contents up and into your cup at the touch of a button. All you have to do now is open the fridge and dispense, so there’s no lifting required!

If washing fiddly bits and replacing batteries isn’t your jam, there’s also the Pour Thing, a little tilting device that holds the bottle or jug securely as you tip it over with way less effort than you would otherwise.