Arthritis is an unfortunate fact of life for those of us that live long enough. The kitchen tends to be place full of tasks difficult for those with arthritis. We’ll run through our list of our 10 favorite kitchen tools that are easier on arthritic hands. We’ll attempt to avoid junk products and focus on effective quality products that are truly handy in the kitchen.
Our Picks:
DuoGlide Chef's Knife
The DuoGlide Chef’s Knife is specifically designed with ease of use in mind and has an “Ease of Use Commendation” by the Arthritis Foundation. It has a soft rubberized grip for easy grasping and a blade shape that’s ideal for rocking and cutting. The design positions the hand over top of the blade as opposed to behind it. This greatly increases the ability to press down and cut more easily.
Easi-Grip® Multi-function Food Preparation Board
Preparing food can feel like you need an extra set of hands. The Easi-Grip Food Preparation Board can be that extra set of hands for several tasks. It’s very effective at helping out with peeling, slicing, and grating. It includes a reversible panel with 4 pins that hold food in place to help with carving meat, cutting bread, or other similar tasks. It also includes a peeler and graters that inset and catch whatever is being peeled or grated. This food preparation board is truly indispensable for anyone with arthritis who loves to cook.
OXO Stainless Steel Colanders
OXO Stainless Steel Colanders are well designed and quality constructed. They’re easier to use thanks to their easy to grasp rubberized lip and stay securing in place thanks to their rubberized feet. The grippy handles don’t get hot thanks to the rubberized coating which makes it ideal for straining hot items items such as pasta. It’s designed to drain quickly yet still drain smaller items such as rice without trouble. One last benefit worth mentioning is that they are dishwasher safe so you needn’t fear damaging the rubber lip or feet with repeated dishwasher runs.
OXO Good Grips Chopper
OXO Good Grips Choppers are well designed choppers that are a great alternative to finely chopping with a knife. These choppers focus on comfort and are easy to handle. Also, the attention to detail is typical OXO with a spinning mechanism that ensures that food that sticks to the walls of the chopper will be removed and get chopped. The collection base cup is non slip which is excellent for those with arthritis problems although it isn’t required to be used. You can remove the cup and use it over a chopping board if you prefer. The chopper easily disassembles so it’s a snap to clean. OXO makes great products and this is one of their stand outs.
Black & Decker Lids Off Jar Opener JW275
Jars are notoriously difficult to open whether you suffer from arthritis or not. The Black & Decker “Lids Off” Jar Opener solves the problem handily. This isn’t a cheap device. It’s a well built unit from Black & Decker and is very versatile. It’s adjustable in height and the grippers at the base are adjustable in width. It has a high torque electric motor that’s capable of opening even the most stubborn jar. If opening jars has challenged you in the past you’ll want to strongly consider this jar opener. Cheap plastic lid openers usually don’t work well and are still a struggle. This opener is a breeze to use and doesn’t require a bit of effort on your part.
Brix J-Popper Pull Tab Can Opener
The Brix J-Popper is an incredibly simple solution to opening ring pull cans. Its simple design allows you to easily slip the hook underneath the pull tab. The handle is designed to be easy to grip and provide a huge amount of leverage to not only pop the ring tab but also remove the entire lid. If you struggle with pull tab cans or just have a lot that you need to open and a purpose designed tool would make the job easier, this is an elegant solution.
OXO Silicone Oven Mitt with Magnet
It’s important to protect your hands properly in the kitchen. The OXO Silicone Oven Mitt is a great oven mitt that can do the job of protecting your hands extremely well. Not only that but it can double as a great tool for gripping things really well due to the included silicone ribs on the outside of the oven mitt. This makes it handy for ensuring that pot or pan doesn’t slip out of your hand or double as a great way to open a stubborn jar lid. Silicone is grippy and it can also withstand 600 degrees. This well thought out oven mitt includes a loop for hanging and an embedded magnet if you’d like to stick it to the outside of your refrigerator or oven. It’s also able to be washed in the washing machine without worry that it’ll harm the silicone ribs on the outside of the oven mitt.
Dycem Non Slip Rolls
Dycem Non Slip Rolls are great for adding a little traction to any surface. Cut to size and place it on a counter to hold a plate, pan, cutting board or bowl from slipping and sliding around. Add a piece to a tray or use as placemats. Great for anywhere a little extra grip would be appreciated to make tasks easier to perform.
Better Creations Better Batter Bowl
When cooking, mixing bowls can sometimes be a little unwieldy if your arthritis is acting up. The Better Creations Better Batter Bowl has a couple of great benefits going for it. One, it is easy to slip your hand beneath allowing you to get a great grip. Two, it has a grippy base which prevents it from moving around while you’re mixing things up it in. It’s reasonably priced and a great addition to your kitchen.
Fiskars® Kitchen Shears
This great set of Fiskars Kitchen Shears is a great alternative to knives for all sorts of jobs. Shears attack cutting things in an entirely different way and can be much easier for some hands to use than a knife. Fiskars is well known for their quality cutting tools and these shears are no exception. Shears can provide more cutting leverage and speed up all sorts of cutting chores around the kitchen. The Fiskars Kitchen Shears are worth a hard look.
Wrapping Up:
Great Kitchen Tools for Arthritis Sufferers
Arthritis is a challenge to overcome but it shouldn’t keep you out of the kitchen. There is a solution for almost any challenge out there. This list of 10 kitchen tools for those with arthritis really just begins to tap into the wide variety of solutions to the arthritis problem. Hopefully you’ve found at least a few of these products helpful suggestions to some problems you’ve been struggling with in your kitchen.
