I've seen videos and read tips that suggest putting a wet paper towel under a cutting board to make it hold still. But I just hate wasting those towels. Instead I bought a roll of drawer liner that prevents the drawer contents from sliding around. I bought red since my kitchen's accent color is red. I cut lengths of it to match sizes of my cutting boards and keep them in a drawer until needed. They can be used thousands of times before wearing out, can be sanitized in the dishwasher periodically (top shelf) and work as well or better than those wasted paper towels.
In addition, if you are having trouble peeling an onion, you can rub the cut edge against that drawer liner stuff, and it will roll back making it easier to peel.
Further, the same pieces can be put under your rolling mat when rolling piecrust, or under a bowl when you are using a hand mixer, and so on. There's no waste involved and it makes so many things easier just because they hold still while I'm working.
The one additional item that's most important for my very arthritic hands is a lightweight knife. So I buy and use ceramic knives almost exclusively. They stay sharp for a long time without having to be sharpened constantly and they don't start fruits and vegetables browning immediately like a steel knife does, but they do eventually chip and have to be replaced. But, they're so much cheaper than a good quality chefs steel knife that I can replace them ten to fifteen times for the same amount of money I'd spend on one quality steel knife. And I can only make a couple of cuts with a steel knife before my hands are too fatigued to continue, and I can do the whole job with a ceramic knife that's 1/2 or 1/3 the weight.
March 28, 2022 at 2:41pm
I've seen videos and read tips that suggest putting a wet paper towel under a cutting board to make it hold still. But I just hate wasting those towels. Instead I bought a roll of drawer liner that prevents the drawer contents from sliding around. I bought red since my kitchen's accent color is red. I cut lengths of it to match sizes of my cutting boards and keep them in a drawer until needed. They can be used thousands of times before wearing out, can be sanitized in the dishwasher periodically (top shelf) and work as well or better than those wasted paper towels.
In addition, if you are having trouble peeling an onion, you can rub the cut edge against that drawer liner stuff, and it will roll back making it easier to peel.
Further, the same pieces can be put under your rolling mat when rolling piecrust, or under a bowl when you are using a hand mixer, and so on. There's no waste involved and it makes so many things easier just because they hold still while I'm working.
The one additional item that's most important for my very arthritic hands is a lightweight knife. So I buy and use ceramic knives almost exclusively. They stay sharp for a long time without having to be sharpened constantly and they don't start fruits and vegetables browning immediately like a steel knife does, but they do eventually chip and have to be replaced. But, they're so much cheaper than a good quality chefs steel knife that I can replace them ten to fifteen times for the same amount of money I'd spend on one quality steel knife. And I can only make a couple of cuts with a steel knife before my hands are too fatigued to continue, and I can do the whole job with a ceramic knife that's 1/2 or 1/3 the weight.