This page contains 18 different tasks completed by the team to immerse themselves by completing kitchen tasks with only the use of one hand.
The team decided as part of their research they created a pasta meal with one arm. The first 9 videos demonstrate the tasks that were done and comments difficulty completed the task with one arm.
One of the first tasks that was completed was trying to open a twist off glass bottle with one arm. This was difficult because the bottle had to be held in the arm for stability while using only one hand to twist off the bottle. It was completed, but it was more difficult to do.
We had to start prepping out ingredients, there were some that were more difficult than others.
When Opening Cream the most difficult part was pulling out the tab. This is because it was hard to stabilize the carton and pull the tab with only one arm available. Putting the carton in your arm while trying to open the tab is difficult because there is a risk that the cream could have gone everywhere.
Grating Cheese was one of the most difficult task. We only had access to a hand grater and we only had one hand to use. Therefore, we couldn’t hold the grater with one hand and then hold the cheese is the other. The way we improvised was just putting the grater on the counter.
Cutting an Onion with one hand available was not only difficult, but could also be dangerous if the user is not careful. With one hand, we were unable to hold the vegetable steady while we pressed down with the knife, so we eventually just had to execute one swift swipe to cut it open. After we made the initial cut, the task became a bit easier, but was still difficult.
Using a Salt Grinder posed complications because the mechanism requires a twisting force. We tried putting the grinder underneath our chin to hold it steady while we twisted it, but eventually found it easier to just use a thumb to twist the knob. This task could have been much easier with one arm using either an automatic salt shaker or a traditional salt shaker.
Can Opening was very difficult with the can opener that we had. This was designed to hold the can in one hand and twist the knob with the other. We were unable to complete this task only using one hand, making it the most difficult task.
Opening Garlic Lid was only able to be completed by using one arm and holding the jar between the person’s knees. This would be very limiting if a person had other disabilities and was only easy because it was not a tight seal in the first place.
For clean up, Putting on a New Trash Bag was another task that was difficult with one hand. This task involved harshly shaking the bag in the air to try and get the bag open. The hard part was putting all sides of the bag around the rim of the garbage can without the other sides falling off.
One of the last steps that we did was Dumping Pasta. This was not that difficult of a task beside just the weight of the pot. Only having one arm for this task is doable.
The following 9 tasks are common kitchen tasks with observations and comments made on each one.
Opening a two-liter plastic bottle was a very uncomfortable task. Like the first glass bottle, opening the twisting the cap off was impossible without preventing the bottle from swimming. The bottle had to be held with the bottom of the hand while twisting with the thumb and index finger. For someone with small or weak hands, this would be impossible.
Tearing off a paper towel was not very difficult with one hand especially with the use of a paper towel holder. This required a swift downward pull on the paper towel to rip off a single towel.
Scooping ice cream was a challenging one-armed task. First, the ice cream top had to be removed which posed problems. The lid was stuck to the ice cream so it had to be pried off. Scooping the ice cream was the most challenging task since the ice cream container could not be held in place. Regardless of the scooping tool being used, with only one arm it is impossible to support the ice cream and make a proper scoop.
Taking food out of the oven was a smooth task. With one arm it seemed like it just took a longer time to keep it balanced. There was nothing limiting with the small tray of chicken. However, if it was a bigger tray of food, problems could arose of almost dropping the food if it was too heavy became unstable.
Measuring ingredients was a tedious task. The measuring cup had to be on the countertop and did not feel like there was a lot of precision. When measuring the rice and trying to get the last little bit, some spilled. Then having to each subsequent action was one at a time instead of a fluid motion.
Peeling a banana was by far of the most difficult tasks. It was almost impossible to get a reasonable grip on the stem and start applying force. After becoming frustrated, the only viable option seemed to be using the mouth. Biting from the top was probably a little exaggerated though. An alternative thought was grabbing a knife and cutting the top off from there. Even then, peeling the rest of the banana still required it to be on the counter and had to peel each side individually.
Using a microwave was not too difficult of a task but could be complicated by other things, like a messy countertop. In my video I did not have much trouble as I was able to open and close the fridge using my hand and foot and then open and close the microwave using my hand and shoulder. If I was not able to set the food on the countertop while opening the microwave it would have been more difficult.
Taking out the trash was not too difficult the only problem I ran into was when I tried to tie the bag. When I tried to tie the bag I was able to cross the handles but could not tighten the knot to keep the bag closed.
Unloading the drying rack was definitely more time consuming than usual when limited to one hand. The biggest time wasting occurred when I had to set pans and lids on the counter top to place a pan correctly. Usually I would simply lift the required lids and pans using my other hand.