a great mother's day present for a cook

Or Father's Day, or for yourself, your spouse, or anyone else who cooks who is about 5'7 or taller or shorter than 5'2.. 

Make cooking fit like a glove.

About three months ago I received a raised cutting board from AWP and had another made for a much taller friend.  The story is that most countertops are a standard height - thirty six inches.  This turns out to be just dandy ergonomically if you are in the 5'4 to 5'6 range, but outside of that there can be problems. The stresses from the necessary poor posture for someone who is over 5'9 are enough that back pain is possible.

The driver for the project was Colleen who, at over 6'6,  is tall enough that food prep caused back pain.  (she doesn't fit well in much of the man-made world) ...  sad as she loves to cook.

The normal recommendation for tall cooks is a raised countertop.  Some custom kitchen builders offer thirty nine and forty two inch countertops, but these aren't customized for the cook and some families have cooks of multiple heights.  In Colleen's case forty two inches is far too short.  In mine it turns out to be about right, but would be far too high for Sukie.  And then there is the cost of putting in custom counters and a new countertop if you own your home and the non-starter for renters.

The solution is a simple raised surface.  Depending on its length and width you might think of it as a cutting board or a countertop.  With a bit of measuring you can have a working surface that fits perfectly for the task.  It is strange that we worry about size for items ranging from clothing to golf clubs, but many of us spend a lot of time doing tasks in an environment that is mis-sized.

Colleen's elevates her work surface by thirteen inchesand allows her to have great posture.  Mine is about six and a half inches tall.  I was surprised at how much easier chopping things is.  An added benefit for both of ours, which are essentially small tables, is that stuff can be stored under them so there is no real loss of workspace in the kitchen.

Both of us are very satisfied customers.  The construction is great, but more important is what should be obvious - good posture during standing tasks just works.  The first ten or fifteen minutes with one of these may feel a bit strange and mine seemed a bit on the tall side, but then I realized  I was much more comfortable.  Colleen was more comfortable immediately.  

Mine has a eighteen inch square working surface which is somewhat larger than most chopping boards.  Her's is eighteen by twenty-four  and she thinks of it more as a small countertop that she can cut on.  One 5'10 cook is investigating something about four inches tall, but much larger ..  eighteen by forty eight inches giving her even more of a raised countertop.

These are solid hard maple and can be made to any height and length and width.  A six inch tall by seventeen by fifteen inch board is $116.  One as large as Colleen's is a bit more.   If you have priced hard wood recently AWP's prices are not out of line.

Colleen has more information on a blog she made to showcase products and ideas for folks who are differently sized.  In this case "different" can be a sizable segment of the population.  Even if you don't know anyone who might need one, check out the videos she did for a better idea of what these are and a bit of humor.

If the cook is in the 5'6 to 5'9 range AWP offers solid cutting boards from one  to three inches thick in a variety of lengths and widths.  Sukie finds one that is about an inch think makes a difference she can feel and the owner of AWP, who is about the same height, finds the same thing.  

Colleen's picture might be dramatic, but many of us who aren't as vertically gifted will benefit from a height optimized surface.  It just isn't worth the trouble to spend so many hours in the kitchen working with a surface that doesn't fit when simple solutions are available.  

The measurement guide, based on several studies of the proper height for standing kitchen work is here.  If you want to build one yourself, this is a good place to start.

So what if the cook's height is less than 5'2"?  Now the trick is to have a kitchen cart that can be made in any height  with the top doubling as a work surface.  The measurements should be good for cooks to about 4'9.  If you are less than that, it probably makes sense to do your own testing with stacked boxes and see what feels right.  The other alternative that is commonly used are stools.

AWP does quality work - these are really wonderful gifts that are reasonably priced considering the quality and materials..  If you get in contact for a quote be sure and mention Colleen's name for special treatment!

Comments

[Jheri]

I'm a bit under 6'3 and use a raised countertop made to my height using the instructions on Colleens page.

It is great and I found I needed one. Smaller cooks should see if they need one too. I can believe someone who is 5'10 needs one and even those who have less height might use one too.

These are very cheap compared to back pain!

[philippines gift]

If are you making this as a gift its absolutely adorable so cute i love this. Will certainly visit your site more often now.

vee

[Roger]

I am a standard height, 5' 10" male, and my bent elbow falls precisely 4" above a standard countertop as recommended. But I have another problem, sciatica, which has been extremely uncomfortable and almost debilitating at times. My worst sciatica problems occurred before I retired from an office job, requiring eight or more hours a day sitting behind a computer monitor. The company had an ergonomics specialist who didn't understand sciatica problems. I couldn't sit for more than a few minutes without incurring excruciating pains in my tailbone area and in other places. However, I could stand for periods of time with much less discomfort. But who ever heard of standing at a desk to operate a computer? Well...a few people have, but no one where I worked, especially the ergonomics people. Standing behind a computer sitting on a cardboard box, I would have stood out like an amputated thumb, so I continued to endure the pain.

Several years ago my sciatica was so bad that I couldn't lie down, sit down, or walk without extreme pain. Physical therapy helped some, but did not prevent relapses. In desperation, I visited a chiropractor. (I had always believed that chiropractors were quacks.) Within a few weeks of spine adjustments I was almost pain free. That was about eighteen months ago, and I haven't had another bout of debilitating sciatica since then. But I am far from being pain-free from sciatica. Lying in bed causes the worst sciatica pain. Sitting for extended periods of time causes the next worse pain. Performing work requiring bending and lifting causes lower levels of sciatica pain. And walking and standing cause almost no sciatica pain, even reducing it for hours afterword. So my sciatica loves 5-10 minute intervals of alternate sitting and standing while I am working at my computer. But like Colleen working at her standard-height kitchen counter, I cannot work standing up at my computer that is resting on a standard-height desktop. I need a desktop that will easily rise when I stand up and descend when I sit down. The controlling mechanism should be easily adjustable for balance, perhaps manually, to handle whatever load is placed on the desktop. As I stand up, catching the tips of my fingers under the desktop edge and lifting should easily drag it upward, and as I sit down, a gentle push with the palm or heal of my hand should force the desktop downward.

Let us think of this as the ergonomic workstation for sciatica sufferers. Now if AWP could design such a workstation, I would be the first customer and eternally grateful. I am now retired, but I still spend a lot of time sitting at a desk or table in front of my laptop computer. I read many books on my laptop, because I can make the print large enough for easy reading without glasses. I also spend a lot of time surfing the Internet. But I need to stand up and sit down regularly to appease my sciatica. Why not have a portable and easily adjustable "countertop laptop platform" that easily rises when I rise and descends when I descend? A lightweight platform that I can pick up, along with my 17" MacBookPro, and easily carry to and place on any horizontal surface of my choosing. Again, I would be the first customer and eternally grateful. How about it, AWP?