Cooking Comfort
a modular immersion blender, food processor, and electric can opener set that preserves family recipes and brings generations together
Design Objectives:
• Unify three cooking appliances used to make one meal
• Design modular appliances that assist with making homemade spaghetti sauce
• Improve tools to be ergonomic, comfortable, lighter, & less tiring to use
• Encourage younger generations to cook family recipes by making tools easier to use
• Preserve traditions and family bonding
Cooking homemade spaghetti sauce is a tradition that people continue even though cooking becomes more difficult with age. This product will make it easier for people to cook as they grow older. By improving the tools, the process of making spaghetti sauce will become easier, encouraging younger generations to learn traditional family recipes.
While each recipe varies, each cook uses an immersion blender, a food processor, and an electric can opener.
According to the interviewees, each appliance needs improvement.
Immersion Blender:
- Button is difficult to hold down for long periods of time
- Heavy
- Cord gets in the way while cooking
Possible Solutions:
+ Multiple buttons (On & Off are separate) or a sliding switch
+ Thinner/lighter materials
+ Cordless/rechargeable
+ Retractable for large and small pots of sauce
Food Processor:
- Difficult to open
- Difficult to clean; sharp blades are dangerous
- Blades are difficult to store
Possible Solutions:
+ Press buttons to release compartments instead of twisting compartment open
+ Plastic sheath to cover blades
Electric Can Opener:
- Does not fit on large cans of tomatoes well
- Opening large cans by hand is exhausting
Possible Solutions:
+ Adjustable mechanism width
+ Automatic: place on can and let it automatically open lid