Blind Cooking: Kitchen Tips for the Visually Impaired

Unless you order takeout for three meals a day, cooking is a necessary chore in daily life. However, the seemingly menial act of cooking can seem daunting to people with vision challenges. When it comes to blind cooking, there is danger in the high heat and flames involved, and it is easy to mess up a recipe by pouring in the wrong ingredient, or even too much of the right one. But, while it may not be easy, it is certainly doable. Below we offer you some valuable tips for cooking with visual impairment.

Organization

An organized kitchen is a happy kitchen, no matter what your visual capabilities are. Make sure that every item has a place to belong, so you know where to find it and when to replenish it. Spices on this shelf, oils on that one, etc. Group similar items together and store them close to where you’ll be using them. You can even use braille labels for spices and such!

Measuring cups are very useful to have handy for multiple purposes in blind cooking, not just for baking. Use them to scoop out different ingredients instead of pouring the food straight into the dish or bowl to minimize spills. Put liquids that you’ll most often be measuring small amounts of, such as vanilla extract, into wide-mouth containers. That way, you won’t have to pour liquid into a small spoon and can instead stick the measuring spoon straight into the container.

Safety

Wear short sleeves or roll your sleeves above the elbow when working near the stove, and wear long high-heat oven mitts to handle pots and pans. When it comes to baking, make sure the oven racks are positioned correctly before turning on the oven. When testing for doneness, use touch. Stick a toothpick into the batter and then feel if it comes out clean.

To make cutting easier, use a white cutting board to contrast with brightly colored food and a dark cutting board to contrast with white foods like onions or parsnips. Always position the pan correctly on the burner before turning the stove on, and turn off the flame before removing the pan. Another good idea when it comes to chopping vegetables is to use a vegetable chopper, where you can easily put in a piece of the vegetable and just press down to chop it.

Preparation

Prepare all your ingredients and necessary tools beforehand and lay them in their order following the recipe instructions to have it all ready to go. If you have an OrCam MyEye, or any other assistive device you can program it to remember all of your most commonly used products. Make it easier to find and identify food in your kitchen and grab the items you need with instant product identification and barcode reading.

The OrCam MyEye is also great for reading recipes in cookbooks and even online from digital screens. While braille cookbooks exist, they are not very practical when it comes to getting your hands dirty in the kitchen. Not only can the OrCam MyEye read a recipe back to you instantaneously with just the point of a finger, using the new Smart Reading feature, it can easily find all the measurements with just a spoken command!

Cook More Easily With An Assistive Device For the Blind

Suitable for all eye conditions, The OrCam MyEye a voice-activated assistive tool, empowers blind people all over the world. Watch the video below to see how a blind chef who works in a highly acclaimed restaurant uses OrCam MyEye in the kitchen:

Another chef who is legally blind and benefits from the OrCam MyEye is Orly Shamir of Nourished by Light. Cooking nutritional recipes helped her heal from opioid addiction and find her “soul’s true vision.” Orly believes that “cooking, like life, is best experienced as a multi-sensory treat.” She also shares her cooking videos on her YouTube channel. In a recent cooking demo, Orly talked about how her OrCam MyEye played a large part in helping her get through cooking school.

Find out how much you or someone you know could benefit from an OrCam MyEye!