(cooking, cutting and chopping, measuring, pouring cold and hot liquids, peeling, placing pans on a burner, baking, turning food, testing food for completion, spreading, adapting cookbooks and recipes, useful tools and small appliances)
Safe Cooking Tips
- Wear short sleeves or roll sleeves above the elbow when working at the stove.
- Wear oven mitts to handle pots and pans.
- Set a timer to remind as to when to turn off the stove and electrical appliances.
- To make chopping easier, use an adjustable gooseneck lamp for extra light, a board with an attached knife for safety, and white cutting board that contrasts with the red apple.
- Make sure all appliances are in good working order and avoid overloading circuits.
- Use a vegetable peeler instead of a knife for peeling fruits and vegetables.
- Consider using a pizza cutter rather than a knife for cutting, or try out a pivot knife that is connected to a cutting board.
- Do not store spices on a shelf above the stove.
- Do not remove a pan from the stove before turning off the flame.
- Do not wear anything with long, loose sleeves when cooking.
Cutting and Chopping
- Remember to use plastic trays or cutting boards in colors that contrast with the selected food. For example, keep a white cutting board for slicing red apples or carrots, a dark colored board for onions, etc.
- Use the white side of the cutting board for dark foods, and the black side for light foods.
- Try a pizza cutter instead of a knife for slicing sandwiches, or try an adjustable knife attached to a cutting board.
Measuring
- Hold a light-colored measuring cup against a dark background when pouring water, flour, sugar, and other light-colored ingredients.
- Use a measuring cup with raised numbers on the side or mark the cup tactilely with a 3-D pen.
- Use individually sized or stacking measuring cups to scoop desired amounts.
- Measure spices into your hand first to avoid pouring into a spoon (some spice containers have a wide opening to insert a spoon), or use measuring spoons with large numbers.
Pouring – Cold Liquids
- Use color contrasts – dark pitchers and servers for milk and other light-colored liquids, a white pitcher for dark liquids such as iced tea.
- When pouring into a glass:
- Locate the pitcher by trailing your hand along the table.
- Locate the spout by moving your hand up the pitcher, and then turn the pitcher until the spout faces the glass
- When pouring liquid into a glass, placing a finger placed over the edge of the glass can serve as a guide to help the visually impaired person know when the glass is almost full.
- With the other hand, move the glass toward the pitcher, keeping the index finger on the spout of the pitcher.
- Lift the pitcher slightly and touch the spout to the rim of the glass.
- Now hook the index finger partway over the rim of the glass so that just the fingertip is inside the glass.
- The visually impaired person can pour until he/she can feel the water or other liquid reach his/her index finger. Also, listen for sound changes as liquid reaches the top of the glass.
- Try practicing with empty containers first, and pour over a tray to catch any spills.
- Or, the visually impaired person may prefer to use an electronic liquid level indicator, also known as a “Say When.” This battery-operated device is placed at the top of a cup or glass and beeps when the liquid reaches the top. The “Say When” device can also be used when filling a cup from a water dispenser.
Pouring – Hot Liquids
Pouring hot liquids can be dangerous, especially for someone with neuropathy (loss of sensitivity in the fingertips). It is safer to use an electronic liquid-level indicator for pouring hot liquids.
Peeling
- Use a vegetable peeler rather than a knife. Hold the fruit or vegetable in one hand; the peeler in the other.
- Grasp the handle with the thumb on one side and fingers on the other. Don’t touch the moving rod inside the peeler.
- Hold the item at a 45-degree angle and, working on one half of the fruit or vegetable, start to peel on the surface, away from the body. Once the peelings have been removed, check the section with the index finger to feel if it is smooth.
- Peel until the half being worked on is finished. Then turn the item upside down and continue.
- To determine whether there is any peel left, run cold water over the fruit or vegetable.
Placing Pans on a Burner
- Always position the pan correctly on the burner before turning the stove on.
- Always turn off the burner before removing the pan.
- Flat surface stoves can be a problem, but some have tactile contrast to indicate the burner (again, never turn on a burner until the pan is in position).
- Check the evenness of heat around the pan by holding the palm at chest level and circling a hand to determine the location of the heat source.
- Check and adjust the position of the pan on the burner using a wooden spoon.
- Make sure the handles on the pots and pans and knobs on the lids are heat resistant.
- Make sure the handles are turned in when cooking to avoid accidentally bumping or knocking pots and pans to the floor.
Baking
- Make sure the oven racks are positioned correctly before turning on the oven.
- Always turn off the heat before removing items from the oven.
- When removing items, pull the oven rack partially out rather than reaching into the oven. Remember to push the rack back in and close the oven door as soon as possible after placing the item on a counter or other surface.
- Use long oven mitts to remove items from the oven.
- Know where the food is going to be placed before removing the hot item from the oven.
- Oven doors that open down are safer than ones that open to the side.
- Always use an audible timer when baking.
Turning Foods
It is generally easier to use a double spatula as a turning device. Slide the item to the side of the pan, and then slide the spatula underneath it. With the spatula, move the item to the center of the pan before flipping it over. Make sure to have one hand on the handle of the pan to prevent tipping.
Testing Food To Ensure Readiness for Consumption
While food timers and talking thermometers and other devices will assist the visually impaired person compensate for vision loss in the kitchen, he/she can also learn to lean more heavily on skills and senses he/she has probably been using for years. For example, use touch (carefully) to determine when a cake has finished baking, or use the toothpick test—insert a toothpick in the cake, and if the batter is sticking to the toothpick, the cake is not yet done. Or, the visually impaired person can listen for french fries to stop sputtering in their oil to know when they are done. Many foods smell a certain way when cooked. Learn to recognize the signals the other senses are emitting.
Spreading
- Practice with toast—it will not tear as easily as regular bread.
- With thick spreads like peanut butter or margarine, use an organized pattern to spread outward from a certain point—left to right, top to bottom, or center to outside.
- Touch the food to make sure that spreading is complete.
- Some people find it easier to spread with the back of a spoon instead of a knife.
Adapting Cookbooks and Recipes
- Cookbooks are available in braille, large print, and recorded versions.
- Using a computer and a printer, recipes can be typed and printed in as large a font as needed. Or they can be handwritten in large print with a bold line marker.
- Magnifying devices of all types can help.
- Sometimes a transparent yellow acetate overlay can make print easier to read.
- Recipes can also be recorded on a cassette tape or CD.
Useful Tools and Small Appliances
Below are some of the simple, inexpensive tools visually impaired persons may find helpful in the kitchen:
- Long oven mitts
- Kitchen timer with raised markings or large print
- Liquid-level indicator
- Safety food turner (double spatula)
- Splatter shield
- Cutting board with food chute for pouring
- Cutting boards in light and dark colors to contrast with food
- Color-coded or high-contrast measuring cups and spoons
- Individual measuring cups and spoons (a must)
- Large-print and broad handle measuring cup
- Adjustable knife with a slice guide for adjusting slices
- A 3-D pen (or Hi Marks) for marking appliance
- Card and bar code reader for creating labels that can be read back
- Boil control disc to keep foods from boiling over
- Tomato and vegetable slicer