Yes, contrary to popular belief, people who are blind or have low vision are able to cook independently. It is possible to cook without sight and it can be done with few adaptations.
Every visually impaired person has a unique level of comfort in the kitchen and I am sure this is true for fully sighted people as well. Well the good news is that technology has come a long way and cooking has become even more accessible.
Today I want to highlight some tools that can make cooking more accessible for people who are blind or have low vision. I have to add that I am not good at cooking at this time but I want to improve in the future. This is research that will help me as a visually impaired person and everyone else as well.
If you don’t believe that blind people can cook just watch Master Chef winner Christine Ha in action in her kitchen.
There are talking food thermometers to ensure that meat or fish is well done. There are talking kitchen scales to measure out correct amounts of ingredients. There are sets of measuring cups and spoons labeled in braille or large print available as well. Sight is not needed to cook a meal.
For those who may be like me and are not yet fully comfortable in the kitchen, here are some tools that may make things a little easier.
The George Foreman Grill
I love my George Foreman grill. It is easy to use and a good tool to practice cooking easy meals like grilling chicken or vegetables. I use it to toast bread or heat up sandwiches or to heat up waffles. I hope to expand my use of it in the future. There are many recipes that can be done on the grill.
** This post is not sponsored by any of the items mentioned **
Air Fryer
I am not a fan of fried foods but I think this is an interesting product and it seems to be a healthier alternative to frying. The buttons can be made accessible by adding braille or bump dots and you would have to memorize the temperature settings or you can use an app that reads text to read the machine.
Smart oven
I recently found out about a company called Tovala. They have a smart oven that cooks food at the scan of a barcode and they have a meal delivery service to go with it. Now, I would like to learn to cook from scratch but this is still cooking for me because they send you all the ingredients you need but all you have to do is put it in the oven. This is a good way to begin to learn to cook.
I would also probably get a regular toaster oven to practice baking instead of the smart oven.
Some extra thoughts
Cooking is accessible to all. To make the stove accessible to someone with impaired vision you can put bump dots to identify the low, medium and high settings. Cooking is an adventure and I hope to start on mine soon. What are some of your favorite recipes to cook?
Jazmin Ruiz 