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Adaptive Cooking

Kitchen Accessibility Basics
Kitchen Tools
Shopping for Aids to Daily Living
Small Appliances Rule
Energy Management
Single Handed Cooking
Holiday Cooking Without Cooking

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Kitchen Tools

In General | Cooks with Blindness or Low Vision

Kitchen gadgets are lifesavers, but when they're not right for you, they're big time-wasters. Experiment here with the ideas described below, then incorporate your favorites into your routine. If you have a helpful kitchen-taming idea of your own, please share it with us! Send your suggestions to: candace.bennett@sbcglobal.net.

Gadgets, appliances, and ergonomic tools are available all over- the possibilities are infinite! You'll find specialized items, such as single-handed and extra-grip devices in specialty catalogs (See Catalogs For Aids to Daily Living ). But mainstream cooking stores (Williams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, or Bed Bath & Beyond) now offer a large variety of helping tools and ergonomic utensils intermingled with regular merchandise. If you buy an item that doesn't work out, don't hesitate—return it!

In General

  • Emergent food processors blend food in whatever bowl you're using so you don't have to transfer it to a blender. Available at Crate & Barrel, Williams-Sonoma, and all department stores.

  • Editor's favorite—a pan with a built-in strainer allows you to drain pasta and other foods easily at Gold Violin/Ligthouse International.

  • Make a platform inside your sink so the basin is shallow enough to reach into from a sitting position. Just flip a plastic container—at least several inches deep—upside down.

  • Reachers—You've probably already enlisted BBQ tongs to reach items up high, but be aware of the fancier models that grip and hold, or provide other helpful features. Quite a variety abounds at any of the catalog houses, such as Independent Living, MaxiAids, or Sammons & Preston.

  • Gripping utensils include new ergonomic products with non-slip handles available commercially. Or, adapt any utensil with a piece of foam rubber and some tape. Persons with prosthetic limbs might like the Hosmer Texas line of attaching devices that makes cooking easier. See http://www.hosmer.com.

  • Look for a wide variety of adaptable cutlery and knives. The Magna Wonder Knife ™ and Adjustable Slicing Knife ™ feature guides to stabilize food and determine portion size. Available at MaxiAids or Sammons & Preston.

  • Slicing guides hold food in place to allow you to cut equal, portions (adjustable). Available through MaxiAids.

  • Slicing and chopping guides produce paper-thin to thick slices, depending on your preference. Available through most catalog houses.

  • Jar-openers come in many styles: a hand-held type that fits over a jar lid, a wall-mounted style that holds the lid while the user grips and turns the jar, or a power-operated jar and bottle opener. Available through MaxiAids and many others; shop around for just the right one.

  • Can openers with shelves hold the can in place while opening.

  • Milk carton holders have handles for gripping paper milk or orange juice cartons.

  • Stationary bowls have either suction cups or steel frames to lock the bowl into place. Available through Sammons & Preston.

  • A rack jack is a small wooden instrument with a notch at one end that hooks onto an oven rack. It enables you to pull out the rack without putting your hands in the oven.

  • A pot holder is a frame with suction cups to hold a pot on a burner and keep it from moving.

  • A heat diffuser controls range-top flame by fitting over it.

  • Oversized knobs fit over oven and cabinet knobs for easier turning; universal knobs fit over most any knob or faucet control knob. You'll find these at hardware stores and catalog houses.

  • Eating utensils are available with custom features such as curving, attaching, left-handed or right-handed specifications; self-feeders also come in different styles for more independent eating and drinking. (Feeding aids available through occupational therapy departments in hospitals and in Sammons & Preston catalog.) A good occupational therapist will also have a trick or two up their sleeves.
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Cooks with Blindness or Low Vision:
Also be sure to see: Total Resource Guide—Visual—Cooking

  • If vision is limited, contrasting color cutting boards may help—a dark board for light colored foods and a light board for dark foods.

  • Measuring cups and spoons with adjusting level guides let cooks measure without having to see the tiny red line. Available at Williams-Sonoma.

  • A liquid indicator beeps when you fill your coffee cup or any container. Battery operated from Gold Violin/Lighthouse International.

  • Read about Braille labelers for labeling supplies and magnifiers for reading recipes in the Infinitec Inc. Total Resource Guide—Visual: Also see Humanware
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