Kitchen Gadgets for the Blind
We review the best kitchen gadgets to help those who are visually impaired allowing them to cook in the kitchen but also be safe.
By Kitchen Gadget Box
For those of us who are fortunate to see the amount of water in the measuring cup or can determine where and when to move when frying to avoid oil splashes, remember there are those who can’t see. Visual impairments or blindness is not anyone’s wish. So, these people encounter a lot of difficulties if necessary adjustments are not made in the kitchen.
Kitchen Gadgets for the Visually Impaired
The following kitchen targets can help people with visual impairments or blindness to carry out a variety of tasks;
1. Talking Microwave
Amazon have a voice activated microwave that works with Alexa, this allows the user to tell Alexa what setting to put the microwave on without having to touch any buttons, all you need to do is open the door, put the food inside and close the door and off it goes. This makes it a great cooker for the blind and visually impaired and a very good appliance for people with sight loss.
Amazon
This makes it easy to reheat your coffee, defrost meat, cook your ready meal. Microwaves can be fiddly with lots of buttons and options, using voice to tell it what to do makes to very easy.
To use the voice activated part of this microwave it does require an Amazon Echo, this will then connect to the microwave. The echo also has many other benefits, as it uses voice you can ask it the time, ask it to play music, or Google any questions you may have.
2. Chopping Board Set
When cooking, it is important to use a various chopping boards that are available. Practically, you can use a cutting board that was used to cut raw meat to cut food that is ready-to-eat. This is what we call cross-contamination. The only easiest way of solving this problem is to use colored chopping boards.
Minor visual impaired people can use this technique because they are able to differentiate contrasts or colors. Unfortunately, it is impossible for people with total blindness.
To avoid cross-contamination, give the person the ability to distinguish between the boards by the sense of touch. Textured taps comes with it. The taps’s images enables to user to feel so that they can retrieve the required chopping board that will suit what they want to do.
3. Talking Digital Food Scale
Typically, these gadgets require vision to determine the weight of the food to be measured. Talking digital food scale can be used instead of the typical food scales.
This allows the user to hear the weight. Most of the talking digital food scales have the on/off button placed on one side and the functions of the tare/units on the other.
4. Talking Liquid Jug
We mostly rely on vision to pour liquids like vinegar, syrup, oil, etc. The amount required is therefore totally reliant on our vision to read labels on the measuring cups or spoons. For persons with visual impairments or blindness, a different method is required to perform these tasks.
Measured bottle poured is important when carrying out quick pours, for example oiling the pan before you sear a fish or drizzling syrup lightly on ice cream. Though mixing or baking larger quantities does not require small pours, so, tactile and braille measuring cups are used instead.
5. Palm Peeler
Peeling vegetables and fruits is a very dangerous exercise if not carried out carefully. A small knife is even worse. Accurate positioning of a regular peeler requires precise placement of the tool. Your other hand should be behind so that you reduce the risk of injuring yourself.
This tool can also help because it enables the user to locate the exact position of the blade and feel the peeling area by using the pinky fingers and the thumb.
6. Heat Resistant Gloves
The main aim of using this is to avoid being burned by the water splashes or hot oil. This is placed on the non-dominant hand while cooking. Here the dominant hand stirs food while the gloved hand stabilises the sides of the pan or pot by providing support.
By using the glove, the user gets continuous input from both hands and enables identification of cookware in the whole cooking process. Adjustment of the placement of the pan or pot is also possible if it is not supported well by the burner.
7. Freezer Alarm
This is a perfect gadget for monitoring chillers, coolers, freezers, refrigerators, and any other systems of cold storage. It is good for incubators, terrariums, aquariums, etc where a certain temperature range ought to be maintained.
You simply set the low and high alarm temperatures desired, then place the external probe and a monitoring system to measure the critical environment will be ready. When a desired temperature target is reached it will notify you. This is a gadget that is important for the visually impaired because they can hear but they can’t see.
8. Liquid Level Indicator
This avoids the inconvenience and embarrassment of overfilling your coffee mugs or dinner glasses.
The user hangs this onto their glass or cup and pours the liquid with complete assurance. The liquid level indicator will alert the user by sounding when the liquid level is near.
9. Talking Cooking Time
Talking alarm clock, stop watch, and timer can all oprerate independently and simultaneously. Countdown out-repeat function is crucial when carrying out repetitive activities like cooking. One-touch recall time memory for the time countdown.
Maximum countdown or count-up time, choosing for example from 6 different alarm sounds, announces the time that is remaining every hour to do a particular task. It announces the time that is remaining in every 10 minutes during the final hour. This gadget comes with a 3-way magnetic stand or clip so that it be easily attached to a refrigerator. This is a very convenient tool the visually impaired can make use of.
10. The iDevices, iGrill, and Kitchen thermometer
These are gadgets that use Bluetooth technology to link your iPad or iPhone which makes reading the temperatures more convenient. Accessibility of Apple products by the blind through VoiceOver is possible. The iDevices app reads the degrees on the thermometer and transmits the sound the iPhone or iPad’s VoiceOver.
11. Smart Plug
If you already have Alexa in your home then you will already know what it can do, and now Amazon is adding and expanding what it can do and this includes the kitchen too!
This smart plug allows you to tell Alexa to turn off appliances, if you are worried something maybe left on your can ensure the power is turned off, it is for turning the radio on and off, or any other electrical appliances in the kitchen.
No products found.
12. Amazon Smart Oven
This smart oven is a 4-in-1 microwave, convection oven, food warmer, and air fryer. Air fry feature may require more cooking time than standalone air fryers. Using voice combined with an Amazon echo you can tell it to preheat, cook certain foods allowing it to set up how you need, you just need to open the door and place the food or plate inside and close it.
If you are able to scan the food packaging with the Alexa app then on selected packaged foods then the Amazon Smart Oven will cook them automatically.
This is great for reheating food from the fridge, leftovers or something that has been dropped round.
No products found.
13. Pen Friend
This is a stylus that can be placed over a sticker that is coded and it is able to read aloud a pre-recorded message. Message has personal information that is recorded prior to using the stylus itself. Small stickers can be placed on pantry items like spices or canned food. This will be identified audibly by the Pen Friend gadget by the user who is visually impaired.
To elaborate more, it can also be applied in the closet. You may have the same design and color of jeans. You can’t know which is which because it is a stack. You can record a voice message on a sticker, identifying the color and design of the jeans. Place the sticker on an index card. So, by slipping the card on the needed jeans, it will make a sound identifying it. This can also be applied in the kitchen items.