Through Our Eyes: Cooking in the Dark

As a blind man who lives alone, one of the most common questions I receive is, “How do you cook?”

It is a common misconception that people with vision loss are saved from starvation by inventions such as frozen foods, TV dinners, and Door Dash. I will not make the claim that I don’t sometimes lean on these 21st century conveniences, but probably no more than my sighted counterparts, (and maybe even less than some).

Like most other activities of daily living, cooking is not an insurmountable task; we just have to find creative ways to perform it while utilizing our remaining senses.

Below, you will find cooking tips, tricks and easy recipes for when you’re cooking in the dark.

Tools of the Trade

There are many different adaptive tools for those who are flexing their culinary muscle. These might range anywhere from talking meat thermometers, to the Pen Friend, (a device that reads food labels out loud – see video of Isaac demonstrating the Pen Friend), as well as slight adaptions like raised dots on a stove or oven dial, Braille measuring utensils, and my personal favorite, the two headed spatula, (perfect for really taking hold of whatever you might be trying to flip)

Larger kitchen appliances that are essential for cooking in the dark include crock pots, insta pots, air fryers, George Forman grills, among others.

Also, if you’re a coffee drinker, there is no easier coffee pot for a blind person than a Keurig.

Tips and Tricks

One of the first skills that most people learn when beginning to cook is how to brown meat or fry an egg. Ironically, these were two skills that took me a little while to truly master, but if you pay attention to what your other senses are telling you, then they can both be done and done safely.

Whether you are browning meat or frying an egg, your stove top will almost always have the temperature set to medium. When browning meat, (assuming that you are using hamburger meat) it starts out with a very soft mushy consistency, and has a very distinct smell, but as you brown the meat you will notice that it begins to toughen, the smell changes into the scent that is commonly associated with cooking meat, and even the sound will change from a loud sizzling, to a lower and slower simmering now that the meat is mostly cooked.

Once the meat is putting up resistance to your utensil, the sizzling sound has calmed, and you can no longer detect the smell of raw meat, this means your hamburger meat is probably ready to cook with.

Frying an egg is similar in some ways, but I recommend using some type of timer because it’s easier to undercook or overcook an egg, (this may take some trial and error).

Much like browning meat, the smell, sound and consistency of the egg changes the more cooked it becomes. Depending on whether you like a runny or hard yoke is where the trial and error will come into play. For flipping your egg, (unless you want sunny side up) I suggest using the two-headed spatula.

Other general safety tips for cooking in the dark include wrapping your fingers around the handle of a knife while cutting to keep them out of harms way, pouring liquids, (especially hot liquids like boiling water) away from you, and using extra-long oven mitts, (or even heat proof oven mitts)

Easy Recipes

Here are some of my favorites because they’re easy to make and always tasty. And crowd pleasers with my own two small children (who happen to be my biggest critics). Finally, it’s pretty easy to find accessible details and recipes online for these meals.

• Grilled Cheese
  By my estimation, there are actually four ways to make a grilled cheese, depending on what you are most comfortable with. A grilled cheese can be cooked in a frying pan, in an oven, in an air fryer or on a George Forman grill.
  
• Mac & Cheese
  In my humble opinion, the only way to eat Mac & Cheese is off the stove, (once you’ve had it that way, you won’t want insta mac ever again)

Managing the boiling water can be a little tricky at first but use a timer and remember to pour away from you while straining, and the rest is easy.

• Taco Casserole
  This is very easy, makes a lot of food and is delicious. What I do: brown taco meat, mix all ingredients in a pot, pour into baking pan and bake for 20 minutes and enjoy.
  
• Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings
  Even easier than taco casserole. I simply mix all listed ingredients in a Crock Pot and cook on high for 5 hours. After that I add dumplings and cook for an additional hour to an hour-and-a-half and enjoy.
  
• BBQ Beef
  Maybe the easiest of all. I pour beef broth into a Crock Pot, add whatever type of beef I happen to be using as well as my seasoning, and cook for five hours. Then I add BBQ sauce and let simmer for an additional hour.
  
• Always Perfect Meat Loaf
  I make mine in the oven. Just search for Always Perfect Meat Loaf and use the recipe found on Food.com.
  
• Hamburgers, Hot dogs and Chicken Breasts
  I make all of these on the George Forman grill, (meaning no flipping is required)

If I Can Do It, You Can, Too

As a man who couldn’t cook anything as complicated as stove top Ramen Noodles until I was in my 30s, I truly understand that cooking blind can be daunting and intimidating. But just like everything else we do, there are ways around that. You just need to get creative and ask for help or tips and tricks, if needed. Your dish doesn’t have to look like something off the Food Network; as long as it is cooked safely and tastes good … congrats. You can now cook in the dark.

Special Note:

If you are still reading, you will be glad you did. It is very important to note that whether you can see, or you are “cooking in the dark,” everyone makes mistakes, (especially their first time cooking a dish).

Before making a new recipe for my children, I always test it out on myself, and this parable illustrates perfectly why I do so.

The first time I made tacos, I was inexperienced on how to shop for different sizes of seasonings, as a result I purchased the largest bag of taco seasoning I could find, (just in case).

I was also inexperienced in reading cooking directions, so instead of adding six ounces of seasoning, (which is what is called for for one pound of taco meat), I proceeded to add six cups. My taco meat took on what I can only describe as a “swampy, mud like” consistency, and immediately after tasting it, I was forced to seriously test the water capacity in my home… it was nasty.

The moral of the story is this: everyone makes mistakes, but you laugh about it and learn from it. Also, I now make excellent tacos.