Our tips to improve your baking skills...

You don’t have to be a contestant on the Great British Bake off or MasterChef to make the most of your baking skills. By simply organising your kitchen and having the right tools, your next bake will be a great success!
At Associated optical, we feel that just because you may low vision, it doesn't mean you should lose confidence and stop baking.

Safety is your number 1 priority before you start baking and it's a great idea to do a safety check of your kitchen and get organised with the help of a friend or loved one. This is of utmost importance and ensures you can enjoy cooking and baking with confidence and independence.

Lighting also comes under your safety checks and ensuring you have enough light in your kitchen is vital. This can be done in simple steps, and Associated Optical has various tips on how to do this. Read their latest blog on lighting to find out more.  This includes adding extra light to your kitchen with a simple cordless battery operated desk/portable light like the LED folding lamp. This decreases your risk of tripping over trailing wires.

Keep cabinet doors fully closed or fully open. Contrasting tape on the insides or backs of cabinet doors can make it easier to tell if one is open. Coloured tape can be found in most places and also try using a colourful non-slip liner/mat inside your cupboards. This helps to improve contrast against white plates and also offers a more secure base. These mats are also great to place a mixing bowl on and other kitchen items to improve stability.

Weighing your ingredients carefully can be difficult if you have low vision but there are many fantastic gadgets available to purchase that can help make baking easier. For example our talking kitchen scale & measuring jug. The scale has a clear voice that will tell you the content weight of the measuring jug in grams, pounds & ounces. Whilst the measuring jug has large print so it's easier to view the contents are at the right level for baking.
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You wouldn’t believe how much can go wrong just because ingredients have been weighed incorrectly. Divided measuring cups are more accurate and easier to use than a standard measuring cup for both dry and liquid ingredients. It can be difficult to detect the lines for each measure on a standard measuring cup and divided measuring cups are available in a variety of colours, so you can utilise colour contrast techniques.

A place for everything and everything in its place.

Group like items together and store items close to where you’ll be using them. If you have multiples of an item, store one behind the other on the shelf.  Also, be sure to store cleaning products separately from foods.

Labelling and being organised in your kitchen is important as you need to know where and what things are in your cupboards. There is a range of solutions and advice offered by the Disabled Living Foundation to help you keep on top of this. They have a website where you can find out more information and get more advice.

Practice makes perfect in baking so don’t be afraid to cook something new. Be creative, be bold and have fun! With good planning and cooking techniques, you’re ready to cook your next mouth-watering bake!