De-Glutening The Kitchen

[laura1959]

My husband does most of the cooking here, due to my chronically low energy levels.  Hopefully, that can change if I start feeling better on the gluten free diet.  

 

I've been talking with him about cross contamination.  We currently have an array of wooden cutting boards that are used for preparing all manner of foods, including meats and salad greens, as well as breads.  Obviously, those are going to have to be de-glutened.  What's the best way?  Or should I just toss them out?  (one is built into the counter so that would be a problem).  

 

Any other advice for avoiding cc?  I'm planning to get all the gluten containing foods out of here over the next few weeks.  Been eating foods myself that are self contained to avoid CC, but I can't eat like that forever.  Will probably buy a new toaster oven (we need one anyway) once I get all the bread out of here and convince hubby not to bring that crap into our home anymore.  He read the book "Wheat Belly" a few months ago and got all gung-ho over not eating wheat for about a week, so maybe it won't be too hard to convince him.  

 

Any other advice?  

[AlwaysLearning]

I'd also replace:

• Wooden and plastic utensils such as big spoons, spatulas, etc.

• Collanders and sieves, especially those that are plastic or are woven. If you have a metal collander with big holes, you can probably clean it well enough.

• Non-stick pans. Don't forget the bake ware.

 

Don't forget things like:

• Butter dishes that are made of plastic.

• Storage containers for leftovers, or even the hard plastic in your cupboards that may have held pasta or cereal before being used for rice (meaning the food now stored in them may also be contaminated)

• Have you ever used your ice cube trays to make something other than ice that may have contained gluten?

• The pizza stone must go. 

• Do you have plastic pitchers that may have been used for something that contained gluten?

Basically, if it isn't made of glass or metal (is porous) then it is suspect.

Watch out for hidden sources of gluten. I still haven't gone through all of my teas to sort out those that are gluten free from those that are not, and realize that if open tea bags were stored together, they and the container are contaminated.

[AlwaysLearning]

Oh, and can you sand down the built-in cutting board?

[laura1959]

Thank you!  

[GottaSki]

Yep...most say toss wood cutting boards and utensils....we did not as we had custom boards built by my hubby many moons ago and utensils crafted by our nephew...we/he sanded...then I washed them within an inch of their lives...then we re-oiled them....never had an issue.

 

Use your best judgement or ask if you have other concerns.

 

Colanders, NonStick Pans or plastic containers with any scratches, toasters, and a few other items need to be tossed.

[laura1959]

I just told my husband about sanding down the one cutting board and he said, "we could do that to all of the wooden ones."  I suppose we could.  Thanks again!  

[Pegleg84]

I also ignored the cutting board and some other things for far too long, and recently replaced them. I don't think I'm using anything at this point that might be ccd. It might be low-level cc, but it builds up. I think I didn't really notice that it might have been a problem until it was gone! So do all your replacing now. Label everything that needs to stay gluten free, and keep some serious segregation of anything gluteny. (consider gluten as special food, not the other way around. If you hubby wants to bring gluten into the house, he needs to be responsible to keeping it completely separate, contained, cleaning, and not making you sick!)

 

That's interesting about sanding and re-oiling the wooden boards/utencils. Very good to know. There's this cutting board at my parents house that we've had forever, and I think it still gets used despite being contaminated with 30+ years of gluten (my mom is Celiac), so I'll mention that it could be sanded.

(also might have to give my mom a lecture on cc and take her kitchen-stuff shopping when I'm home next week. Mom has been gluten-free for 7+ years now, but I don't think the kitchen was ever purged of contaminated kitchen ware, and there doesn't seem to be any dedicated equipment other than the toaster. And I always wonder why I end up getting glutened when I'm home. I'm also much more sensitive than Mom. It makes me wonder whether she might not still be having some problems because of low-level cc that could be avoided).

 

Good luck with everything!

[bartfull]

"Basically, if it isn't made of glass or metal (is porous) then it is suspect."

 

Except for cast iron. Cast iron is is pourous so it must be replaced too.

 

As for the cutting boards, if you really want to sand them, make sure you sand them so deeply that ANY cuts are completely gone. Personally I would just buy new ones to use and leave the built-in ones for show. OR buy some of those new thin plastic ones to use on top of the old ones.

[laura1959]

I went out and purchased a packet of these at Target:  Open Original Shared Link

 

They take up almost no space and I can store them in the original plastic sleeve they came in.  For the time being, they seem to be all I need and they also make great safe surfaces for placing my utensils while cooking.  A fairly low cost solution.  

[notme]

 

 

Except for cast iron. Cast iron is is pourous so it must be replaced too.

 

we re-seasoned our cast iron and put it in the self cleaning cycle of the oven - the grill grates, he took a blow-torch to and everything seems to be ok.   one of the pans, i don't think we ever cooked anything but eggs in, but we re-did it anyway.  i may have just gotten lucky, but i haven't had a problem so far.  (hopefully not Famous Last Words lolz!)

[Adalaide]

GAH!!! Don't throw away your cast iron! Especially not heirlooms. Even if your oven does not have a self cleaning cycle you can use an oven cleaner on it, one of those that you use on the racks and comes with a bag to put it in. Re-season and you're all set. Just... no accidents. If you gluten it you have to start all over again. One of my very favorite things to shop for for myself when I need a gift is heirloom quality cast iron on ebay or other auction sites. 

 

Or you know... if you have any heirloom quality cast iron and you just aren't comfortable re-seasoning it I'll give you my address!   
 

[notme]

Or you know... if you have any heirloom quality cast iron and you just aren't comfortable re-seasoning it I'll give you my address! 

 

me too!  

[bartfull]

Wasn't there a thread a while back about how to re-season cast iron using only a certain kind of oil and doing it in very thin layers several times? I wouldn't think the regular way of reseasoning would work, but what do I know? I used to use cast iron but gave it up a long time ago because it was so HEAVY. I'm a lousy cook anyway. If I can't cook it on the Weber or the "George", I don't cook it.

[laura1959]

Sadly, I do not have any vintage cast iron to send to any of you  .  We do have a bunch of coated stuff that is going to have to go away.  Hubby went out and bought a beautiful stainless steel skillet yesterday for me to use to make a stir fry, which was delicious.  

[laura1959]

"Basically, if it isn't made of glass or metal (is porous) then it is suspect."

 

Except for cast iron. Cast iron is is pourous so it must be replaced too.

 

As for the cutting boards, if you really want to sand them, make sure you sand them so deeply that ANY cuts are completely gone. Personally I would just buy new ones to use and leave the built-in ones for show. OR buy some of those new thin plastic ones to use on top of the old ones.

 

This is funny, we were both posting about the thin cutting mats at the same time.  That's exactly what I ended up buying.  

[Adalaide]

Yes, and I posted the link to that, but I'm not home right now to find the link. It uses flax seed oil and the page explains in great scientific detail why it uses that oil. In the end it comes out super hard and works very much like a non-stick coating, of course building the perfect better seasoning over time. 

 

On second thought, after a quick google search, I believe this is the page I used. Open Original Shared Link

Look how beautiful... omg I'm so in love right now with that pan. Every time I look at this page it makes me want to go buy more cast iron, but my husband would drop dead if he found me spending more money on cookware I don't "need."

 

ETA: this is a true labor of love. It took me several days to finish a single pan, although the last time I did I wasn't up to being awake for a normal day yet. But we're talking 3 hours plus preheat time every coat it is in the oven. Times at least 6 coats. Plus if you are super sensitive to heat like I am you'll have to wait longer than the 2 hours for it to cool enough to handle. 

[bartfull]

He he he...I just looked it up and found the same website you just posted. I'm wondering if it would work on stainless steel. When I worked in restaurants we cooked on stainless that cleaned up more easily then brand new teflon. Don't have any idea what it was coated with but I sure wish I had some. Maybe if I did, I could give "George" a vacation.

[Adalaide]

Nothing permanent, but maybe this? Open Original Shared Link

Maybe worth dinkering around in the kitchen a little.

[bartfull]

Oh thank you, Addy! Thank you!!! I only have one stainless pan but I love it. (It was Mom's so that makes me love it even more.) I will be doing this tonight! I will be eating eggs for breakfast every morning now instead of my ice cream because I want to try ditching dairy for a while. This is just in time!

[cyclinglady]

Like Addy, I love my cast iron pans.  After my diagnosis, I read on about.com that you just have to clean them during the cleaning cycle in your oven.  The temperature is so high that it burns off all gluten.  Then I re-seasoned them.   Remember, they must be washed by hand and never use soap on them -- just hot water and a quick rinse and towel dry.   I only use a  non-stick pan for my hubby's eggs each morning and everything else is cooked in cast iron.  It's lovely to be able to go from stove to oven so easily!