gluten-free-ing The Solo Kitchen

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Hi all,

I live alone, so I have the luxury of making my kitchen entirely gluten-free, which I realize is not the norm for most people. It sounds like that will make things a lot easier once I figure things out more in terms of accidental cross-contamination. Right now, however, I'm confused about what needs to be done in my kitchen because most of the advice I've found in books, on the boards & elsewhere is for *shared* kitchens.

I got rid of my toaster & bought a toaster oven; managed not to cry while getting rid of two beautiful wooden cutting boards and a set of olivewood spoons I brought back from Provence. I know my cheap battered non-stick frying all scratched up from 2 a.m. grilled cheese sandwiches has to go ... but ... where's the line?

- What about my gorgeous wooden salad bowl (never known a crouton)? It might have once had some non-gluten-free dressing or some blue-cheese.

Ceramics? Plastics? Cast-iron? I read here that stainless steel was ok; how about glass? Rubber? Can I reuse the glass container with rubber vaccuum sear that used to hold my spaghetti if I wash it carefully? The spaghetti usually touched only the glass.

I want to be very careful, but I also don't have any $$ to spare - especially once these medical bills start rolling in.

(And I don't have a dish-washer.)

I've appreciated all the advice and support I've gotten since I started posted here so so much. (I know my posts tend to be long - I don't have anyone to talk to about this where I am so I think I'm babbling a bit!) Thanks for all the advice & patience!

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[CarlaB]

I did not get rid of my salad bowl! And I've even previously made pasta salad in it. I've not had any problems. If yours is like mine, no varnish and gets seasoned as it gets older, I'd wash it with soap. I NEVER wash mine with soap because it removes the seasoning, but that's the point. Then reseason it with oil.

I know people have cleaned their cast iron ... I think that they've put it in the self-clean cycle in the oven. But I'll let someone else chime in on that one.

Ceramics are okay.

I'd get rid of any scratched up plastics.

Rubber, not sure about that one. If it looks like it can be cleaned completely, then it would be okay.

Glass is okay.

[kbtoyssni]

I also have a solo kitchen and love it! I find the little things that stress other people out like insensitive coworkers or lunches out bother me a lot less because of it because of it because I only have to deal with that stuff occasionally, not everyday at home. I threw away the really beat up tupperware (like the stuff I used to try to pop loose popcorn in when I was in college and was all melted and burned...). I would have gotten rid of wooden stuff if I had any, too. All the rest of my tupperware, glassware, etc stayed.

I'm guessing the salad bowl has a finish on it that makes it easy to clean. Wooden cutting boards usually have a finish, too, but it gets cut into a chipped off which I wouldn't think would happen with a salad bowl. If you can give it a good scrub I think you're fine. I think you should be able to wash the rubber well enough, too. The best part about a solo kitchen is that after you do your initial clean and scrub, you never have to think about contamination again!