Appliances And Utensils

[LladyLlama]

I've been reading some blogs about living gluten-free which emphasize the importance of having separate cooking utensils and appliances, as well as separate food storage, if you don't live in a gluten-free household. I'm not sensitive enough that I can detect trace amounts of gluten from crumbs and such, so I have no way of knowing how much I'm getting glutened by sharing a kitchen with my non-gluten-free parents. However, I do worry about the long-term effects of regularly consuming trace amounts. So I guess this is my question: how important is it to designate gluten-free knives, pots, pans, tupperware, etc? Should I be claiming my own shelf in the fridge so my food doesn't get near anything gluteny?

[seashele2]

It is very important to my daughter and me to have separate cooking/food area from my husband's glutened section. We have a separate toaster, an "allergen free" deep fryer (we are also corn, dairy, soy, msg & beef-free, combined), a separate counter area that no gluten, or the other allergens, touches, separate food storage area for boxed and bagged foods. Over the years, we have finally weeded out all our pans that have touched gluten except one griddle. I make my husband's grilled cheese sandwiches on that. I have tried to get rid of all the old cooking utensils, but think I may still have a few stragglers. 6 years ago I started with separate refrigerator space, but now it is combined. We just wash our hands anytime we have opened the frig or touched anything glutened in the frig before we touch our food or eat anything. We have separate jars of peanut butter. Separate tubs of margarine. Anything that has to be scooped into is a separate thing for us.

Even all of our toothbrushes are separated and we each have our own tube of toothpaste to not cross-contaminate each other.

One area I haven't replaced is my tupperware type storage containers. I have replaced some, but not all. I am switching a lot of it over to glass jars for storage of flours, etc. but for leftovers or salads and stuff like that. I have a lot still to replace.

I should add though that family meals are all free of gluten and our other "no foods" so having gluten-free pans & utensils isn't a stretch. There is no regular spaghetti in the house, no wheat flour, etc. My husband eats gluten when we all eat different things because of schedules or whatever and eats normal when he takes his lunch to work. Otherwise, he is completely willing to eat gluten-free for family meals because that is what I have to eat, and now our daughter has to eat.

When I went to visit my parents for 2 weeks, my Mom scrubbed down a section of their counter and a shelf for food storage for my gluten-free foods. I would hope if you ask your parents for that consideration to protect your health, they would be willing. Little bits of gluten that don't kick in a reaction are still potentially damaging the celiac body so my daughter and I try very, very hard to prevent any cross-contamination.

Michelle

Western Washington State

[coffeetime]

I've been reading some blogs about living gluten-free which emphasize the importance of having separate cooking utensils and appliances, as well as separate food storage, if you don't live in a gluten-free household. I'm not sensitive enough that I can detect trace amounts of gluten from crumbs and such, so I have no way of knowing how much I'm getting glutened by sharing a kitchen with my non-gluten-free parents. However, I do worry about the long-term effects of regularly consuming trace amounts. So I guess this is my question: how important is it to designate gluten-free knives, pots, pans, tupperware, etc? Should I be claiming my own shelf in the fridge so my food doesn't get near anything gluteny?

I'm like you in that I'm not so sensitive that I notice cross contamination. I'm the only gluten-free one and did buy myself a toaster,have my own jar of peanut butter, butter, jelly, mayo, etc. I haven't replace any cookware or utensils. I figured that the dishwasher would take care of everything. I haven't claimed my own shelf as all the food is sealed in containers. I too wish I knew if I was doing damage to myself by keeping communal utensils, and non-stick cookware. I wish there was a blood test that we could after several months in (I'm now 6 mo) that would let us know if we had stopped poisoning ourselves.

[glutenfr3309]

i don't think i am as sensitive with traces of gluten either and i'm not technically celiac (although i had inflammation).

i do have a roommate though. she and i have our own set of pots and pans while we share glass casserole dishes and the cookie sheets, etc. we use our own set of dishes but share silverware, utensils, and glasses. once i went gluten-free i bought my own plastic tupperware containers and marked them so she would know they were mine when emptying the dishwasher. i also have several of my own utensils now that i keep separately, along with my own cutting boards and pasta strainer. these items were the first things i got even before i found out my results. we don't really share food so that's not a problem. i've asked that anything that i use to be washed in the dishwasher because frankly she doesn't handwash things very well and it makes me nervous.

when i use cookie sheets i put foil underneath my food and i finally have my own toaster.

some people kind of roll their eyes when i tell them i have my own utensils, etc but the way i see it if i can control these things then the better i'll be off in the long run. i didn't test positive for sprue but i had the beginning stages with the inflammation. in my mind if i'm not careful then i could still be glutening myself and one day test positive even though i'm gluten-free!

[Juliebove]

I bought my daughter her own little refrigerator for containers of things that might possibly get cross contaminated. Like mustard and nut butter. She also has her own shelving unit for her food. One day I will buy her a pantry. It started out with a card table in the corner of the dining room, because that's what we had. Then I bought shelves. But it can look messy. We just don't have any storage room in the kitchen for the extra food. We don't have a pantry cupboard.

I don't use Tupperware. I do have a very few plastic bowls and containers that have been purchased since her diagnosis. She has food allergies. Not celiac.

Orignally I made my own mix of flours and bought containers to put them in. But I gave up on gluten-free baking, except for occasional mixes. I use foil pans for those things. If I were going to do a lot of baking, I would buy new pans. I just did get one new pan today that makes individual square things like muffins, cornbread, brownies, etc.

I bought my daughter her own toaster. I did not buy a new colander because I know I have never used it for pasta. That is just not the way I drain mine. Might be more time consuming, but I use a pasta server or a big slotted draining spoon. I did replace those. The colander has only been used for things like berries and maybe spinach. So I figure it's safe.

I did not replace my baking sheets. They are very expensive and work very well. I use either foil or release foil on top of them when I bake. I very rarely bake anything with gluten in it. Occasionally a Boboli for my husband. I do not keep any wheat flour in the house. I will buy regular bread and pre-made baked goods on occasion. Currently I have some cookies and cupcakes that I bought. And I have some buns for the 4th. Those are kept over in the corner, away from where I prepare food.

I did not replace my knives. I only replace my utensils on an as needed basis. Most are quite cheap. I bought tons of big black plastic spoons and some metal tongs for my daughter's birthday party, the year before she was diagnosed. Also had some clear plastic spoons that were cheaper still. I don't see any scratches on them and most likely they were not used for gluten.

I did not replace any pans, but I don't have any non-stick pans. If I did, I would replace those.