Please Weigh In On The "new Pans/new Spoons/etc" Issue For Me

[slee11211]

So I'm in the early stages of figuring this all out (and living in a tiny house with husband and son that as of yet is not fully gluten-free)....and I am reading over and over again about the non-stick pots, strainers, wooden spoons, etc all needing to be replaced.

Can people weigh in on this for me? I'm not sure if I'm reading about it everywhere because it is a HUGE issue for the super sensitive, and everyone else either doesn't care or just doesn't go into it. I'm curious just how common this is and how worried I have to be about it?

Or is it simply something that happens later, when sensitivity levels increase and it's a no-brainer? To a relative newbie, it is sounding a little "nuts". (And in our tiny house, we've all eaten around a very long and heavy wood block counter on an island as our table....so I'm worried that we would potentially have to replace it?? ugh, can't even process that)

Let me know your thoughts!

[Coleslawcat]

So I'm in the early stages of figuring this all out (and living in a tiny house with husband and son that as of yet is not fully gluten-free)....and I am reading over and over again about the non-stick pots, strainers, wooden spoons, etc all needing to be replaced.

Can people weigh in on this for me? I'm not sure if I'm reading about it everywhere because it is a HUGE issue for the super sensitive, and everyone else either doesn't care or just doesn't go into it. I'm curious just how common this is and how worried I have to be about it?

Or is it simply something that happens later, when sensitivity levels increase and it's a no-brainer? To a relative newbie, it is sounding a little "nuts". (And in our tiny house, we've all eaten around a very long and heavy wood block counter on an island as our table....so I'm worried that we would potentially have to replace it?? ugh, can't even process that)

Let me know your thoughts!

I replaced the strainer and wooden spoons. I did not replace all of my non-stick pans. I replaced a few very beat up cookie sheets and 1 9x13 pan that was very scratched. I did not replace my non-stick stuff. Frankly, I couldn't afford to at the time and it was on the list of stuff to replace when I could afford it. But I never had an issue with it and I even had a follow-up biopsy that showed 100% healing so I knew they weren't contaminating me.

[Skylark]

I replaced my toaster and it was time to throw out my beat up wooden cutting board anyway. I also got rid of my wooden spoons and replaced my colander. I just couldn't be sure the colander was clean because it has so many nooks and crannies where bits of pasta could stick.

My pots and pans all seemed to clean up normally and my non-stick stuff was in good shape so I did not replace any of them. I am not biopsied/diagnosed so I had to go by how I feel, and I've been doing fine.

For the wood block counter, I might start eating with a place mat so I didn't have to worry about setting down my utensils. No harm in eating on a clean surface.

[sa1937]

I replaced a lot of things that I could never get clean. New toaster, colander, wooden spoons, cutting boards, ancient Tupperware that I'd never get clean, beaten up old non-stick cookware that should have been gotten rid of a long time ago. I tried to replace things right away that I needed and could never get clean. My good cookware just got a good scrubbing. Basically if I could get it clean, I kept it. Some of those things are pretty inexpensive.

Not everything has to be replaced at once. I'm still buying things. Cookie sheets could be covered with parchment paper for gluten-free baking. And aluminum foil is my friend.

[GlutenFreeManna]

I replaced things gradually as I could afford it, but I was careful not to use anything that could be contaminated in the mean time. For pans I bought one good skillet and one good pot at first for gluten-free only. I just avoided using the wooden spoons at all (used metal or silicon spatualas instead), put a piece parchemnt down on the cutting board to cut things and lined my baking sheets with foil. I strained things using the new lid ont eh new pan instaed of the strainer, etc, etc. I had one non stick pan I kept that had only been used once (was purchased just a few weeks before goign gluten-free) and had no scratches whatsoever. I kept all my glass bakeware and anythign that could be scoured clean really well (stainless steel). I just didn't toast anything until I had bought a gluten-free-only toaster. I think I might have placed some gluten-free bread on a piece of foil and toasted in the oven a few times, not as convienent but it worked.

[Takala]

We get a lot of people here that start out on the gluten free diet and then after a few months they start complaining that the diet does not work, they're still sick, and it must be something else and they must be diagnosed wrong, and they can't figure out why they're still so fatigued and really, they don't think that celiac is just the problem...

....a lot of fuzzy thinking from cross contamination.

We have 2 dogs with wheat allergies, and the one who is more sensitive I apparently have accidentally cross contaminated with something else last week when I let him have a tiny piece of my leftover homemade toast about the size of a thimble. Now he's been itchy and has a hot spot and I am kicking myself- normally my food is okay for him, but I shouldn't assume. He is also hypersensitive to oats, and this had some Bob's Red Mill products in it. People forget ALL THE TIME - my husband who is normally good on this issue for a glutenoid, wanted to pick up a different brand of canned cat food for the oldest cat, and I had to stop him because the LAST THING I want is this cat drinking out of the water buckets down at the barn, and then the dogs get cc'd by drinking out of the same container. The other dog gets obsessive - compulsive when this happens, and starts barking at nothing and peeing on everything. It took me months to figure out the mystery glutenings were being contributed by the cats until I deep sixed all the old cat food, including the bag for the inside cat's, which tends to lick me and groom itself and then I pet it- ack.

The most annoyed I have been is when I have used a supposedly gluten free ingredient in one of my dedicated cast iron pans, and I react and have to clean the thing out again extremely thoroughly and re season it. I can get splitting headaches and vision problems and ataxia from gluten, and I am not a happy camper when this happens.

All of these tiny incidents add up to enough gluten to tip you over into a reaction.

So you may not be getting overtly "sick" from not replacing the old stuff, but you likely won't be feeling well either, unless you are one of the "silent" types.

To me, getting rid of the wooden utensils, rubber spatulas, old baking pans with crud that would never come off, old scummy tupperware, etc, was a no - brainer. I didn't replace them all at once, but I stopped using them once I discovered I wasn't supposed to - duh ! Wish I had known sooner. It's not that I was using them, but that I could not expect to have extra stuff in the kitchen that was now off limits, and not have other people using it because they couldn't remember what they were doing.

If you are worried about the wooden block counter, scrub it off with brillo and rinse it well, then cover it with a tablecloth or something like another thin sheet of wood or laminate. You can always get a sander and refinish it.

[domesticactivist]

We didn't replace our wood kitchen table but everything else went. We tried being gluten-free without doing all this at first and we were a mess. I have a post on the blog linked from my profile called going 100 % gluten free that might help.

We just got back from my partner's grandma's house and while we brought all our own cookware and only used her metal utensils and regular plates my son did feel off. (maybe from the place mats and cuddles with her dog) Now he's with his dad so I don't know if he's feeling better or worse a day later.

I don't think this is just for the super sensitive. Like someone else said, you might get better but not all the way better if you don't protect yourself from cc.

[come dance with me]

I only bought a new toaster but everything else is the old one. With baking trays I always use baking paper anyway then throw it away after. I figure everything is thoroughly washed. I did replace all dish cloth too. They are replaced regularly and were about due.

[Schatz]

How about my crock pot? Should I replace it?

I read to de-season my cast iron pans and then reseason. How do I deseason them? Is there a way to do it with using the oven's self clean mode? Last time I tried to use the self clean the cabinets next to my oven turned brown.

[Coleslawcat]

How about my crock pot? Should I replace it?

I read to de-season my cast iron pans and then reseason. How do I deseason them? Is there a way to do it with using the oven's self clean mode? Last time I tried to use the self clean the cabinets next to my oven turned brown.

Your crock pot is fine, just wash it well. I'm not sure on the cast iron question. I would guess google could tell you how to unseason it. I was never using my cast iron anyway so I gave mine away.