Gluten Free Kitchen

[azmontessoriteacher]

Hi,

My daughter was recently diagnosed with celiac. I made the decision to make the whole family gluten free to keep her safe and to keep her from feeling excluded. I have been reading some posts about cross contamination from cooking utensils, in particular cutting boards, cast iron, colanders, etc.

What have you done to clean these items? I do not want to go buy all new stuff if they can be cleaned adequately, especially the cast iron. I have emptied the house of gluten foods, but I am unsure of what level of cleaning of existing housewares I need to do.

I would really appreciate your suggestions.

[New Community Member]

I've been wondering about this same topic, too. Dish soap cleans things, so I personally don't see the reason behind buying all new dishes and appliances, if they are cleaned thoroughly...? If I am wrong, someone please correct me. I share a kitchen with others who all eat gluten and we use the same silverware, dishes, etc. I use my own toaster for my gluten free food, though. Good topic, thanks for posting.

[pricklypear1971]

I balked at tossing stuff out (or donating) too.

I replaced pourus items like wooden cutting boards, spoons. I replaced my colanders with stainless steel that can be scrubbed and scoured.

I didn't notice I was having a problem, but close scrutiny showed food stocking to those things regardless of scrubbing - so better safe than sorry.

I do admit to being a little neurotic about gluten in the house. The guys had a wheat pizza yesterday and I was washing the counters, oven, table, THEM the whole time.

They had hamburgers today and ate them at the restaurant. And washed up. And brushed teeth. Yeah, I'm a little nuts.

[mushroom]

Really, how far you have to go depends on your daughter's sensiivity. Scratched nonstick pans are a big problem; toasters harbor crumbs in places you could not imagine; some colanders can be scrubbed clean but metal strainers are almost impossible to clean. Cast iron pans can be cleaned by running them throogh the self-cleaning cycle of your oven and then reaseasoning.

For those who are not supersensitive, most things can be scrubbed clean. However, wooden spoons and cutting boards, as well as plastic are very problematic. If cost is an issue, I would do it in that order, replacing what you can when you can.

[azmontessoriteacher]

I do plan on replacing the toaster. I guess I will not be shopping second hand stores for my kitchen wares anymore. . .

I had not thought about reseasoning my cast iron. That is a great idea. I have a lot of it. We don't generally use non stick, so that should not be a problem.

And, really we do not know how sensitive my daughter is yet. I suspect we will not know until her body has had a chance to heal. I just want to do everything I can to support her.

Other things I am doing: washing all of the pot holders, emptying and washing utensil and silverware drawers, cleaning cupboards where food is stored, wiping crumbs out of the fridge and freezer . . . gee I my house will be clean :-)

Keep the suggestions coming!

I really appreciate it!

[Poppi]

One other thing to think about not related to your kitchen is all the phones, remote controls, tables, chair backs, light switches, door knobs etc in the house. If people touch it, somebody needs to wash it. We replaced the computer keyboard rather than try to get all the crumbs out of it.

[Ollie's Mom]

Don't forget checking cat / dog / pet food (the food for my fish has gluten in it - I have to be sure I'm careful handling it).

We bought new pots and pans and cutting boards. We kept our dinner plates, glasses, and cutlery, but we washed them really carefully. Wooden spoons and other wooden utensils went.

We scoured the weekly flyers and found most of the new stuff we needed on sale - sometimes as much as 75% off. It made it cheaper to do, but it took a bit of time that way.

good luck!

[Poppi]

I replaced my cutting boards, wooden and plastic utensils, pots and pans (mine were all nonstick and 8-12 years old) and sieves and collanders.

I took my stand mixer outside, put a mask on and blew out the motor and all the nooks and crannies with a can of compressed air. Then I scrubbed it down.

We have a toaster oven instead of a regular toaster so I was able to remove the racks and crumb tray, run them through the dishwasher and scrub out the inside of the toaster itself. I like the toaster oven option because if there is ever a mistake and gluten is toasted in it, I can clean it.

I also got rid of all the knives that have those micro-serrations. They are impossible to clean. We didn't have many, most of my knives are good knives that are easy to clean so that was a minor loss.

All of our pots and pans are stainless steel now except for 1 cast iron pan (which I hate) and 1 nonstick pancake pan that is strictly gluten free. Again, in the case of a mistake, they can easily be cleaned (except for the pancake pan).

There are still a couple of things I haven't replaced but did give away. I'll be watching the flyers for a new panini grill and waffle iron. Those couldn't be salvaged safely.

The one kitchen splurge I indulged in was a deep fryer. We can no longer to to a restaurant and have fries, tempura, chicken wings etc. We didn't do that often but it's nice to have pub food, pakoras or tempura now and then. We have designated every other friday as Deep Fry-Day and I'll make something like fish and chips.

[azmontessoriteacher]

Thank you for all of the replies.

I thought of something else today I will have to replace - the wooden knife block. I am sure the slots probably have crumbs in it. I keep it right by the toaster. . . Gee, the list seems endless. I want her 100% gluten free as soon as possible, but I see that this is going to take some time.

[Poppi]

Thank you for all of the replies.

I thought of something else today I will have to replace - the wooden knife block. I am sure the slots probably have crumbs in it. I keep it right by the toaster. . . Gee, the list seems endless. I want her 100% gluten free as soon as possible, but I see that this is going to take some time.

It might take time to replace everything you have to get rid of but it doesn't have to take time to go 100% gluten free. It is really important that she is 100% gluten-free starting immediately. If that means you live without a knife block or a good cutting board or a toaster for a while then you just have to make do.

Also, if you are a baker you will want to replace your baking pans unless they are glass or ceramic. Non stick metal cookie sheets and cake pans just aren't going to be safe. I glutened myself baking a loaf of Glutino bread in a non-stick bread pan that I was positive I had cleaned well enough.

You can make do with your cookie sheets for a while if you cover them with parchment paper. I am still using mine because they are the totally flat double walled ones. I just use parchment on them for everything.

How old is your daughter? Do you need to be worrying about things like playdough in the classroom as well?

[azmontessoriteacher]

It might take time to replace everything you have to get rid of but it doesn't have to take time to go 100% gluten free. It is really important that she is 100% gluten-free starting immediately. If that means you live without a knife block or a good cutting board or a toaster for a while then you just have to make do.

Also, if you are a baker you will want to replace your baking pans unless they are glass or ceramic. Non stick metal cookie sheets and cake pans just aren't going to be safe. I glutened myself baking a loaf of Glutino bread in a non-stick bread pan that I was positive I had cleaned well enough.

You can make do with your cookie sheets for a while if you cover them with parchment paper. I am still using mine because they are the totally flat double walled ones. I just use parchment on them for everything.

How old is your daughter? Do you need to be worrying about things like playdough in the classroom as well?

She is 10. I have already spoken with the teachers at school. They seem to get it since they have anaphylactic allergies in the room already. They already have strict eating and handwashing policies in place. Fortunately I teach there, so I am in and out of her classroom on a regular basis and generally know what is going on. We don't have a cafeteria, so that is not a consideration. I will look at putting a 504 in place for her soon in case her teachers change or we ever go to a new school.

I am pulling everything I can out of my kitchen today. I am going to go buy the essentials. I know the food is safe, it is now the other items. The cleaning is going to take me a few days.

My younger daughter bagged up all of the playdough today. I am wondering if I can get all of their cool playdough utensils clean enough. Anyone have any experience with this? I hate to have to replace it all, but I will if necessary. They really enjoy using them. I still have to find a good gluten free playdough.

Christmas may be the time that much of those things are replaced. . .

[azmontessoriteacher]

What about my baking stone? Will it suffice to leave it in the oven for the self clean cycle like someone said to do with the cast iron?

[Poppi]

What about my baking stone? Will it suffice to leave it in the oven for the self clean cycle like someone said to do with the cast iron?

Yes. I baked hundreds of loaves of wheat bread on my stone. I ran it through the self clean cycle, brushed/scraped off all the ash and residue and then did it again just to be sure and it looked like new. I use parchment on it if I'm doing something like biscuits or bread because gluten-free dough is really more like batter and can be CRAZY sticky but I do pizza straight on the stone and haven't had any problems.

[ElseB]

Another thing to check that you might not have thought of - your kettle. I used to make tea or coffee at my boyfriend's place and suddenly a grain of rice would appear in my cup! Thankfully he wasn't much of a gluten eater so there was no chance of crumbs or pasta having fallen in there, but it was still disturbing that there was food in there. When we bought our house I scrubbed and vaccumed every inch of the kitchen, including the cupboards, fridge, freezer, drawers, oven, stove, etc to rid it of all gluten, and now we keep the house gluten free. I suppose we were lucky in the sense that I don't think the previous owners of the house ever cooked. So there wasn't much to clean.

[Bubba's Mom]

One thing I didn't think of when first going gluten-free was the can opener. We have a mixed household and one day as my son was opening a can of spaghettios he thought of it. I now have a gluten-free can opener and one that can be used with gluten.

Replace her toothbrush too. That's another thing I didn't think of at first.

[domesticactivist]

I'm late to the party but I have a big post about how to Go 100% Gluten Free on the blog linked from my profile. I do think at least having dedicated knives, pots, cutting boards, small appliances and cabinets are critical. It's also important to do a thorough deep clean if you ever had gluten in your kitchen.

[azmontessoriteacher]

Well, we are the proud owners of a new toaster, new colander, and new wooden spoons.

I had not thought about the toothbrush!

I did think about the can opener.

I am so appreciative of all your comments!

[come dance with me]

I've only replaced the toaster and wooden spoons. Haven't had a problem with my sensitive child.

[azmontessoriteacher]

I've only replaced the toaster and wooden spoons. Haven't had a problem with my sensitive child.

That's good to know. Since we are still in the early stages of her healing, it is hard to know what will actually effect her.