That’s because most kitchens are downright danger zones for gluten-freebies. Countertops, utensils, appliances, and gadgets are often landmines coated with contamination. Even well-intentioned “helpers” can wreak havoc on a perfectly good gluten-free meal.
Should you share your kitchen with gluten?
Before you can determine if or to what extent your kitchen needs a makeover, you need to decide whether the kitchen is going to be entirely gluten-free or not. Lots of variables play into this decision:
- Are there gluten-eaters in the house, or is everyone gluten-free?
- Are the gluten-eaters kids or adults?
- Are the gluten-free people in the house kids or adults?
- How many cooks are in the kitchen?
- Are there siblings to consider who either eat or don’t eat gluten?
- Do you have frequent visitors or family members who eat gluten?
You may be surprised to hear that I strongly recommend sharing your kitchen with gluten – even if – or maybe I should say especially if – the gluten-free members of the family are kids. I know – it seems counter-intuitive, and at first glance maybe even cruel to have a kitchen laden with gluten if there are family members – kids, no less – who can’t eat gluten.
But again, I feel strongly about this; here are just a few of my many reasons:
- It’s reality. Most people in this world eat gluten – it’s not intended to make those of us who are gluten-free feel badly, or ostracized – it’s just a fact. People who are gluten-free – especially kids who are gluten-free – need to learn this, and what better place than in the loving environment of their own home.
- They need to learn to make choices. If the entire household is gluten-free, when will the gluten-free member of the family (again, especially relevant if that family member is a child) learn to choose appropriate foods? They need to see that there’s gluten … and there are gluten-free alternatives … and learn to make the appropriate choices.
- Other family members may resent the gluten-freebie. If siblings, spouses, and even visiting friends and family are forced to eat gluten-free, they may sub-consciously or even consciously begin to resent the gluten-free family member who has taken the “goodies” away.
- It illustrates how many gluten-free options there are. If you’re doing a good job of loading the kitchen with lots of gluten-free goodies, it will become apparent that there are plenty of delicious, nutritious options to choose from. In fact, you may find that the gluten-free selections outnumber the gluten-containing foods, even further enforcing the fact that gluten-free options are abundant.
Having said all that, if you live alone, or if everyone in the house is gluten-free, then of course it would be impractical if not even ridiculous to load your pantry with gluten-containing foods, and you will most likely choose to have an entirely gluten-free kitchen.
But if you will be dividing your kitchen duties between gluten and gluten-free, your kitchen and cooking habits will probably need a bit of a makeover, as you’ll need to give a little more thought to how you prepare and store foods.
Sharing is caring if you’re careful when preparing
The biggest thing you have to worry about when you co-mingle gluten and gluten-free foods in your kitchen is cross-contamination. Does gluten jump out of the bread bag and accost your gluten-free products? Not really, but sometimes it seems as if it does. The bottom line is that if you’re not careful, you may start with a perfectly good gluten-free meal, and by the time you’re finished preparing it, it could be completely ensconced in gluten – sometimes unbeknownst to you.
Take flour, for instance. While crumbs don’t fly, flour does --EVERYWHERE. Just let the kids help with baking anything that has flour in it, and you’ll see what I mean. Flour flies. So you can’t prepare your gluten-containing pizza crust in the same area where you’re preparing a gluten-free pizza crust, because you’ll end up with two hybrids of sorts, and that’s definitely not what you’re after when you’ve spent the time and money on gluten-free pizza-crust makin’s.
And when you’re cooking in a blended environment – one gluten-containing and one gluten-free, don’t even think about making them together unless you have separate pots or pans, stirrers, and servers. If you stir your gluten-free cake mix with the same spoon as you did your “regular” mixture, you’ve just transformed your gluten-free goodie into a gob of gluten goo.
The good news is that you can not only co-mingle foods in your kitchen, but you can even prepare gluten-containing and gluten-free foods at the same time. It just means you’ll need to take a few precautionary measures when you store and prepare foods. I have some tricky techniques I’ve learned over the years that will definitely help keep your gluten-free goodies as pristine as they need to be (see the “tips” section of this site).
New rules for your kitchen tools
You may have heard that you need to have separate pots, pans, and storage containers. For the most part, this is nonsense. You don’t need to stock up on new kitchen tools, but you do need to pay attention to how you use the ones you have. For the most part, if you clean your kitchen items well, you’ll get the gluten off of them. Nonstick surfaces that clean easily and thoroughly are especially safe.
There are a couple of exceptions. I recommend having separate colanders and pasta servers if you’re making both gluten-containing and gluten-free pastas in your kitchen. Clearly label one as being gluten-free only so you don’t mix that one up with the one that you use for gluten-containing pastas. The reason I recommend separate items here is because pasta tends to leave a residue that’s sometimes tricky to get off. You don’t want to drain gluten-free pasta in a colander that has remnants of the gluten-containing pasta on it. Same goes for the pasta servers, and even wooden spoons.
The only other time I suggest buying separate pots, pans, or utensils is if you have a favorite item and it just doesn’t clean well. A special crêpe pan, for instance. If you can see (or sense) that there could be traces of gluten remaining after you’ve made gluten-containing crêpes and you don’t want to part with it to get one that cleans more thoroughly, just don’t use it for your gluten-free cooking. Again, I encourage you to mark your separate items well -- one saying gluten-free only and the other saying gluten -- so you don’t get them mixed up.
Don’t forget to include how you store your food
When you store food in your pantry, fridge, or freezer, make sure they’re well-wrapped. Gluten won’t permeate the packaging, but crumbs can fall out of loose bags. So don’t store your “regular” bread next to your gluten-free bread unless both are tightly wrapped and protected.
As for storing leftovers, just make sure they’re well protected and sealed. People often wonder about storage containers – there were rumors floating around for years that if you microwave gluten-containing foods in a plastic storage container, the gluten will be permanently etched into the container, and will contaminate gluten-free foods forever. This is simply not true. Storage containers are fine, as long as you wash them thoroughly.
Sharing your kitchen with gluten is easy; guests are another matter
If you thought too many cooks in the kitchen was a problem, wait till you have guests. You may just find that the words “can I help?” send you into a panic. It may go like this: Your entire family, including the two-year-old, has perfected the gob drop, and all of your cans are clearly marked “WF” or “GF” so there’s no confusion about which foods are allowed and which aren’t.
Then there’s that call from Aunt Edna who will be visiting. You know Aunt Edna; the one who isn’t visiting for five minutes before she’s refolding bathroom towels and straightening pictures on the wall – the one who loves to help. And therein lies the problem.
Most vulnerable are your spreadables, because if you use a knife to scoop the spreadable out of the jar and then spread it onto “regular” bread, that knife is now contaminated with gluten. Try to teach your guests a maneuver I call the “gob drop. “ The gob drop works like this: Just dip a knife or spoon into the jar of, for instance, mayo – then scoop as much as you need and drop it onto the bread. Do not spread! You’ll need a separate knife to spread, so that you don’t put crumbs back into the jar. Even young children can master the gob drop. As for your guests, if they truly seem to understand its importance, you can probably trust them to use your spreadables safely. If they’re prone to intentionally ignoring your requests or are truly unable to understand the importance, buy separate spreadables and clearly mark them with the permanent marker so there’s no question about which is which. Squeezable margarine or butter are great when guests come to visit.
If your visitors are one-time or occasional guests, they probably won’t do too much harm. Keep an eye on them, and give them “safe” jobs to keep them busy and let them feel like they’re helping. If they’re frequent visitors, though, you’ll need to provide some tutoring. If they just refuse to get it, maybe you can ask them to refold the bathroom towels instead.
Stay in tune; you’ll get it soon!
It’s really not that tough to keep a gluten-free-friendly kitchen, but it is important that you tune in and pay attention. It’s easy for gluten-free foods to get contaminated, and that’s a waste of time, money, and good intentions.
I think you’ll find the “tips” in this site to be especially helpful when keeping a gluten-free-friendly kitchen.
