April 3, 2025 • 21 mins
You’ve swapped out your pantry, checked all your ingredients, and double-checked your meal plans—your kitchen is completely gluten-free, right?
Not so fast! Gluten can be a sneaky little thing, and it often hides in places you’d never think to check—even in your own kitchen. From toasters to cutting boards and old pans, cross-contamination risks are everywhere.
In today’s episode, we’re diving into the unexpected places gluten can hide in your kitchen, how to properly clean and replace items, and tips to make sure your gluten-free meals stay truly safe!
Save money, and no more guessing for dinner! Use code GFE to get 20% off annual membership at thedinnerdaily.com. Plan meals for less than $4/month and save money at the grocery store!
Come join us in our free Facebook Community, The Gluten Free Engineer.
It’s a space where you can connect with others living gluten-free, ask questions, swap tips and recipes, and get support from people who truly get it. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or a seasoned gluten-free pro, you’ll feel right at home.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carrie Saunders (00:00):
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode this podcast is based onmy personal experiences and
isn't medical advice.
So you've swapped out yourpantry, checked all your
ingredients and double-checkedyour meal plans and your kitchen
is completely gluten-free.
Then right, not really.
Gluten can be a sneaky littlething, and it often hides in
places you'd never think tocheck in your kitchen and in
(00:23):
other restaurants' kitchens, tooplaces you'd never think to
check in your kitchen, and inother restaurants' kitchens, too
.
From toasters to cutting boardsand old pans.
Cross-contamination risks areactually everywhere, especially
when first switching togluten-free or if you have a
mixed kitchen where you haveboth gluten-free and gluten
items in the house.
So in today's episode, we'rediving into unexpected places
gluten can hide in your kitchenhow to properly clean and
(00:46):
replace items, and tips to makesure your gluten-free meals
actually truly stay gluten-free.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, Saunders.
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
(01:07):
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love, whether you haveceliac disease, gluten
intolerance or simply choose tolive gluten-free, this podcast
is for you.
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
(01:28):
on anything.
Welcome back to the show.
So today we're talking aboutcross-contamination in our own
kitchens, and this can actuallyapply also to restaurants.
So this is going to give yousome clues on what to ask for in
restaurants too.
But why is cross-contaminationsuch a big deal?
For those with celiac diseaseor severe gluten intolerance,
even a tiny crumb can triggersymptoms and can trigger damage
(01:51):
in celiacs.
Cross-contamination can happenwhen gluten particles from one
item transfer to gluten-freefoods through shared surfaces,
utensils or equipment, and it'shonestly easier to happen than
you might think At least, it wasa lot easier to happen than I
thought in the beginning ofbeing gluten-free, and your
kitchen can feel like a safezone and it should be a safe
(02:12):
zone.
But there are some hidden trapsthat might surprise you and I
want to try to help you mitigatethose problems before they
become a problem, because I hadto go through a lot of learning
myself and being gluten-freebecause I was the first one in
our family who found out theyneeded to be gluten-free.
Nobody else we knew had celiacdisease and it was a completely
(02:34):
new ballpark to us and there's alot of misconceptions and also
a lot of lacking of information.
So let's talk about some of thetop hidden gluten traps in your
kitchen, and these are some ofthe things that the dietician
went over with me when I didspeak to a dietician after I was
tired of keeping getting sickall the time.
(02:55):
And toasters and toaster ovensMost people know this, but some
people have no idea that toasterand toaster ovens are such a
danger to celiacs and those thatare highly sensitive to gluten.
They are one of the biggestculprits when it comes across
contamination, because crumbsfrom regular bread can get stuck
into the slots of the heatingelements and all the nooks and
(03:17):
crannies and it's impossible toclean it's really impossible to
clean a toaster.
Now you're going to get a lotmore potential of actually
cleaning a toaster oven, ormaybe you could switch out the
grate in it in a toaster oven,so you're going to be a bit
safer in a toaster oven than youare a toaster.
(03:38):
You could even line it withfoil if you use a toaster oven
versus a toaster, so you canline the grate with foil before
you put the food on it, sothat's going to help mitigate
cross-contamination.
So I would honestly recommend,if you have a mixed kitchen,
either have a separate toasterfor gluten-free only and make
(04:00):
sure everybody in the house iscompliant, or have a toaster
oven and you take the measuresyourself to line it with foil
when you go to use it and thingslike that.
And you know, ask, of course,you know everybody else that
lives with you to be carefulwith the crumbs and things like
that and making sure it's a lotsafer for you.
So you can also use and I'venever tried this before, but
I've heard of toaster bags thatyou can use to keep your
(04:23):
gluten-free bread separate.
Personally, that would stillprobably bother me because once
you pulled the bag out, thenyou're touching the outside of
the bag, which could have thegluten on it, and you're going
to be using your hands probablyto eat the toast.
So I feel like that's probablynot the best solution, although
I will say I've never tried itbefore.
It might be the best solutionif that's the only solution you
got.
So use your best judgment andyour doctor's best judgment on
(04:46):
how to deal with that.
But toasters are a big culprit.
Whenever we go on vacation andwe go into a condominium that
already has the pots and pansand toasters, we actually have a
really cheap toaster from a bigbox company that we bring along
with us, toaster from a big boxcompany that we bring along
(05:08):
with us so that and we hide thetoaster that's there, we hide it
up above the refrigerator andonly have the toaster down so
that we know that that's oursafe toaster.
So there's sometimes you haveto adapt like that when,
especially when going onvacation, if you're going to a
place that has a full kitchen sothink about that too, as I'm
talking through this episode ifyou go to a condominium, like we
do every year we go to thebeach every year with our family
(05:31):
and we bring some of our ownpots and pans, because we know
that there's going to beproblems with potentially old
pots and pans and we're going togo into that next too.
And speaking of next cuttingboards, that's one thing we do
not use at a common sharedkitchen.
That is like, say, we're awayon vacation and they have a
cutting board, so wooden andplastic cutting boards can
(05:52):
develop grooves in them wheregluten particles can get trapped
.
It is practically impossible toget that gluten out.
Dishwasher can't do it, youknow.
Hand scrubbing it might have abit better of a chance of doing
it, especially if you usesomething really stiff and
bristly, but it can reallylinger in there.
There's hardly any way toguarantee that you can get all
(06:13):
the gluten out of cutting boards.
So you want to make sure thatyou have dedicated cutting
boards for gluten-free items.
If you have a shared kitchen orif you're going on vacation,
like we do, we always bring acutting board with us.
We bring a cutting board, webring our favorite cutting knife
and we don't even use theircutting boards, or even
sometimes we don't even usetheir knives.
(06:34):
So what we want to make surewe're doing is using that
separate cutting board.
You want to use non-porousmaterials like glass or acrylic
or gluten-free use too, if youhave to share it and in your
shared kitchen.
As a celiac, it makes me verynervous to use shared equipment
for anything, honestly, for allthese years of getting sick
(06:56):
accidentally because of doingthings like that.
But if you do need to useshared equipment, something
non-porous is going to be a lotsafer for you and I would
regularly inspect and replacecutting boards that are worn or
damaged.
So when you start seeing cracksin them, really be diligent
here, because the cracks aregoing to be so microscopic that
you're going to want to look forthose precursor cracks before
(07:20):
they actually become big cracksor you still might be hiding
gluten in it.
Again, I totally recommendinstead something dedicated.
But if you can't completely getthat and you're going to have
to do the best you can and youknow, use services that don't
get those cracks in it.
Now here's a surprising one tome and this is something that I
learned over trial and errorwhen I first had to be
(07:41):
gluten-free is cast ironskillets and non-stick pans.
These harbor little particlesof gluten in them because cast
iron is, you know, somewhatporous.
It likes to grab onto food.
We create our own non-sticksurface with cast iron.
I absolutely love cast iron,but what I found with cast iron
(08:03):
and old non-stick pans notsaying you should use nonstick
pans, because I think we allknow by now that nonstick pans
aren't the best thing to use,but when I first went
gluten-free they were still kindof more the mainstream to use I
found that even the nonstickpans had little cracks and
crevices in it because I wasgetting sick using gluten-free
pasta in my nonstick pans andI've figured out, especially
(08:27):
after talking to the dietician,that it gets cracks and crevices
as it wears and gets older.
So, similarly to cast iron,they both can have these nooks
and crannies and you know placesthat can store this gluten and
they can.
You know.
Then it will release into yourfood as you're cooking is what
many times will happen.
And so having dedicated pans forgluten-free cooking is really
(08:50):
essential here.
It's really essential for allof the items we're talking about
in this episode and especiallyfor pans.
You know that's what you'recooking in.
You want to really make surethat that's gluten free.
And what I have found is Icould reclaim those old cast
iron pans that were that hadgluten in them originally.
(09:12):
We did a really thoroughre-seasoning.
We took a wire bristle brushand a drill and really scoured
off that first few layers ofsurface and, you know,
thoroughly heated them up in theoven, like they recommend you
do when you're re-seasoning, andthen put oil in.
You know, put the proper oilson them and we were able to
(09:34):
reclaim old cast iron pans.
So don't throw away your castiron pans just yet If you feel
comfortable doing that process.
They still may be salvageable,but do keep in mind that it may
take several cooks ofgluten-free stuff in that type
of pan for it to finally becomesafe for you.
So you know, use your bestjudgment.
(09:55):
Talk to your doctor, see whatthey think too.
But in our experience we havebeen able to reclaim old cast
iron pans.
Now nonstick pans.
You can't reclaim those.
That's just not possible.
I recommend honestly youdonating them, not really
throwing them out.
Donate them to somebody whoneeds pans and get yourself some
stainless steel pans.
We switched to stainless steelwhen I started getting sick from
(10:18):
our old nonstick pans andrealizing we really shouldn't be
eating that stuff anywaybecause it gets in your food.
So we have reserved nonstickpans for things that we
absolutely need somethingnonstick for and they're
dedicated gluten free now.
So making sure that you'relooking at your nonstick pans
and your cast iron skillets.
(10:39):
I have found that stainlesssteel whenever we go on vacation
.
Those tend to be safe.
I don't tend to get sick fromthem and I think it's generally
accepted that stainless steeldoesn't get those cracks and
crevices in it.
Obviously, if it's reallydamaged, please use your best
judgment there.
But definitely you got to becareful of the cast iron and the
(10:59):
nonstick pans.
You got to be careful of thecast iron and the nonstick pans.
So the next thing that I wastold by the dietician right away
was she was like you need toget rid of all your wooden
utensils and your rolling pins.
So wooden items are very porousand they can easily trap gluten
particles.
So when you go gluten free andyou need to be that way for
(11:21):
medical reasons, you're going towant to donate those wooden
rolling pins, those woodenutensils somewhere else or mark
them as gluten.
Only if you're having a mixedkitchen and make sure you get
your own specificallygluten-free label.
You know, don't let anybodyelse use gluten on them for
wooden utensils and rolling pins, because it's such a porous
(11:42):
material you cannot wash thegluten out of it.
So make sure you're usingdedicated there or opt for
something like silicon andstainless steel.
I find those are able to bewashed, especially the stainless
steel.
Obviously, silicon caneventually break down and get
cracks in it.
So if you do have a mixedkitchen, stainless steel is a
really good idea.
If you know that it's going tobe hard for everybody to be
(12:05):
really diligent and not usingthe gluten-free utensils on
gluten food.
So stainless steel can be agreat option for that.
But if everybody can be reallygood at you know, keeping things
segregated, you know woodenutensils for you can be fine as
long as nobody else uses themfor the gluten items.
Now here's one you might notthink of and this is something
(12:26):
I've definitely thought of in myyears of being gluten-free is
colanders and strainers,especially those metal ones.
The tiny holes and mesh of acolander can trap gluten
particles from pasta or grainsand even a thorough wash may not
fully remove these particles.
I mean, if you think about howthe mesh ones, the metal mesh
(12:47):
ones, are made, you know they'rebasically weaved together like
a blanket and in between thoseweavings it can trap gluten and
it can be enough to make yousick.
So I totally recommend having aseparate colander just for
gluten-free pasta.
You can choose stainless steelor plastic.
They can be more easily cleanedsometimes, especially if
(13:07):
they're not the mesh kind andit's, you know, just straight
plastic or straight stainlesssteel with slots in it.
It's that mesh that can reallytrap the gluten in it.
Now, obviously gluten can gettrapped in the slots of
stainless steel or plastic ones.
So it's best to have your ownseparate one, but if you have to
do a shared one because ofspace issues or whatnot, I would
(13:27):
recommend something that'sreally easy to tell if there's,
you know, nooks and crannies ofleftover pasta in it, like on a
stainless steel or plasticcolander with just the slots in
it.
Now here's something a littlebit more interesting too, and
dish towels and sponges.
But if you use the same dishtowel to wipe surfaces or dry
dishes, gluten can easilytransfer, and sponges, besides,
(13:50):
just how they can be kind ofgross for harboring bacteria to
begin with, they can also harborgluten if you use the clean
contaminated dishes.
So I would recommend, if youhave a you know, a blended
kitchen with both gluten andgluten-free stuff, use
color-coded dish towels aspecific color for gluten-free
and a different color forregular use.
(14:11):
That's going to make it easieron everybody and less stressful,
and obviously replace spongesregularly if you use them, and
consider using disposablecleaning wipes in gluten-free
prep areas.
Sometimes that's the best wayto remove it, because actually
alcohol can remove gluten betterthan soap and water.
So using something like that toclean whenever you really
(14:33):
thoroughly need to clean is agood idea, and so also we need
to be looking out and this mightbe a little bit more obvious,
but I still want to say itanyway waffle makers and panini
presses those are.
These can harbor gluten too.
They can be really hard toclean thoroughly.
They've got cracks and creviceson the cooking plates.
So even thorough cleaning againfor these, they may not fully
(14:58):
remove the gluten.
So I would totally recommendusing separate appliances for
gluten free cooking here and ifit's not possible, use removable
washable liners and thoroughlyclean between uses.
So the last appliance I want totalk about is air fryer.
So in our house we like to usean air fryer as a toaster.
So our air fryer is like atoaster oven as well as a
(15:19):
toaster.
And if you really think aboutit, whenever you use an air
fryer and then it depends uponthe style too ours has shelves
in it.
Some of them don't have shelvesand they're like a basket.
So a basket would be definitelyharder to use in a blended
kitchen where you have bothgluten and gluten-free items.
If you have an air fryer likeours, where it's got different
shelves and it's more like aglor, how all that like, even
(15:48):
though it's air frying, youstill get the grease and the
crud all over the inside.
I mean, open yourself, take agood look if you haven't in a
while.
And then whenever you're fryingfoods air frying foods that's
moving all that air around andit could be, you know, blowing
small particles of gluten ontoyour gluten-free food.
So I want you to make sureyou're being really careful with
(16:09):
air fryers, especially if youshare them.
You probably want to fullyencase your food in something,
whether that's aluminum foil orsomething that's oven proof or
air fryer proof, to make surethat there's no gluten getting
onto your food.
So air fryers, I would bereally cautious of sharing that
(16:29):
and for the similar reasons astoasters, they're just really
really hard to get clean.
So I definitely recommendhaving a separate one if at all
possible, or just completelyavoiding it if it's not possible
to have two separate ones,because it's a little bit larger
of an appliance to have on ourcounters.
So I would definitely usewashable liners if you have to
(16:51):
use a sheared one or using foil,and make sure you thoroughly
clean the air fryer between usesor have have the gluten person
thoroughly clean the air fryerin between uses.
And you know, just be reallycautious and careful with air
fryers because they can be agood risk.
So if you do have to have asheared kitchen with gluten
items, some tips for keepingyour kitchen gluten-free for you
(17:16):
is make sure you're labelingyour gluten-free items Clearly
mark utensils, cutting boards,appliances that are all
dedicated for gluten-free useand, if possible, maybe you can
get them all color-coded toowith the specific color that you
guys agree to.
And another thing that canreally help is to create a
dedicated gluten-free zone.
You can designate a part of thekitchen where only gluten-free
(17:40):
foods are prepared and arestored, so you can have one
kitchen cupboard that's onlygluten-free items on one part of
the counter in the kitchen thatis always for gluten-free stuff
.
That can really help you if youhave a blended kitchen and
you're severely sensitive togluten.
And also use dishwashers wisely.
(18:01):
This is another thing we needto be careful of.
So while dishwashers can helpreduce cross-contamination, be
cautious with items that havescratches or nonstick coatings
too.
Plus, you really want to bemaking sure that you're
thoroughly cleaning.
There's a filter in yourdishwasher if you don't know
this Some people don't know thisthere's a filter usually in the
(18:23):
bottom.
Make sure that is regularlycleaned so gluten doesn't build
up on there and then you're justswishing gluten water all over
your dishes, as it's supposedlytrying to clean, if you know
what I'm saying.
So, like you know, really makesure you're taking care of your
dishwasher and cleaning thatfilter once a week.
It's probably a really goodidea.
In our house, we clean oursprobably about once a month, but
(18:44):
everything's gluten-free here,so that's not too big of a deal.
We just do that to maintain itand keep it in good running
condition.
So if you do have to share akitchen, be mindful when sharing
spaces and help everybodyunderstand you know the rules so
that you can be safe and sothat you can feel good and feel
(19:05):
confident in eating.
Because I can tell you this,there's nothing worse than being
fearful of what you're eating.
I have definitely been thereway too many times in my life
after finding out I was celiacand just being afraid of eating
I mean, that's just a terriblefeeling.
So so your kitchen should feelsafe to you.
You shouldn't have that fear ofeating.
I know I've been there way toomany times and I have felt
(19:28):
fearful on eating food when Iwas like out and about or in a
place that it wasn't safe, and Iwant to make sure that this
helps you, you know, feel safein your own kitchen if you have
gluten in the house as well, andhelp others understand what is
important and what's risky toyou.
Who needs to be gluten-free?
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Gluten-Free
(19:52):
Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
and full of flavor.
(20:13):
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode, and we will see younext week.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not providemedical advice.
(20:33):
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode this podcast is based onmy personal experiences and
isn't medical advice.
So you've swapped out yourpantry, checked all your
ingredients and double-checkedyour meal plans and your kitchen
is completely gluten-free.
Then right, not really.
Gluten can be a sneaky littlething, and it often hides in
places you'd never think tocheck in your kitchen and in
(00:23):
other restaurants' kitchens, tooplaces you'd never think to
check in your kitchen, and inother restaurants' kitchens, too
.
From toasters to cutting boardsand old pans.
Cross-contamination risks areactually everywhere, especially
when first switching togluten-free or if you have a
mixed kitchen where you haveboth gluten-free and gluten
items in the house.
So in today's episode, we'rediving into unexpected places
gluten can hide in your kitchenhow to properly clean and
(00:46):
replace items, and tips to makesure your gluten-free meals
actually truly stay gluten-free.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, Saunders.
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
(01:07):
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love, whether you haveceliac disease, gluten
intolerance or simply choose tolive gluten-free, this podcast
is for you.
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
(01:28):
on anything.
Welcome back to the show.
So today we're talking aboutcross-contamination in our own
kitchens, and this can actuallyapply also to restaurants.
So this is going to give yousome clues on what to ask for in
restaurants too.
But why is cross-contaminationsuch a big deal?
For those with celiac diseaseor severe gluten intolerance,
even a tiny crumb can triggersymptoms and can trigger damage
(01:51):
in celiacs.
Cross-contamination can happenwhen gluten particles from one
item transfer to gluten-freefoods through shared surfaces,
utensils or equipment, and it'shonestly easier to happen than
you might think At least, it wasa lot easier to happen than I
thought in the beginning ofbeing gluten-free, and your
kitchen can feel like a safezone and it should be a safe
(02:12):
zone.
But there are some hidden trapsthat might surprise you and I
want to try to help you mitigatethose problems before they
become a problem, because I hadto go through a lot of learning
myself and being gluten-freebecause I was the first one in
our family who found out theyneeded to be gluten-free.
Nobody else we knew had celiacdisease and it was a completely
(02:34):
new ballpark to us and there's alot of misconceptions and also
a lot of lacking of information.
So let's talk about some of thetop hidden gluten traps in your
kitchen, and these are some ofthe things that the dietician
went over with me when I didspeak to a dietician after I was
tired of keeping getting sickall the time.
(02:55):
And toasters and toaster ovensMost people know this, but some
people have no idea that toasterand toaster ovens are such a
danger to celiacs and those thatare highly sensitive to gluten.
They are one of the biggestculprits when it comes across
contamination, because crumbsfrom regular bread can get stuck
into the slots of the heatingelements and all the nooks and
(03:17):
crannies and it's impossible toclean it's really impossible to
clean a toaster.
Now you're going to get a lotmore potential of actually
cleaning a toaster oven, ormaybe you could switch out the
grate in it in a toaster oven,so you're going to be a bit
safer in a toaster oven than youare a toaster.
(03:38):
You could even line it withfoil if you use a toaster oven
versus a toaster, so you canline the grate with foil before
you put the food on it, sothat's going to help mitigate
cross-contamination.
So I would honestly recommend,if you have a mixed kitchen,
either have a separate toasterfor gluten-free only and make
(04:00):
sure everybody in the house iscompliant, or have a toaster
oven and you take the measuresyourself to line it with foil
when you go to use it and thingslike that.
And you know, ask, of course,you know everybody else that
lives with you to be carefulwith the crumbs and things like
that and making sure it's a lotsafer for you.
So you can also use and I'venever tried this before, but
I've heard of toaster bags thatyou can use to keep your
(04:23):
gluten-free bread separate.
Personally, that would stillprobably bother me because once
you pulled the bag out, thenyou're touching the outside of
the bag, which could have thegluten on it, and you're going
to be using your hands probablyto eat the toast.
So I feel like that's probablynot the best solution, although
I will say I've never tried itbefore.
It might be the best solutionif that's the only solution you
got.
So use your best judgment andyour doctor's best judgment on
(04:46):
how to deal with that.
But toasters are a big culprit.
Whenever we go on vacation andwe go into a condominium that
already has the pots and pansand toasters, we actually have a
really cheap toaster from a bigbox company that we bring along
with us, toaster from a big boxcompany that we bring along
(05:08):
with us so that and we hide thetoaster that's there, we hide it
up above the refrigerator andonly have the toaster down so
that we know that that's oursafe toaster.
So there's sometimes you haveto adapt like that when,
especially when going onvacation, if you're going to a
place that has a full kitchen sothink about that too, as I'm
talking through this episode ifyou go to a condominium, like we
do every year we go to thebeach every year with our family
(05:31):
and we bring some of our ownpots and pans, because we know
that there's going to beproblems with potentially old
pots and pans and we're going togo into that next too.
And speaking of next cuttingboards, that's one thing we do
not use at a common sharedkitchen.
That is like, say, we're awayon vacation and they have a
cutting board, so wooden andplastic cutting boards can
(05:52):
develop grooves in them wheregluten particles can get trapped
.
It is practically impossible toget that gluten out.
Dishwasher can't do it, youknow.
Hand scrubbing it might have abit better of a chance of doing
it, especially if you usesomething really stiff and
bristly, but it can reallylinger in there.
There's hardly any way toguarantee that you can get all
(06:13):
the gluten out of cutting boards.
So you want to make sure thatyou have dedicated cutting
boards for gluten-free items.
If you have a shared kitchen orif you're going on vacation,
like we do, we always bring acutting board with us.
We bring a cutting board, webring our favorite cutting knife
and we don't even use theircutting boards, or even
sometimes we don't even usetheir knives.
(06:34):
So what we want to make surewe're doing is using that
separate cutting board.
You want to use non-porousmaterials like glass or acrylic
or gluten-free use too, if youhave to share it and in your
shared kitchen.
As a celiac, it makes me verynervous to use shared equipment
for anything, honestly, for allthese years of getting sick
(06:56):
accidentally because of doingthings like that.
But if you do need to useshared equipment, something
non-porous is going to be a lotsafer for you and I would
regularly inspect and replacecutting boards that are worn or
damaged.
So when you start seeing cracksin them, really be diligent
here, because the cracks aregoing to be so microscopic that
you're going to want to look forthose precursor cracks before
(07:20):
they actually become big cracksor you still might be hiding
gluten in it.
Again, I totally recommendinstead something dedicated.
But if you can't completely getthat and you're going to have
to do the best you can and youknow, use services that don't
get those cracks in it.
Now here's a surprising one tome and this is something that I
learned over trial and errorwhen I first had to be
(07:41):
gluten-free is cast ironskillets and non-stick pans.
These harbor little particlesof gluten in them because cast
iron is, you know, somewhatporous.
It likes to grab onto food.
We create our own non-sticksurface with cast iron.
I absolutely love cast iron,but what I found with cast iron
(08:03):
and old non-stick pans notsaying you should use nonstick
pans, because I think we allknow by now that nonstick pans
aren't the best thing to use,but when I first went
gluten-free they were still kindof more the mainstream to use I
found that even the nonstickpans had little cracks and
crevices in it because I wasgetting sick using gluten-free
pasta in my nonstick pans andI've figured out, especially
(08:27):
after talking to the dietician,that it gets cracks and crevices
as it wears and gets older.
So, similarly to cast iron,they both can have these nooks
and crannies and you know placesthat can store this gluten and
they can.
You know.
Then it will release into yourfood as you're cooking is what
many times will happen.
And so having dedicated pans forgluten-free cooking is really
(08:50):
essential here.
It's really essential for allof the items we're talking about
in this episode and especiallyfor pans.
You know that's what you'recooking in.
You want to really make surethat that's gluten free.
And what I have found is Icould reclaim those old cast
iron pans that were that hadgluten in them originally.
(09:12):
We did a really thoroughre-seasoning.
We took a wire bristle brushand a drill and really scoured
off that first few layers ofsurface and, you know,
thoroughly heated them up in theoven, like they recommend you
do when you're re-seasoning, andthen put oil in.
You know, put the proper oilson them and we were able to
(09:34):
reclaim old cast iron pans.
So don't throw away your castiron pans just yet If you feel
comfortable doing that process.
They still may be salvageable,but do keep in mind that it may
take several cooks ofgluten-free stuff in that type
of pan for it to finally becomesafe for you.
So you know, use your bestjudgment.
(09:55):
Talk to your doctor, see whatthey think too.
But in our experience we havebeen able to reclaim old cast
iron pans.
Now nonstick pans.
You can't reclaim those.
That's just not possible.
I recommend honestly youdonating them, not really
throwing them out.
Donate them to somebody whoneeds pans and get yourself some
stainless steel pans.
We switched to stainless steelwhen I started getting sick from
(10:18):
our old nonstick pans andrealizing we really shouldn't be
eating that stuff anywaybecause it gets in your food.
So we have reserved nonstickpans for things that we
absolutely need somethingnonstick for and they're
dedicated gluten free now.
So making sure that you'relooking at your nonstick pans
and your cast iron skillets.
(10:39):
I have found that stainlesssteel whenever we go on vacation
.
Those tend to be safe.
I don't tend to get sick fromthem and I think it's generally
accepted that stainless steeldoesn't get those cracks and
crevices in it.
Obviously, if it's reallydamaged, please use your best
judgment there.
But definitely you got to becareful of the cast iron and the
(10:59):
nonstick pans.
You got to be careful of thecast iron and the nonstick pans.
So the next thing that I wastold by the dietician right away
was she was like you need toget rid of all your wooden
utensils and your rolling pins.
So wooden items are very porousand they can easily trap gluten
particles.
So when you go gluten free andyou need to be that way for
(11:21):
medical reasons, you're going towant to donate those wooden
rolling pins, those woodenutensils somewhere else or mark
them as gluten.
Only if you're having a mixedkitchen and make sure you get
your own specificallygluten-free label.
You know, don't let anybodyelse use gluten on them for
wooden utensils and rolling pins, because it's such a porous
(11:42):
material you cannot wash thegluten out of it.
So make sure you're usingdedicated there or opt for
something like silicon andstainless steel.
I find those are able to bewashed, especially the stainless
steel.
Obviously, silicon caneventually break down and get
cracks in it.
So if you do have a mixedkitchen, stainless steel is a
really good idea.
If you know that it's going tobe hard for everybody to be
(12:05):
really diligent and not usingthe gluten-free utensils on
gluten food.
So stainless steel can be agreat option for that.
But if everybody can be reallygood at you know, keeping things
segregated, you know woodenutensils for you can be fine as
long as nobody else uses themfor the gluten items.
Now here's one you might notthink of and this is something
(12:26):
I've definitely thought of in myyears of being gluten-free is
colanders and strainers,especially those metal ones.
The tiny holes and mesh of acolander can trap gluten
particles from pasta or grainsand even a thorough wash may not
fully remove these particles.
I mean, if you think about howthe mesh ones, the metal mesh
(12:47):
ones, are made, you know they'rebasically weaved together like
a blanket and in between thoseweavings it can trap gluten and
it can be enough to make yousick.
So I totally recommend having aseparate colander just for
gluten-free pasta.
You can choose stainless steelor plastic.
They can be more easily cleanedsometimes, especially if
(13:07):
they're not the mesh kind andit's, you know, just straight
plastic or straight stainlesssteel with slots in it.
It's that mesh that can reallytrap the gluten in it.
Now, obviously gluten can gettrapped in the slots of
stainless steel or plastic ones.
So it's best to have your ownseparate one, but if you have to
do a shared one because ofspace issues or whatnot, I would
(13:27):
recommend something that'sreally easy to tell if there's,
you know, nooks and crannies ofleftover pasta in it, like on a
stainless steel or plasticcolander with just the slots in
it.
Now here's something a littlebit more interesting too, and
dish towels and sponges.
But if you use the same dishtowel to wipe surfaces or dry
dishes, gluten can easilytransfer, and sponges, besides,
(13:50):
just how they can be kind ofgross for harboring bacteria to
begin with, they can also harborgluten if you use the clean
contaminated dishes.
So I would recommend, if youhave a you know, a blended
kitchen with both gluten andgluten-free stuff, use
color-coded dish towels aspecific color for gluten-free
and a different color forregular use.
(14:11):
That's going to make it easieron everybody and less stressful,
and obviously replace spongesregularly if you use them, and
consider using disposablecleaning wipes in gluten-free
prep areas.
Sometimes that's the best wayto remove it, because actually
alcohol can remove gluten betterthan soap and water.
So using something like that toclean whenever you really
(14:33):
thoroughly need to clean is agood idea, and so also we need
to be looking out and this mightbe a little bit more obvious,
but I still want to say itanyway waffle makers and panini
presses those are.
These can harbor gluten too.
They can be really hard toclean thoroughly.
They've got cracks and creviceson the cooking plates.
So even thorough cleaning againfor these, they may not fully
(14:58):
remove the gluten.
So I would totally recommendusing separate appliances for
gluten free cooking here and ifit's not possible, use removable
washable liners and thoroughlyclean between uses.
So the last appliance I want totalk about is air fryer.
So in our house we like to usean air fryer as a toaster.
So our air fryer is like atoaster oven as well as a
(15:19):
toaster.
And if you really think aboutit, whenever you use an air
fryer and then it depends uponthe style too ours has shelves
in it.
Some of them don't have shelvesand they're like a basket.
So a basket would be definitelyharder to use in a blended
kitchen where you have bothgluten and gluten-free items.
If you have an air fryer likeours, where it's got different
shelves and it's more like aglor, how all that like, even
(15:48):
though it's air frying, youstill get the grease and the
crud all over the inside.
I mean, open yourself, take agood look if you haven't in a
while.
And then whenever you're fryingfoods air frying foods that's
moving all that air around andit could be, you know, blowing
small particles of gluten ontoyour gluten-free food.
So I want you to make sureyou're being really careful with
(16:09):
air fryers, especially if youshare them.
You probably want to fullyencase your food in something,
whether that's aluminum foil orsomething that's oven proof or
air fryer proof, to make surethat there's no gluten getting
onto your food.
So air fryers, I would bereally cautious of sharing that
(16:29):
and for the similar reasons astoasters, they're just really
really hard to get clean.
So I definitely recommendhaving a separate one if at all
possible, or just completelyavoiding it if it's not possible
to have two separate ones,because it's a little bit larger
of an appliance to have on ourcounters.
So I would definitely usewashable liners if you have to
(16:51):
use a sheared one or using foil,and make sure you thoroughly
clean the air fryer between usesor have have the gluten person
thoroughly clean the air fryerin between uses.
And you know, just be reallycautious and careful with air
fryers because they can be agood risk.
So if you do have to have asheared kitchen with gluten
items, some tips for keepingyour kitchen gluten-free for you
(17:16):
is make sure you're labelingyour gluten-free items Clearly
mark utensils, cutting boards,appliances that are all
dedicated for gluten-free useand, if possible, maybe you can
get them all color-coded toowith the specific color that you
guys agree to.
And another thing that canreally help is to create a
dedicated gluten-free zone.
You can designate a part of thekitchen where only gluten-free
(17:40):
foods are prepared and arestored, so you can have one
kitchen cupboard that's onlygluten-free items on one part of
the counter in the kitchen thatis always for gluten-free stuff
.
That can really help you if youhave a blended kitchen and
you're severely sensitive togluten.
And also use dishwashers wisely.
(18:01):
This is another thing we needto be careful of.
So while dishwashers can helpreduce cross-contamination, be
cautious with items that havescratches or nonstick coatings
too.
Plus, you really want to bemaking sure that you're
thoroughly cleaning.
There's a filter in yourdishwasher if you don't know
this Some people don't know thisthere's a filter usually in the
(18:23):
bottom.
Make sure that is regularlycleaned so gluten doesn't build
up on there and then you're justswishing gluten water all over
your dishes, as it's supposedlytrying to clean, if you know
what I'm saying.
So, like you know, really makesure you're taking care of your
dishwasher and cleaning thatfilter once a week.
It's probably a really goodidea.
In our house, we clean oursprobably about once a month, but
(18:44):
everything's gluten-free here,so that's not too big of a deal.
We just do that to maintain itand keep it in good running
condition.
So if you do have to share akitchen, be mindful when sharing
spaces and help everybodyunderstand you know the rules so
that you can be safe and sothat you can feel good and feel
(19:05):
confident in eating.
Because I can tell you this,there's nothing worse than being
fearful of what you're eating.
I have definitely been thereway too many times in my life
after finding out I was celiacand just being afraid of eating
I mean, that's just a terriblefeeling.
So so your kitchen should feelsafe to you.
You shouldn't have that fear ofeating.
I know I've been there way toomany times and I have felt
(19:28):
fearful on eating food when Iwas like out and about or in a
place that it wasn't safe, and Iwant to make sure that this
helps you, you know, feel safein your own kitchen if you have
gluten in the house as well, andhelp others understand what is
important and what's risky toyou.
Who needs to be gluten-free?
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Gluten-Free
(19:52):
Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
and full of flavor.
(20:13):
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode, and we will see younext week.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not providemedical advice.
(20:33):
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
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