The first step in a gluten free life takes place in the kitchen.

This is where the vast majority of gluten products in your house is located.

 

In order to eliminate gluten from your kitchen you should play detective on three areas:

• Equipment
• Refrigerator/Freezer
• Pantry

We thought of these areas as a crime scene where we were supposed to search for all the gluten that needed eliminated.

 

The Equipment

We divided all equipment into two categories:

• Equipment that could be cleaned and kept
• Equipment that needed to be replaced

 

Equipment that could be cleaned and kept included the stand mixer, the food processor, the blender, cooking pots, pans, and skillets, cooking spoons, whisks, spatulas, plastic containers with lids for refrigerator or freezer storage, and plastic cutting boards. We carefully inspected all used nonstick pans, spoons, spatulas, and cutting boards for surface cracks and discarded or donated anything that might be suspect. Gluten is sticky, and sometimes washing will not remove it.

 

Equipment that needed to be replaced included the toaster, sieves, colanders, slotted spoons with small holes, rolling pins, wooden cutting boards, the bread machine, sponges, and dishcloths. We weren’t taking any chances of even the smallest trace of gluten remaining on those things.

 

We meticulously washed and cleaned the stand mixer (turning it on its side and using a cotton swab to rout out any flour residue in nooks and crannies), the blender and food processor inside and out. After scrubbing them by hand to remove any baked-in or stuck-on gluten particles, we put the mixer bowl and attachments, the blender jar and lid, the food processor work bowl and attachments in the dishwasher (in batches) and ran it through a complete cycle. The pots, pans, and skillets, cutting boards, cooking spoons, and utensils were also washed in the dishwasher, as were the plastic containers and their lids.

As for food preparation surfaces, all areas of the kitchen where food was cooked or prepared, such as countertops, the stovetop, and the microwave oven, were washed with a mild detergent, rinsed, and dried

How did you transform your kitchen in a gluten free one?