The Gluten Bigot: How to Live With Gluten Eaters

Sunday, March 31, 2013

How to Live With Gluten Eaters

Image Source: diylol.com
There is one rule in my apartment, and one rule only really: No Gluten Allowed. This means my husband doesn't get to keep his normal food in the apartment (this does not seem to bother him), and if we have guests they cannot bring gluten in. The reason I decided this would be my rule of the apartment is that I want to be 100% confident that I will not get sick from eating or cooking anything at home.

But does your kitchen need to be 100% gluten free? 

No, probably not. It is not feasible when you live with family, roommates, or gluten loving spouses. But there are a few things you may want to consider to reduce the risk of cross contamination:
  1. Clean everything extremely well. Counter tops, utensils, plates, cutting boards, frying pans, pots, whatever it is, if it has touched gluten make sure it is thoroughly cleaned before gluten free use.
  2. Consider having a gluten free cupboard. Back when I lived with roommates we each had our own cupboard and our own shelf in the fridge - this made it really easy to keep all my GF stuff separate and I knew I would never accidentally grab the wrong thing when preparing food.
  3. Get your own toaster. You don't get to share. I did have a four slice toaster before and served one half for gluten free use, but there is still a risk of cross-contamination.
  4. Cloths, sponges and dish towels: don't share. Someone wipes their hands or counter, you wipe your hands or counter... keep a separate dish towel and use paper towels for sanitizing surfaces. Sponges need to be replaces regularly.
In my last place before moving in with my husband I shared with non-gluten free roommates. It was only problematic when I had one roommate for a short period of time who did not thoroughly clean dishes (or anything really, but that is a whole other story). 

Do you have a gluten free kitchen, or does it share space with gluten? How do you avoid cross contamination.

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