Wheat & gluten free kitchen hygiene

Every day there are hazards for a food allergic person to negotiate in their office or home. And while it is easy for a food allergic person to be aware of all the little and not so little hazards that exist in cooking, eating, working, shopping etc, it's less obvious for family members, co-workers, friends.

Listed below are a few items that with a little forethought can make a big difference to cross-contamination accidents.

Problem Everyone uses the same toaster or sandwich maker.
Solution No matter how carefully you think a toaster or sandwich maker has been cleaned it's not guaranteed safe, so why take the risk. Use the grill/broiler or one of those little toaster ovens that you can easily remove the rack from to wash before use. Another alternative is to use toaster bags, although these are not suitable for use in a sandwich maker.
Problem The whole family are having pasta for a meal.
Solution Either cook enough wheat/gluten free pasta for everyone, or cook both types of pasta in separate saucepans and sieve the wheat/gluten free pasta first, before the wheat pasta.
Problem Cross contamination in jams, butter, margarine, peanut butter etc, it's easy to leave a breadcrumb in the jar from a dirty knife.
Solution Either have separate containers with one labelled clearly 'wheat free', or insist on everyone using clean spoons to remove contents from pots, jars etc.
Problem Some spices and seasonings have wheat in them as an anti-clumping agent.
Solution Source pure spices and keep only these in the house, that way mistakes can't happen.
Problem Baking.
Solution Wheat flour can stay in the air for up to 3 days. Ban wheat flour from the house as there are lots of other amazing flour alternatives that can be used, see our wheat flour alternatives page.
Problem Hand protection and cross-contamination.
Solution Make sure you regularly wash your oven gloves/mitts, or other items used to protect your hands when cooking. It's easy to touch food with an oven glove, if that food contains wheat then you may transfer it to wheat free items without noticing.
Problem Chopping boards are often used for multiple purposes e.g. cutting vegetables, fruit and bread, but you should always have a separate board for meat and fish.
Solution Make sure the board is scrubbed thoroughly after it has been used for bread or wheat containing products, and never put it away dirty or wet.
Problem Kitchen utensils.
Solution Never use a kitchen utensil unless you know it's clean, if in doubt wash it yourself.
Problem Ordinary pizza and wheat free pizza in the same oven.
Solution Most pizzas recommend baking directly on the oven shelf, this is a cross-contamination disaster, but if that's how you want to bake your pizzas then put the wheat free pizza on the top shelf, make sure it's clean first.
A more hygienic solution is to put the pizzas on a pizza baking tray, or use baking parchment underneath the pizza to avoid leakage, but still keep the wheat free pizza on the top shelf.
Remember cutting boards when it's time to serve too, always cut the wheat/gluten free pizza first. [Note - we have some great pizza recipes: pizza crust, pizza with fresh basil, rice based pizza crust.
Problem Most important thing to remember, if in doubt...
Solution ... go without.
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