If you or someone in your family has coeliac disease or a gluten sensitivity, it's important to make your kitchen safe and gluten-free, as even the smallest speck of gluten can make someone ill.
In this guide, I will walk you through 6 practical tips to turn your kitchen into a safe, gluten-free zone, so you'll know how to keep your kitchen free from gluten contamination, leaving you to enjoy the cooking!
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🤔 Why Do I Need a Gluten-Free Kitchen?
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye and is one of the 14 major recognised allergens in the UK.
If you have coeliac disease*, eating even tiny amounts of gluten can cause serious health issues.
*Coeliac disease is a condition where your immune system attacks your own tissues when you eat gluten. This damages your gut (small intestine) so your body cannot properly take in nutrients. Site NHS
So if you or a family member has coeliac disease, it's really important that your kitchen has been organised in a way that ensures no cross-contact can happen.
But what's cross-contact, and how does it differ from cross-contamination?
Let me explain…
❌ Cross Contact vs. Cross Contamination
You might have heard the term "cross-contamination" more frequently, but technically, it's cross contact that happens when dealing with gluten.
- Cross-Contamination: According to The Food Standards Agency, cross-contamination occurs when bacteria are transferred between different foods, from food to surfaces, and from surfaces to food. An example of this is using the same chopping board to cut vegetables after cutting raw chicken.
- Cross Contact: As explained by foodallergy.org, cross-contact occurs when an allergen is inadvertently transferred from a food containing an allergen to a food that does not contain the allergen. For example, spreading butter onto bread with a knife and then dipping the same knife back into the butter could introduce bread particles (containing gluten) into the butter, causing a gluten reaction for someone with coeliac disease.
So how do we prevent all this? Let me show you how!
✔️ 6 Practical Steps to Make Your Kitchen Gluten-Free
1. De-Clutter
Start by deciding whether you are going to have a completely gluten-free kitchen (easier if you live alone) or whether you will need to section off some of the kitchen to have gluten free areas. (Sometimes the better option if you live in a shared house or with family)
Go through all your food items and remove anything that contains gluten, or set aside to place in designated cupboards.
If you are going with the partially gluten-free option, arrange the cupboards so you are able to keep all of your "non-gluten" products in their own separate cupboard away from the gluten-containing products.
2. Kitchen Tools and Appliances
Some kitchen tools & utensils, like wooden spoons, are porous so can absorb gluten particles more easily.
It's a good idea to have a set of utensils just for gluten-free cooking.
I have put together a list of utensils below that I recommend buying new & keeping separate from those which will be used for cooking products containing gluten.
- ✔️ Wooden Spoons & Rolling Pins
- ✔️ Chopping Boards ( traces of gluten can easily be trapped in the knife slice marks)
- ✔️ Silicone Spatulas & Utensils (consider metal ones, as they can be shared if cleaned properly)
- ✔️ Plastic Tupperware (glass storage containers are easier to clean)
- ✔️ Toaster - you may want to consider a separate toaster as they are impossible to clean well enough to remove all the crumbs.
- ✔️ Sieves & Colanders
- ✔️ Non-Stick Pans - gluten specks can get caught in any scratches on the pan (stainless steel or metal pans can be shared if thoroughly washed with hot, soapy water)
3. Cleaning
If you have been newly diagnosed with a gluten allergy, then the best place to start is with a thorough deep cleaning of your kitchen to remove all specks of gluten that may be present.
It's a big job 😩 but a necessary one as these pesky particles can get in everywhere, trust me!
- ✔️ Take everything out of the cupboards and drawers, and clean them thoroughly with cleaning spray and a new sponge or cloth.
- ✔️ Wipe down all worktops.
- ✔️ Clean the oven and microwave.
- ✔️ Wash the inside of the fridge and freezer with warm, soapy water.
- ✔️ Hoover and wash the floor.
- ✔️ Clean all shared kitchen tools and equipment such as pots, pans, and utensils that are going to be shared. ( See tips above on what items are best to be kept separate).
Going forward, have your own separate cloths and sponges for cleaning surfaces as gluten particles can easily get caught in them.
Always wipe down the kitchen worktop before preparing any food.
4. Label Everything
To make sure foods and utensils don't get mixed up I would recommend labelling certain items in your kitchen to make sure they don't become "glutened".
Labelling is key to preventing mix-ups. A label machine or a Sharpie pen can help you clearly mark gluten-free utensils and food items.
Label wooden spoons, chopping boards, baking trays, and high-risk food packaging like jam jars, butter, peanut butter, and other condiments where a knife covered in crumbs may sneak into!
I would advise either writing your name or "gluten-free" on the items so people know its for your use only.
5. Having Your Own Space
Consider having your own shelves in a separate cupboard away from any gluten containing products.
Keep all your labelled "safe" non-gluten items like butter and condiments on a separate shelf in the fridge so everyone else knows not to use them.
If practicable, have your own worktop space to prepare food to minimise any cross contact.
6. Practise Good Hygiene & Make Sure Everyone is Aware of New Kitchen Rules
Speak with your family or the people you live with to let them know how important it is to keep the kitchen sides clean & free of crumbs and not to use any utensils or food products that are labelled.
Encourage everyone to wash their hands before preparing any food.
Creating a gluten-free kitchen might feel overwhelming at first, but with these practical steps, you'll soon have a safe and organised space to prepare meals for you or your family.
From my own experience, I can say that staying aware and constantly keeping on top of the cleaning is key.
Now that your kitchen is set up, take a look at my delicious gluten-free recipes and decide what you are going to cook first!
Use the code EARLYBIRD to receive 65% off!!
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