It's common to think that if a meal is made solely with gluten-free ingredients, it will be gluten-free. This is, sadly, not the case. Making a gluten-free meal involves both the cooking and the serving processes as well. Hence...
How to Host a Gluten Free Guest, Part 2: Cooking.
1. AVOID using wooden and plastic implements.
Gluten soaks into wooden cutting boards, plastic spatulas, wooden spoons, plastic tumblers, etc. like a magnet. If you've cut bread on a cutting board for a couple of years and then cut a gluten-free cucumber on it, your gluten-free guest will probably get sick. Avoid using wooden and plastic implements at all costs.
2. Use glass or metal implements and pans.
Glass and metal are less porous and easier to clean, so they cannot soak up gluten easily. Cooking in glass or metal and using glass or metal implements will help avoid accidental gluten leaching into otherwise-safe food.
It's okay to use wood or plastic if they're brand new: When I visit my parents' home I usually pick up a new wooden spoon at the store and then mark the handle with colored tape. Then it's just mine - no gluten will touch it. This can be a good option when dealing with non-stick surfaces that will scratch easily with metal implements.
3. Beware cross-contamination!
If you are hosting a gluten-free guest and are reading this post, presumably you aren't gluten-free yourself. Take precautions to avoid cross-contamination. Keep any flours out of the way. Wipe down the mixer if it has batter stuck to it anywhere. Scrub down the grill if you regularly cook marinated meats or toast bread on it. Clean anywhere your guest's gluten-free meal may touch.
If you are cooking some things with gluten and some without, use dedicated utensils for each. Don't scoop up a burger seasoned with glutinous spices with the same metal spatula you are then going to use for the gluten-free burger. Remember: even a hint can cause illness.
4. Know the gluten-free diner's best friend when eating out: tin foil!
It simply isn't possible to clean everything perfectly. Plus, we want you to invite us over again, and who has eight hours to sanitize a kitchen? Not me, and not you. So when grilling or cooking in a questionable pan, cover the surface in question with tin foil. Voila! Gluten-free easily.
Tomorrow... Part 3: Serving!
I love that Daryl bought us new wooden spoons when he realized that he used ours for his gluteny pasta.
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I love your article. My thirty year old daughter has Celiac's and she cannot eat when she goes to people's houses. I cook for her but I have learned all of what you say. She is also forced to be meat free and dairy free. We think another product is even more critical than tin foil. TFX non-stick. It is hard to find in stores but sometimes Whole Foods carries it and always you can order if off of their website. I use the stuff all of the time for us too but for her, I keep one in a box and use it only for her. I can put it in pots and pans and in oven up to 1000 times. She takes one with her to everyone's house too. It took me a long time to learn that my pots and pans were contaminated with stuff that would make her sick. I would work so hard to get it right and then she would get sick anyway before I knew it.
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