Re: Decontamination of kitchen utensils

[Guest guest]

> Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 18:11:06 -0600

>

> Subject: more questions

>

> Hi everyone,

> Here's another question that I have been wondering about. What

> would you consider to be sufficient de-contamination (for lack of a

> better term) of things like utensils, bowls, etc. If I run things

> through the dishwasher is that enough? I am thinking especially of

> my Kitchen Aid bowl, which I have always used for other things,

> cooking utensils, measuring spoons, etc. I read before and

> understood why you wouldn't want to use the same toaster, etc,

> because the crumbs couldn't be cleaned out well enough, but what

> about a frying pan, for example or a cookie sheet? Graham seems to

> be doing well on the diet (I guess about a month totally GFCF), so I

> don't want to be screwing it up this way.

>

> Fondly,

> J

I worried a lot about this too. I felt my teflon coated cookie sheets

were contaminated so bought new cookie sheets for gfcf cooking. Others

may not feel that way. One thing I really noticed was the vents in my

mixer had flour dust up in them. I diligently tried to get it all out

although I doubt I was 100% successful. But I couldn't afford a new one

so I did my best to clean it and prayed that any gluten debris in there

would be minimal and come completely out during the first attempts of gf

baking which he rarely touched to begin with. I considered buying a new

mixer and one I looked at had been returned to the store as it had flour

up in its vents I noticed :-( I bought a small new waffle iron but use

the same bowls, silverware, dishes my husband does and they are

handwashed. My son doesn't show any signs of contamination from these

the past few years so I think a dishwasher should be sufficient for

cleaning gluten away from normal dishes, etc. I do not use a cast iron

frying pan as I feel they might carry more risk of contamination if some

gluten got in at some point in time since they are seasoned and not

washed as thoroughly as normal frypans. My husband is sometimes careless

even though he realizes the seriousness of mistakes, but just doesn't

think at times. Because plastic containers have the risk of absorbing

some of their contents I have shied away from used ones for gfcf storage

although I sometimes do use older ones that have been washed repeatedly

and not had any gluten in them in recent history. My husband eats a

normal gluten diet and it doesn't bother my son and I eat both so in our

home there is risk of crosscontamination but I just try to insure it

doesn't happen. All baking done is gfcf except for frozen pizza my hubby

likes and I use my old teflon cookie sheet for it and I wipe out the oven

and microwave after cooking anything that contained gluten. I prefer to

err on the side of caution rather than inflict torture on my innocent

son. I usually wash off utensils just before using them in case my

husband spilled toast crumbs in the utensil drawer. I have been told

that gluten hangs in the air for 24 hours after it's been stirred up and

my son used to be wild after my husband made his whole wheat pancakes

even though I tried to keep out of the kitchen for the entire

morning. Now that no gluten batters are mixed up in our home (my husband

thinks gfcf pancakes/waffles are wonderful) we don't have the couple days

of wild behaviour, great difficulty in concentration that I really felt

was due to the mixing of the gluten pancake batter. I definitely am

against mixing gluten batters with the same mixer, in the same kitchen

for other family members yet I know in large families that would most

likely occur.

For microwaving in other people's microwaves, I always place a paper

towel around the food or over it to prevent contamination from gluten

that may be in the oven.

Carol