Tips for Setting Up Your Gluten Free Kitchen

Whether you yourself have been diagnosed with celiac disease or you are sharing a home with someone who has celiac disease, it is time to consider how your gluten free kitchen is going to be set up and run. This might not be something that you have considered but cross contamination can be a big deal for someone who can’t handle gluten. The amount of gluten that can make a sensitive person sick is very minute.

Here’s how to set up your gluten free kitchen

Keep Gluten Separate

Unless your entire household is gluten free you may be keeping some gluten in your kitchen. Because of this, you will want to make sure that anything that contains gluten has its own separate space in the kitchen or pantry. Make sure this space is properly labeled so everyone is aware that those items contain gluten and should be avoided if need be. This situation works out even better if you can really keep your gluten contained, like in another cabinet nearby.

Kitchen Tools

Cross contamination can occur when you use kitchen tools for gluten and then prepare gluten free food with the same tools. You may have washed the items but you would be surprised at how much gluten may remain that you cannot even see. Keep a separate box of kitchen tools handy for gluten free meals.

Keep The Area Clean

We all know how important it is to keep a kitchen clean when handling things like raw meat and such, but if gluten will still be present in your kitchen at one time or another you want to make sure that you are ready to clean the area. Crumbs and prep areas can still harbor gluten and affect sensitive people. If gluten or wheat needs to be used in your gluten free kitchen try to have a separate preparation area on hand and when you are done, have cleaning products on hand to thoroughly disinfect the area.

Refrigerator Organization

One shelf of your fridge should be set aside for products that contain gluten. While you can label items carefully to distinguish gluten from gluten free, it is much easier if you have a labeled shelf where gluten can hang out. Make sure all other areas of the fridge have been cleaned and remain clean.

Just because your kitchen needs to be gluten free or at least partially gluten free doesn’t mean you can’t stay organized and stay healthy. We hope these tips have helped!