Hi folks,

Wondering what utensils and equipment you replaced in your kitchen when converting to gluten-free besides toasters and colanders?

1. Anyone use any silicon kitchen tools -- bowls, molds, scrapers, spoons? If so, did you replace any of them?
   
2. Ridged, non-stick pots and pans -- our pans have shallow ridges (part of the design) in them, I scrub well, but should I be concerned about the pans?
   
3. What about spatulas where the 'head' of the spatula is a separate piece from the handle? Did you replace old plastic, rubber or silicon spatulas?
   
4. Breadmachine - replace the paddle, bowl or other parts?
   
5. Metal whisks?
   
6. Rubbermaid-type food storage devices?
   
7. Bamboo utensils and cutting boards?
   
8. Pizza stone?
   
9. I have some kitchen aid brand spoons/spatulas that have a rubbery material for the end you use on your food. Anyone have these? Any opinions?
   
10. Would lightly sanding wooden spoons and boards that weren't heavily (and have no visible cracks or deterioration) used de-gluten them?
    
11. Are there any other utensils or equipment items you replaced b/c you couldn't be sure they were really free of gluten?

Thanks for any responses.

We're about 95% gluten-free as there are some things my wife wont give up. She has her own pans for that but every now and then grabs something of mine. When we went gluten-free just under two years ago I boiled a lot of the utensils and machine parts.
New plastics and silicone tools, spatulas etc. that couldn't take boiling. I have my own containers. There is no flour or gluten grains in the house at all. If she gets a mix she has to cook it at a friends. Anything in the air does me in for 3 days.
Good luck
ken

I thought gluten had to reach, like, 600 degrees to be dissolved. How does boiling make things safe?

I replaced or tossed almost everything. Except my pans I only used stainless steel, so kept those. I tossed the stainless steel cookie sheets, the bread pans, the wooden spoons, cutting board, the rubber spatulas, the rolling pin, the mat for rolling out pie dough, the flour canister (it was a rubbermaid container). I got all new tupperware type containers, although I never microwaved mine. I tossed the sugar & washed the canister, because I used to "double dip" with the flour cup. I got all new wooden spoons. If you have a huge collection or just like them, I suggest making a piece of art out of them or using them in the garden-potting shed.

I kept all my glass pyrex baking dishes & bowls.

I also tossed a lot of old pot holders & got new ones. & since I cook so much now I have treated myself to those lovely very large dishtowels that are white & look like thin square cloth diapers, if anyone remembers what those look like!!!

My wire whisks were all stainless steel, so I kept those. But I was also mostly wheat free 10 years before I went gluten-free.

I was actually getting my kitchen redone at the same time I went gluten-free so I have all new cabinets & countertops that have never seen a gluten crumb.

It took me over two years to finally give in & toss my cast iron skillet. It would make me sick everytime I cooked in it - but of course I always had an excuse as to how that was not possible. Then I found that I would not use it when I went to cook. So I finally got a new one. I have 8 gluten used cast iron skillets in my give away stash now.

I have never had a non stick pan & think that they are really very unhealthy. I also do not like those pans that have ridges at the bottom of the pans, so I would say to toss them, but I will admit that I am prejudiced against them, so you might want another opinion on that. I like heavy stainless steel pans for cooking. & I do not like those new silicon pans - ugh!

--- I don't microwave mine either, and I'm wondering did you replace the tupperware type stuff b/c of scratches in it?


--- I'm on the fence about the pans and have recently begun wondering about them (nonstick, but they are hard-anodized so its rougher than traditional smooth teflon coated pans). It is hard to think of getting rid of a lot of my stuff since so much were gifts and have sentimental meaning I guess, and many of them are pretty new too. And the expense of replacing everything all at once. I thought I'd start with the 'must-do's' first.

Anyone else have opinions on the pans? Or Whisks?

I would say scratches are your biggest enemy. Those ridges would concern me, you'd really have to super scrub those. Maybe boil a few batches of plain water to loosen it up, then scrub scrub scrub. I personally would not trust a whisk, but any utensil that's all one piece and has no scratches, like a metal spoon, should be fine once thoroughly cleaned. As long as it doesn't have like filigree type stuff. Unscratched all-one-piece is safe. I don't know anything about bread machines so I can't help you there.

I would definetly get rid of the pizza stone or any other stone you have. Those do "seal" in the gluten.

I kept my metal wisks. My plastic utensils I replaced(which gave me a good excuse to buy pampered chef ones! )

Wooden utensils I would replace as well.

Silcon i'm not sure of...I'm just trying those products out now..after I have went gluten-free.

What about food processors, mixers, electric foreman grills, et cetera?

I use my hand mixer from before(note though that I NEVER cooked prior to going gluten-free), it maybe was used once. So if you had one that was used often I would think about replacing it,as things can get up in where the mixers go.

You could try selling the newer pots if you decide to get rid of them. At least you'd get something for them that way.

I didn't bother getting a new whisk. I've got a metal one so it's easy to clean.

Good idea, thanks for pointing that out.

Was there anything else you could think of missing from my list?

Could be although I've not had any problems. That was two years ago on mostly stainless utensils.
Never heard the 600 degrees but if thats the case I will be even more careful!

I think a lot of us probably just wore the gluten off of stuff, like I didn't learn about my colander until a year after I went wheat free, by that point I was pretty sure it was safe by now, you know? I would think boiling owuld loosen stuff up though. You know, I don't know where I heard the 600 degree thing either, I probably should check before I go around saying that.....

Even though I have big commercial cook wear that I can boil stuff in, I wouldnt do it to cutting boards although I did boil some smooth surfaced fry pans. They make a lot of noise banging into each other in a full rolling boil!

I did have to buy my own little forman grill and let my wife keep the old one. Gave away the cast iron.
So far no problem!
take care