How To Go Gluten Free!

Two common complaints in gluten free cooking are the need for multiple flours and the gritty texture.  I am sorry to tell you that there isn’t any getting around using multiple flours to get a good texture however I can tell you that you can greatly improve on the gritty aspect so many people experience (and it isn’t that much extra work!).

Gluten Free Baking Tips

• Use a mixture of gluten-free flours for best results along with xanthan and/or guar gum
• Bring gluten-free flours to room temperature before baking to reduce gritty texture
• Heat liquid ingredients before mixing in (to quite hot) to reduce grittiness
• Heat eggs to slightly warmer than room temperature before adding to a recipe.  You can do this by placing them in a bowl of warm-hot water for several minutes.
• Know that gluten-free baked goods may not brown like you expect; test them for doneness by looking for bounce-back and/or using a knife/toothpick
• Avoid flouring the pan after greasing it (if you can); it is a shame to go through the work of making the baked good into a nice texture and then put straight flour on as a coating which tends to add a “crust”.  Unless you are turning the cake out of the pan (such as a layer cake), you probably don’t need to put the flour on after greasing.

Gluten Free Cooking Tips

• Use cormeal (straight, not a blend) instead of breading.
• Use ground nuts (add a little rice flour to the straight nuts in the food processor to keep them from becoming a “nut butter”) instead of breading.
• Use an extra large pan with more water than usual for cooking gluten-free noodles.
• Keep a close eye on gluten-free noodles to get the right texture (I keep tasting them).  (I like the quinoa and corn pasta.)
• Store the gluten-free noodles in the fridge covered in sauce, they tend to retain a better texture that way.
• Use stale gluten-free crackers and cookes as bread crumbs or crust.

Prevent Gluten Cross-Contamination

If you do not keep a strict gluten-free home (perhaps you have other family members who bring gluten into the home or you are host a gluten-free friend or family member from time to time), please follow these tips to avoid gluten-ing the gluten-free person.

• Use parchment paper to prevent cross-contamination in your baking pans
• Be creative (use mashed potatoes for pot pie crust – pre-bake it or Trader Joe’s gluten free gingersnaps for a cheesecake crust)
• Open a fresh jar of jelly or peanut butter (those crumbs are pesky)
• Don’t use the same toaster
• Make the food directly on the plate the person is going to eat on (especially watch out for cutting boards).
• Keep a list of gluten-containing and gluten-free foods handy so you don’t accidently give a gluten-containing food (always read the ingredients).
• Know the person’s level of sensitivity, are they highly sensitive, do they have Celiac, do they have a minor sensitivity?  Be the most careful with Celiac and the highly sensitive.
• Keep all of your packaging for the person to check the ingredient lists for themselves (and please don’t be offended when we do this, we know you have tried your best, we just need to keep ourselves safe).
• Avoid casseroles, the more ingredients, the harder it is to avoid contamination.
• Keep toppings in separate bowls (such as salad toppings) and let everyone do their own thing.
• Keep only one kind of food on a serving platter (for example, don’t put cheese and crackers on the same tray).
• Follow the adage: “When in doubt, go without.”