Image from Pexels – CC0 License
Cooking without gluten is a mission that many people embark upon for various reasons. You or someone you know might have Coeliac disease, an autoimmune disorder that means the body reacts to gluten. Or you might want to cut down on or completely cut out gluten for other reasons. Whatever your reasons for cooking or baking without gluten, it can be a tough challenge. Gluten-free products are often expensive and many products that you wouldn’t think have gluten in them can contain it. But there are easier ways to cook gluten-free food so that you can make sure everyone stays healthy.
Know What to Avoid
Firstly, it’s essential to know what foods contain gluten so you can avoid them. Sometimes this is obvious. You probably know that bread and pasta will likely contain gluten unless they say that they’re gluten-free. However, many items can contain gluten without you realizing it. That’s why it’s essential to become good at checking food labels and researching to check if something contains gluten. Allergens should be listed clearly on food labels so that you can find them easily. Even if you don’t think it might contain gluten, it’s always best to check.
Image from Pexels – CC0 License
Use Naturally Gluten-Free Recipes
Preparing gluten-free food is a lot easier if you start with recipes and ingredients that are naturally gluten-free. It can be hard to avoid things like bread and pasta, but there are plenty of dishes that don’t contain gluten from around the world. You can even experiment with dishes like Panang curry that have huge amounts of flavor but don’t have any gluten at all. When you start with a recipe that’s already gluten-free, there’s no need to try and track down gluten-free alternatives. However, you might still need to be careful about checking some ingredients.
Understand What Gluten Does
Understanding the role of gluten in certain foods is important if you want to cook or bake without it. It can be especially important in baking when it helps ingredients to bind together and provides strength. Bread without gluten can lack structure and be very crumbly. Once you know this, you can think about how to replace it with something that will perform a similar role. There are various ways to do this, including using xanthan or guar gum when baking, or a gluten-free flour that contains one of these ingredients. Other ingredients that are sometimes used include chia and flax.
Image from Pexels – CC0 License
Prevent Cross-Contamination
Keeping gluten-free ingredients separate from ingredients that contain gluten is essential. For people who have Coeliac disease, just a tiny trace of gluten could cause a reaction. If you use both ingredients with and without gluten in your kitchen, try to keep a separate area and use separate utensils and pans for preparing gluten-free foods. Store your gluten-free foods safely and separately to prevent them from being contaminated with gluten too. These practices will help to keep your kitchen safer.
Gluten-free cooking doesn’t have to be a nightmare. There are ways you can make it easier to manage.
