Washing Dishes

[mtdawber]

Hil all, I got glutened again and I'm being really stupid careful. It's very frustrating. I noticed that a bunch of people talk about hand washing their dishes separate from everyone. Can you tell me - do you bleach them or how do you make sure that you dishes are extra safe in a house full of gluten loving, eating people?

Thanks for you help.

[nikki-uk]

I have 2 coeliacs out of 5 in my house.

I always rinse every thing off under the tap before putting it in the dishwasher.

If it's a saucepan that's had gluten pasta in for example I wash properly with soap and and a scourer before putting in the dishwasher. ( what's the point of a dishwasher )...but it works for us

[Viola 1]

I rinse all the dishes that go into the dishwasher and use only gluten free pasta. That's the one thing that my hubby eats gluten free.

I also make sure I use paper towels, or a clean plate under any of my food that I prepare on the counter.

I think the biggest problem is making sure that no crumbs get stuck to coffee cups and glasses.

BTW ... you really need to check the cup before your coffee is poured in a cafe or restaurant as well. I've seen some with crumbs stuck to them out of the dishwasher.

[Guest Kathy Ann]

Even with a high quality dishwasher, I notice that if I run my finger around on the inside of coffee cups, glasses and cereal bowls, there is frequently a gritty residue. It doesn't always show. I rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher too. But these new high efficiency dishwashers don't use much water. Open it up halfway through the cycle and look how gunky the water is. If that dirty water doesn't efficiently rinse off and then gets "baked" back on in the drying cycle, it could be a problem I would think. I'm fighting the same thing. I'm extremely careful, but live in a house with all gluten eaters. I'm getting glutened all the time. So as hard as it will be, I'm planning to separate everything and use my own dishes and handwash all my stuff. It isn't working the way it is.

[happygirl]

I am an extremely sensitive Celiac, and any gluten food gets wiped into the trash can with a papertowel/napkin. Gets rinsed well, and either washed or put in the dishwasher. If it goes in the DW, it gets rinsed a little extra. It seems to work well for us.

[jkmunchkin]

I rinse everything off before it goes in the dishwasher. However trying to get my husband to do that, well you'd think I'm asking him to jump off the Empire State Building.

We also have 2 scrubby brushes. So if I'm washing a pot that had gluten stuff in it, I use the gluten brush.

[Viola 1]

I rinse everything off before it goes in the dishwasher. However trying to get my husband to do that, well you'd think I'm asking him to jump off the Empire State Building.

We also have 2 scrubby brushes. So if I'm washing a pot that had gluten stuff in it, I use the gluten brush.

Yes, hubbys aren't very cooperative for the most part. Mine gets very deffensive if I say anything about cleaning up his crumbs or what ever. But as we've been married for 40 years this spring, he isn't about to change now.

So, it's up to us to make sure we stay as healthy as possible.

[4getgluten]

I am gluten-free, but my husband is not. He is pretty good about cleaning up his crumbs, but I am still forever cleaning the counters. I also have two different sponges to clean my dishes. One for gluten dishes, for gluten-free dishes. I change my gluten-free sponge frequently, and rinse it with soap and water everyday. I also rinse and scrub all my dishes before I put them in the dishwasher.

One other thing to mention, have you invested in gluten-free cooking tools? I keep a gluten-free cutting board, gluten-free wooden spoons, measuring cups, spoons, spatulas, and stainless steel pots and pans. I have them all in a special spot. I also don't use my non-stick coated pan to cook any gluten-free meals. It's just too risky. It seems no matter how much I scrub those pans; they still have a residue on them. I only use my stainless steel pans to cook gluten-free meals.

Cross-contamination happens really easily. In addition to cooking utensils, try to keep separate gluten-free mugs, plates, glasses, and silverware if you can. It will help cut down the risk.

[Guest cassidy]

I am very, very sensitive and I have separate pots & pans, strainer for pasta, can opener and kitchen scissors. Other than that we share all silverware, cups, plates, tupperware. I never get myself sick at home and I don't do anything special with the dishes. My husband (the gluten eater) isn't very good at rinsing the dishes before he puts them in the dishwasher and most of the time there is at least one plate/fork with food stuck on it. I wash that again along with anything it could have touched, but that is all I do. We share a sponge for hand washed dishes and I've never had a problem. I do wipe down the counters a lot, along with fridge and microwave handles and I never put my food directly on the counters just in case.

So, you have to do what makes you most comfortable. I like having my own pots & pans but I do fine without worrying about the rest of it. I'm sure other people do things differently, but I don't think it is 100% necessary to keep everything separate if you are washing it normally. Hopefully, you will find a system that works for you.

[emcmaster]

We have four separate dish brushes: 1 for gluten-y dishes that are going in the dishwasher, 1 for gluten-y dishes that get handwashed (the idea of using a dirty brush to "handwash" something that isn't going in the dishwasher irks me), 1 for gluten-free dishes that are going in the dishwasher and 1 for gluten-free dishes that are being handwashed. This is probably a little too much, but it seems to work for us.

My husband is terrible, terrible about putting his dishes in the dishwasher. It drives me up a wall! But when he does, he's pretty good about cleaning them off well enough.