<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
I got some really good responses.
*EVERYBODY SAID not to worry about the pots an pans unless they have
crevices which would capture wheat.
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*Dead On with some advice for saving the stone
I think you must have a Pampered Chef pizza stone. I actually took my
pizza stones, all of them actually, and put them through the dishwasher
with NO soap. My daughter is 6 biopsy diagnosed in January. She has not
had a reaction from them. She seems to be fairly sensitive. I think the
hot water and the steam clean them. The other thing you can do with them
is put them in the oven on the self-cleaning oven cycle. I haven't tried
this. I am a former sales consultant with the Pampered Chef and if I
remember correctly, we would tell customers to do this when the stone
got 'to dark' for their liking. You may want to confirm the oven
cleaning with the company.
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Advice for saving the stone
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You can wash the pizza stone with baking soda then put it in a 500 degree
oven for about 1 hour. Or if you have a self cleaning oven, run it through
the cleaning cycle. No proteins will survive that, and, depending on the
quality of the stone, it may not either. Mine has been through the cleaning
cycle with not problem. I'd try that anyway before tossing it and getting
a new one.
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I use mine that has also cooked many gluten containing substances.
It's used for GF cooking only now. I scrubbed it with a green scrubby pad
(forget what they're called) and water. I don't know for sure whether this
prevented cross-contamination, but it's the choice I made. Let me know what
others say.
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No, just wash things well. The pizza stone should be ok if you scrub it
well with a brush and water and rinse well.
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I don't know how porous it is, nor how sensitive you are. I'd doubt that
it couldn't be cleaned well enough to use. If it were me, I'd clean it
as well as I could, then use it and see if it bothered me. ...
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I don't know about your pizza stone, but your pots and pans are probably
fine. Just scrub them up good. Maybe you can scrub your stone clean with
a baking soda paste? Gluten isn't a germ or virus so I don't see where
it would necessarily require soap to clean it off.
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I might try a vinegar/baking soda reaction on it... after a good scrubbing
and followed by another.... If you have instant reactions, you could try
that, and try it once - if you get sick, get rid of it... If you're one of
the (un)lucky ones, honestly, I wouldn't risk it... It's not worth it.
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. I can't imagine that the microscopic amount of gluten that might
reside on your cookware (after a good scrubbing) would be enough to harm
you. The risk of food poisoning from germs is higher. Just my humble two
cents. We all have to make individual decisions about our own bodies.
Good luck to you!
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I would not toss the pizza stone
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the pizza stone is a tough one... I have a pizza stone as well. I would
suggest a good scouring with salt (no water) as the abrasive. I have also
put mine through the "clean cycle" on the stove and this has turned to ash
whatever was left on it. (I've done this many times) Most pizzas have
cornmeal on the bottom and that, if anything, is what probably got baked
into the stone. But, then, I am not what you might call an "ultra-paranoid"
celiac.
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Gluten has a protien called gliadin. This is about 51 molecules sort of
'strung' together, like on a string, if you will. Like ANY other
protein, if it's burnt, then it becomes carbon. Period.
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Hey, I would rinse it and bake it a while and forget it. Granted there
may still be some contamination but I would think burning it off will do
it. By the way there are some reasonable facsimiles to regular pizza
crust and gf toppings if you need them. I found one in Bette Hagmans
book and I have one gf mail order crust I havent tried yet from "Cause
you're Special" . .......Jess
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I have always just washed my pans well and not worried about it. I had a
second biopsy after years of doing this when doctors were looking for
something else and they did not see any signs of damage.
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I've heard from a friend offline here in Spokane, to
use pressured air [like a air compresser hose used to
fill tires] to clean baking stones, flour grinding
stones, etc.
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As far as the pizza stone you will have to use your best judgement. If the
stone is absorbent then it probably won't be giving off any gluten particles
once you clean it. Unless you are overly sensitive it may not be an issue as
long as you no longer bake any gluten items on it.
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I only threw away things that had creases or corners that I couldn't clean.
It amounted to a few old baking pans--which was a secret delight, because I
got to replace them with non-stick pans. I have two baking stones and a
clay roaster. I did not replace them. I have not gotten sick from using
them, and I get do sick on just traces of gluten. One thing I was getting
sick on was a wooden fork. It seems that maybe we weren't getting it
completely cleaned between the tines or else that the wood absorbed the
gluten and released it when I stirred my GF pasta (I didn't use it to stir
wheat pasta and then mine without washing it, but at separate times, it was
used for either.) So I got rid of all my old wooden utensils. I gave away
anything like sugar or cornmeal that I had used at the same time as wheat
flour, because I know I am a messy baker. I use a separate toaster from the
rest of my family, but we use the same microwave--but always with a plate.
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I thought the same thing, (about absorbing it) I wash mine with soap/water
and have even bleached mine and have had no problems with it obsorbing the
chemical flavors etc.. Mine is soooo seasoned and I always oil it after I
scrub it.. I cook my daughters pizzas, etc on it and also still use it for
my gluton stuff (don't have an extra $25 to buy a new one from Pampered
chefs right now so I can have a dedicated one)..but we have had no problems
and no reactions from it.. I think so long as you use alot of water and
scrub with a sponge you will be fine...
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Advice against keeping the stone.
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Personally I would not use the pizza stone again. I also have a wheat stone
and there is no way to clean it to make sure it is GF. With my other pots
and pans, I just clean them thoroughly. I do have separate colanders for
wheat and rice pasta because of the starch, separate wooden spoons, and
separate cutting boards. Good luck to you.
----------------------
Sorry, but your baking stone is OUT if you have used non-gf pizza mix.
I have 2 in my house. One for me and one for the non-celiacs. There is
NO way to clean a stone. The fibers get into the stone. This is how
they are supposed to be. One cannot clean them with anything, because
then you'll have stuff on there that makes things taste like soap and
make you sick. You have your own answer in that the stone absorbs
everything, so you'll have to get a new stone. Don't make yourself sick
by using the stone. Just shut your eyes and buy another one and pass
your old stone onto some grateful, non-gf person.
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It absorbs the gluten to give back to you
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I had to throw away all my aluminum pots, pans, cookie sheets, etc. I
thought this was all a big exaggeration until I baked several marvelous
squashes on my cookie sheet and became sick as a dog. It is not a joke. I
suppose aluminum is not less porous than a pizza stone.
-----------------------------
i got new pots. i wouldn't use your stone. i use a lot of foil on cookie
sheets. i have my own stirring spoons and measuring cups. i have my own
toaster. i'm sorry, but this is how you assure yourself you're eating safe.
------------------------------
I haven't seen any really objective evidence to prove it (like a
laboratory test that could prove the existence of gluten molecules left
after scrubbing a pot - although major food companies do have
gluten-detection tests of some kind.) But if a cooking-implement can
absorb soap molecules (pizza stone which I would think should be
relatively non-absorbent and less able to absorb soap) then almost
definitely it would absorb molecules of gluten-related proteins.
Fortunately, my family is grown and my husband has gone off to find
happiness elsewhere, so I live and cook alone - I have countertops, pots,
bread machine and toaster all to myself. It is expensive to stock 2
separate kitchens (and difficult to do in the one small space used as
'food preparation' area in most homes.) But some of our support group
families set aside special countertop areas for gluten and non-gluten
preparation. And celiacs use 1 or 2 all-purpose gluten-free pans. Yes,
they do have 2 toasters and the bread machine is never used for glutens.
Also, have a refrig. shelf for non-glutens (on top -- no other foods can
'drip' on non-glutens.)
I would think that stainless steel is pretty impenetrable so if there are
no scratches on new cookware or utensils, then they probably can be
scrubbed (non-abrasive so no new scratches will be formed) pretty clean.
Wooden utensils + countertops are much more absorbent, so this would be a
major potential problem. Maybe have your own "new" butcher block tray
(WalMart sells small ones for under $20, I noticed--) to use for your own
foods,then put aside while making family's foods.
In the end, not only will it cost more, I'm sure the careful cleaning of
all surfaces and care of cookware, separation of gluten and non-gluten
foods, etc. for a celiac in the family would take much more time. [Just
thought of another possible solution - wear "gluten-gloves" - plain
plastic gloves - to prepare family's foods (glutens) and remove gloves to
prepare yours (non-gluten.)] Easier on the hands too -- frequent
hand-scrubbing is murder on the skin.
Many families just go all-gluten for the whole family with gluten-snacks
stored in a separate cabinet - there may be more potential celiacs in the
family anyway. And many non-gluten-containing foods are same as glutens,
just different brand names - who's gonna know if a brand is gluten-free or
not -- at least for some foods and ingredients.
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Don't get new pots and pans, DO invest in a new pizza stone. Your health is
worth it don't you think so.
----------------------
My mom was talking to me about this very thing the other day. She thought
that it wouldn't be a good idea to use the same stone. I'd just get a
separate stone for your celiac cooking. If you've got others in your
household that eat gluten, you can reserve the other stone for them. Some
people feel better about eliminating gluten from their household, but all
the years growing up, my mom was just really careful to not use the same
utensils and keep things separate (like a pizza stone). We never had
problems with that. I'm sure there may have been the isolated occurence of
contamination, but it certainly was rare. I have far more trouble dining
out--you have no control and no one will be as careful as you and your
family will be.
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Hate to tell you....but yes, toss it. You could never get it clean
enough. No, you can get your pots/pans clean in the dish washer after
you make sure all "flour" is removed, but not a cooking stone. I only do
gf on mine
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Don't think I would trust it. It will be saturated with gliadins and no
way to remove them -- too porous. You can always try to sell it on E-
Bay!
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As you've observed, the stone is porous. It may have gluten
contamination. You could try to heat it at a very high heat which should
denature any proteins -- but the toxic part of the gliadin molecule is
actually a very small fragment that could possibly survive. If you want
to be completely and absolutely safe, I'd get a new stone. I kept all my
pots and even my wooden utensils and didn't really have any trouble. I
did get rid of some of my old bakeware -- like springform pans and angel
food cake pans which seemed like they could have gluten lurking in the
seams. I do know of celiacs who have had problems with wooden utensils.
I also know celiacs who keep completely separate pots and pans. In my
family there are four celiacs and we have a strictly gf kitchen. After
nearly four years I don't think any of the cook ware or utensils have
any gluten left on them.
Good luck
Miki Tracey
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