How to Share Your Kitchen with 'Normies' as a Coeliac

Have you recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease and now you’re wondering where to start? The more you read, the more you’re worrying about CC (cross-contamination) and accidental glutening, even inside your own home?

It can feel a bit overwhelming to overhaul your kitchen to make it coeliac-safe - after all, most of our kitchens have seen a lifetime of gluten-containing foods! Complicating matters even further, many of us have partners, families, or housemates who may still be consuming gluten in the home (making our eyes twitch as they leave a trail of breadcrumbs on the kitchen side, or go to double-dip that knife across their gluten-y toast & back into the butter… 🤦‍♀️).

I've been there - four years ago, I wondered how I'd be able to make my small kitchen safe for preparing gluten-free food when I shared it with my normie (non-coeliac) partner. It takes a bit of getting used to, but trust me, over time it just becomes the new normal in your household, using different equipment and keeping gluten-free and regular foods separate.

If you're a newbie coeliac, I'd recommend starting this process by doing my full kitchen audit to make sure that A) you're starting with fresh, clean kitchen cupboards and B) that all of the food in your kitchen is now separated into what is safe for you to eat and what isn't.

Avoiding cross-contamination in a shared kitchen

Firstly, you do you - you'll need to consider how you can best manage your coeliac disease at home, while balancing this with what's most practical, affordable, and realistic for your household.

For instance, are you the only member of the family with coeliac disease, or does your family have multiple individuals with the disease, or other dietary requirements?

Does it make most sense to keep costs down by the rest of your family eating regular food and only you to eat gluten free?

Is it just you and your partner? If so, would they be happy to eat gluten free at home in the interests of keeping your kitchen as safe as possible?

Or would a combination of both of the above approaches work best, where you cook naturally gluten free meals that you can eat with gluten free pasta or bread while your family/partner can eat with regular gluten-containing foods?

In my household, I'm the only coeliac, and as I do most of the cooking here, I cook us fully gluten-free dinners the majority of the time as it's just easier that way. However, I’m still happy for my partner to prepare and consume gluten-containing products in our house as he has a clear understanding of how to do this in a way that keeps me safe and prevents gluten contamination.

Communication is key

In our house, we have a few gluten-free shared kitchen rules that are essential to keeping our space clean and safe for me to use without any anxiety about gluten. I'd recommend that you have a similar agreement in your household if your family members or housemates will still be consuming gluten in the kitchen. Here’s how we manage this in our home...

How to set up a split gluten free kitchen

If possible (I know some of us don't have the space for this), choose designated spots for gluten-containing foods to be stored and prepared: decide on a shelf and worktop area in your kitchen where your housemates or family members can keep and prepare their gluten-containing items going forwards.

Small storage baskets can be handy for this - for instance, in my house we each have a Curver basket where I keep my gluten free snacks and bread etc., while my partner keeps his own regular food in his. Keeping your gluten-free food items separate from regular gluten-containing foods is a great extra precautionary step to avoid CC.

If you don't have the space for this, don't worry - it isn't a must-have, just a nice-to-have. Instead, just ensure that gluten-containing foods are properly sealed/covered and separated where possible. In particular, keep regular gluten-containing flour as far as possible away from your gluten-free food, as flour dust can easily disperse when the packets are opened and closed, leading to CC and glutening. You could always pop the whole pack of regular flour into a sealed tupperware to help with this issue.

Get clear on shared and separate equipment

Don't panic - you can share the same pans, plates, cutlery, etc. as the rest of your household. Washing these up by hand or in the dishwasher is enough to ensure any traces of gluten are removed. However, there are a few kitchen items which you may wish to replace to further reduce the risk of CC. If you are buying any new, dedicated gluten free items, you could buy them in a different colour to your regular things as an easy visual reminder for the rest of your household not to use them.

• Wooden spoons: if yours are old, cracked, or difficult to clean properly, it might be safest to replace these with new ones, or silicone ones, which can be easier to clean

• Chopping boards / bread boards: having a dedicated gluten-free chopping board is a simple way to reduce the risk of CC, particularly if your household regularly prepares gluten-containing bread

• Toaster: if you have the money and the space, buy a second toaster just for gluten-free items. Otherwise, toaster bags used in your existing toaster can work well, but be careful when using these - you don't want to make yourself poorly or waste expensive gluten-free bread due to a hole in your toaster bag!

• Bakeware: replace cake tins, baking tins, etc. if required. I had some with tiny gaps in the rim I couldn't reach with a brush, and could see some tiny gluten-containing crumbs stuck in there - to me, it just wasn't worth the risk

• Airfryers, toastie-makers, waffle-makers etc.: if these are hard to clean properly or have inaccessible areas where crumbs etc. may collect, you may prefer to have a dedicated gluten-free one

Prevent mistakes through clear labelling

For items like butter or other spreads that are typically shared household foods, I prefer now to buy two for our household - one for me (the coeliac) and one for my partner (the normie). I mark my partner's packaging up using a Sharpie, with his name and the simple code "NON-GF", to remind me if I pick it up by accident that it could be contaminated and not to use it.

This isn't foolproof and mistakes can still happen occasionally, but it definitely helps to avoid regular CC mishaps. We also store his products and my products in different parts of the fridge as an extra precaution.

If you are the only coeliac in a big household, it may be easier to mark up your items with "GLUTEN FREE" to prevent your children or housemates from accidentally using them.

Good clean-up practices

Ensure any shared spaces, such as the fridge, oven or grill, microwave or worktop, are wiped clean with hot, soapy water following preparation of gluten-containing foods.

And don't forget hands! Anyone preparing or eating gluten-containing foods should wash their hands before handling gluten-free food or utensils.

Washing kitchen cloths regularly can also help to avoid any potential CC. As an extra step, we also have two separate washing up brushes in different colours - one for me, and one for my partner to use. It's not essential, but gives me some extra peace of mind!

Print out your chosen household guidelines and put them up somewhere clearly visible

Decide what steps you'll implement in your own kitchen based on the above and what would work best for your family. Then create a simple, bullet-pointed list and print this out and put it up in your own kitchen - maybe on the fridge or somewhere really hard to miss, that will remind people when they're using the space.

Tell family members how they can help you

Have a friendly but clear chat with your partner, housemates or family members about coeliac disease. It can be helpful to start by making sure they actually understand how important it is for you to avoid cross-contamination, and how being glutened is not only uncomfortable (or painful), but is damaging to your health.

Explain the steps you’re putting in place to avoid being glutened and ask for them to follow these steps to keep the kitchen space safe for you all to use going forwards.

I know it can sometimes feel awkward and uncomfortable to ask for your needs to be met, even with the people you love most, but remember that you deserve to have a safe environment where you can prepare, eat, and enjoy your food, worry-free.

And that's that!

I hope these steps help you to keep your shared kitchen space a safe, worry-free zone. Remember your kitchen doesn't need to be perfect - it just needs to work for you and your household. :)