Gluten Free Barbeques
Posted in: gluten free challenges
How do you make a barbeque into a gluten free barbeque? This was one of the first of the many “gluten free challenges” I faced with my celiac child. As Jamie was diagnosed with celiac disease at the start of the summer, we were invited to quite a few barbeques over the following few months (despite it being one of Britain’s wettest!)
Barbecues used to be so easy. Pop in and out. Buy some meat and rolls at Walmart on the way and forget the kids for the afternoon! Suddenly they required the planning skills of a military strategist! The sausages are invarably full of gluten, and if any of the other meat has been marinated it’s usually in something containing gluten (and comes without the label so you can’t check anyway). Even if there is some pure chicken or fish, it can’t be cooked on the same grill tray because it has been contaminated by the gluten in the sausages… and there are bowls of crisps without labels and sauces in little pots and look at all the bread crumbs everywhere!
One of our hardest moments was the friend’s birthday barbecue where they brought out an enormous, gooey chocolate cake, covered in maltesers. That was the first time the reality of his new gluten free diet hit Jamie.
But we came up with some strategies. And by the end of the summer we were doing gluten free barbecues at a half hour notice.
Top Tips for a Gluten Free Barbecue
- Take your own disposable barbecue and cooking implements! This is my absolute top tip. It saves all the worry about contamination and although I always expected to have to do the cooking myself for him, I never did (what is it about men and barbecues?!). Disposable barbecues are really cheap now, especially if you buy a few at a time, and they are never wasted because after you’ve made the gluten free stuff, anyone can use it.
- When you have been shopping, put together some mini ‘gluten free barbecue packs’ before you put them in the freezer. I used a pork chop, couple of gluten free sausages and maybe a chicken leg. When we were invited somewhere I just had to pull one pack out of the freezer rather than trying to defrost bit of a lot of things or just giving him a couple of sausages.
- Obviously you have to take your own bread rolls. I kept a few aside just in case.
- Ring ahead and ask the host to keep any packaging separate so you can check the labels on things like crisps and sauces.
- Make your own gluten free cakes or cookies (small separate ones or sliced beforehand to avoid contamination from a gluteny knife) to add to the table, and make sure your child knows which they are.
- If it is a birthday barbecue, and you know the hosts well, you could even offer to make a gluten free birthday cake for them. When you’ve practiced a bit they are just as nice as the ‘normal’ sort. I did this once for a friend’s 60th party, just a few weeks after the chocolate cake incident. Nobody even realised it was gluten free, it disappeared fast and the look on Jamie’s face when he could eat it just the same as anyone else… indescribable!
Gluten Free Birthday Cake
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