Favorite Kitchen Tools

Got to have items for a serious gluten-free cook are a Vitamix blender and at least one good cast iron skillet.

I suggest the Vitamix because it is great for grinding all kinds of grains and blending all kinds of batters.  We also use ours daily for making fruit smoothies, salad dressings and such.

At the present time we have four nicely seasoned cast iron skillets.  I don’t think I’ve ever purchased one new.  They must have been thrift-store finds or passed down to me.  I love our really shallow skillet for making pancakes.  To keep your skillet in good condition be sure to never wash it.  No water.  No soap.  Just wipe it out with a paper towel after using.  If it is quite dry, add a little oil before wiping it out.

I also really like baking stones and ceramic or glass baking pans.  They clean up nicely and don’t require oil.  They’re a little harder to find, but ceramic muffin pans are really nice too.

If you don’t have a baking stone, by all means, treat yourself to some baking parchment paper.  This makes baking clean-up a breeze!  I think I never made cookies or biscuits for many years because I dreaded washing the baking sheets.  Little did I know that ordeal could have been avoided with the use of parchment paper!

And a couple last “luxury items” (though they aren’t that costly) are a push-up measuring cup (great for measuring coconut butter, nut butters, honey, etc.) and a ice cream scoop (great for scooping muffin and biscuit batter).