Gluten-Free Barbecue Safety

How to Prepare, and What to Watch Out For

If anyone at your BBQ or cookout has celiac disease, you'll need to serve some gluten-free barbecue food. These days, many classic barbecue foods can be made or bought in gluten-free forms, so having celiac disease and being on a gluten-free diet does not mean anyone must miss out on the pleasures of grilling. Just follow these guidelines for gluten-free BBQ safety.

Buy or bake gluten-free hamburger and hot dog buns.
Gluten-free buns for hamburgers and hot dogs used to be dry and crumbly, but today's rolls and buns are much tastier. A variety of ready-made gluten-free buns are available in stores and online, or you can make your own.

• Gluten-Free Hamburger Buns

Make sure all sauces, marinades and condiments are gluten-free.
If you like to use marinades and sauces when you grill meats and vegetables, make sure any that you choose are gluten-free. If you’re a guest at someone else’s barbecue, your hosts must be careful not to marinate your food in gluten-containing sauces and to keep your food off contaminated grill surfaces.

• Gluten-Free Barbecue Sauce Recipes
• Easy Gluten-Free Barbecue Sauce
• In Your Pantry: Making Sure Sauces, Marinates, and Other Condiments are Gluten-Free
• Where to Shop for Gluten-Free Food

Keep gluten-free food off contaminated grill surfaces.
Gluten-free food cannot be cooked on grates that have been contaminated with drippings from gluten-containing sauces or marinades. Try to grill the gluten-free food first, when the grates are clean, or else reserve a section of the grates just for the gluten-free food (be sure nothing with gluten drips onto it). If these measures are not possible, grill the gluten-free food on aluminum foil or in packets that will keep it off the grill surface.

• Grilling in Packets
• Grilliing in Corn Husks
• Grilling in Leaves
• Cleaning Your Grill

Avoid other sources of cross-contamination.
Make sure separate sets of utensils are used for gluten-free food preparation. In particular, be careful that utensils used to handle gluten-free food on the grill are not also used on food that been marinated or coated with gluten-containing sauces. Also, be sure the barbecue hosts understand how to protect gluten-free food from cross-contamination.

• What is Cross-Contamination?
• How to Keep Gluten-Free Guests Safe

Enjoy traditional barbecue favorites!
There's probably a gluten-free version of almost every classic barbecue food. If your favorite recipes are not already gluten-free, here are some new ones to get you started.

• Gluten-Free Backyard Barbecue Recipes
• Gluten-Free Memorial Day Weekend Recipes
• Where to Get Gluten-Free Beer
• 10 Recipes for Naturally Gluten-Free Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Salads
• Gluten-Free Berry Cobbler
• Gluten-Free Ice Cream Cones

If You Have Food Allergies
If you have any food allergies, additional precautions might be in order. (Celiac disease, of course, is not an allergy.)

• 10 Tips for Picnics with Food Allergies