What Are The Challenges Of Cooking With Gluten Free Products?
There is a higher demand for gluten free products than ever before. It is daunting to take the plunge and to begin cooking and baking with gluten free products if you have never done so before, but you’ll also find that there is a range of delicious gluten-free products already on the market, including gluten free pasta, gluten free chocolate and gluten free bread. If you have coeliac disease, there is help out there for you with prescription gluten free products that you can use in everyday cooking. What are the challenges of cooking with gluten free products? This guide is here to help you to overcome these challenges and to cook delicious gluten free food.
What is gluten?
Gluten is a protein that is found in barley, rye, wheat, and other derivatives. When it comes to baking bread in particular, gluten is an important component, as it is responsible for the elasticity in dough amongst other things. Gluten is found in a lot of produce and products that you come across in daily life, so it can be difficult to switch to a gluten free diet after being diagnosed with coeliac disease.
What are the challenges of baking and cooking with gluten free products?
Let’s begin by looking at baking and cooking with gluten free products. The market for gluten free bread, gluten free bread rolls, and other baked goods that do not contain gluten has grown significantly in recent years. Due to this, there has been a rise in gluten free products that can easily be purchased in major supermarkets and stores. It has also become easier in this time to purchase gluten free products that can be used in baking and cooking. Two of the biggest challenges of baking and cooking with gluten-free products include:
Sourcing gluten free ingredients
This is the most daunting part of looking to cook with gluten free products. At the beginning of your journey, you might not know where to find gluten free ingredients and products to cook with, but with the help of gluten free prescriptions you can find staple goods that are gluten free to help you on your way. Alongside this, you will now find plenty of gluten free products and ingredients in mainstream supermarkets and stores. There are also naturally gluten-free ingredients that you can use as part of your diet, including fruits and vegetables, eggs, lean, non-processed meats, poultry, and fish, alongside seeds, nuts, beans, and legumes.
Learning to cook all over again
It might seem at first that you are having to learn to cook all over again when you are using gluten free products. Instead of seeing this as a challenge, it is a good chance to embrace new flavours, new recipes, new cuisines and to experiment with different spices, herbs and different products. This is exciting and can expand your palate beyond anything you could have imagined in the past, all because you need to think outside of the box when ‘limiting’ yourself to gluten free ingredients. Instead, you are expanding your culinary horizons.
As you can see there are a few challenges of cooking with gluten free products, but there also many ways in which you can overcome these challenges. One way to ensure that you have everything you need as a coeliac, is to look into prescription gluten free products which you may be entitled to. A good supplier of gluten free products on prescription will help you to find gluten free bread alongside recipes for gluten free meals that you can cook at home with ease, using the helpful advice and guides available.