Gluten-Free Kitchen Tools: My Must-Have Items for GF Baking

Are you looking to improve your gluten-free baking skills? As an avid baker who had her life turned upside down when she needed to go gluten free, here are the tools that I’ve found indispensable, whether it was baking for me and my family, making French-inspired pastries for my patisserie in Chicago, or catering gluten-free desserts for weddings and events in Texas. 

1. An Instant Read Thermometer

Don't judge gluten-free baked goods by color or a toothpick alone.

Many gluten-free recipes finish baking before they develop a deep golden crust. That's why I rely on an instant-read thermometer for many breads and cakes. Internal temperature tells me far more than color ever could. The old toothpick test doesn’t work in gluten-free baking because a cake can produce a clean toothpick but still be undercooked, meaning you are stuck with a gummy inedible bake.

2. Bannetons or Bowls with Reusable Lids

Patience is one of the key ingredients in gluten-free baking. Rarely have I found a recipe that could not benefit from added resting time. Some recipes call for none or as little as 15-30 minutes and others rest as long as overnight. Gluten-free ingredients are slow to absorb liquids; that’s why many store-bought items are gritty and dry. Bannetons are indispensable for resting bread dough. For cookies or cakes, I most often cover my bowls with reusable lids or good-old plastic wrap. 

3. An Electronic Scale

Buy an electronic scale on day one—because measuring by volume doesn’t work in gluten-free recipes! All flours have different weights even at the same volume. That can change everything about a recipe. And since hydration is a game-changer in gluten-free recipes, an inaccurate volume measurement can throw off the whole bake. Always measure in grams and don’t trust a recipe that uses volume measurements for everything. I still occasionally use teaspoons, tablespoons and cups when the ingredient is consistent, such as sugar and vanilla, and so on. Trust me, when you begin using an electronic scale you’ll wonder why you hadn’t started earlier. It saves on dirty dishes too!

What are your must-have kitchen items? What unexpected item or ingredient has become essential to you as a person living gluten-free?