Okay, so I was sitting down and making a plan for 2012 Thanksgiving Extravaganza. Seriously, I do the holidays up big, and there are enormous mounds of [gluten-free] food cranked out of my kitchen. Planning out this year’s smoked turkey I came across something a bit unnerving.

Charcoal may contain glutenthe tough, viscid, nitrogenous substance remaining when the flour of wheat or other grain is washed to remove the starch! What?!

Please don’t think I’m stuffing my face full of burnt up chunks of wood. I promise I’m not! But I just learned that charcoal briquettes are made up of wood and sawdust and minerals and whole bunches of things I didn’t know were in there. And apparently they have to use something to stick them all together–starch. Starch can be made from rice, corn, potatoes, and, of course, wheat.

But what is Wheat Starch? According to Glutenthe tough, viscid, nitrogenous substance remaining when the flour of wheat or other grain is washed to remove the starch-Free Living:

[Wheat Starch is] a starch made from wheat. If wheat starch is used, “wheat” has to appear on the food label. Although processing often removes the gluten protein, some residual gluten can remain so wheat starch is not considered gluten free in the US. A special grade of wheat starch is permitted on the gluten-free diet in some European countries.

So…what does that mean? Well, it means that there is a possible issue with cross contamination. Yes, processing often removes the big, bad, stomach wrenching gluten. However, wheat is, well, wheat. You can’t remove every tiny particle of gluten unless you remove all the wheat.

Does this mean I have to give up my delicious BBQ and tasty outdoor meals? NO! Avoiding possible gluten in charcoal is super easy. Jane Anderson on About.com has a great list of simple solutions that will keep you grilling (or smoking meat) for many years to come.

• First, you can purchase 100% pure wood charcoal instead of briquettes — you might not find it in your local grocery store, but big chain hardware stores carry it, and I’ve seen it at Wal-Mart. It’s commonly called “lump charcoal,” and the pieces will not be uniform like briquettes; instead, they will look just like burnt pieces of wood (which they are). You even can use different varieties of lump charcoal, such as mesquite or hickory, to impart different flavors to your grilled foods.
• If you prefer briquettes (they do tend to light more easily than lump charcoal), you can stick with Kingsford briquettes. A Kingsford company representative confirmed to me that the company customarily uses corn starch, not wheat starch, to make its briquettes. Therefore, unless you’re extremely sensitive to corn as well as to gluten, you should be reasonably safe using Kingsford briquettes.
• Finally, you can invest in that gasa product of digestion that is made primarily of odorless vapors -- carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sometimes methane. The unpleasant odor is due to bacteria in the large intestine that release small amounts of gases containing sulfur. Everyone has gas and eliminates it by burping or passing it through the rectum. In many instances people think they have too much gas, when in reality they have normal amounts. Most people produce one to three pints of intestinal gas in 24 hours, and pass gas an average of 14 times a day. grill you (or your significant other) has been craving. With propane gasa product of digestion that is made primarily of odorless vapors -- carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sometimes methane. The unpleasant odor is due to bacteria in the large intestine that release small amounts of gases containing sulfur. Everyone has gas and eliminates it by burping or passing it through the rectum. In many instances people think they have too much gas, when in reality they have normal amounts. Most people produce one to three pints of intestinal gas in 24 hours, and pass gas an average of 14 times a day., there’s no risk of gluten exposure.

The only thing I would add is to remember to never eat the charcoal. Just in case. Happy grilling!

photo credit: Dionysus63 via photopin cc

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