Wendy,
That's an interesting discussion, and that's a topic that is sorely in need of some experimental research. I'm inclined to agree that bleach is not likely to deactivate gluten, since most flour manufacturers bleach their flours during manufacture, and they certainly wouldn't do anything to risk the viability of the gluten. since it is the component responsible for the most desirable baking characteristics.
Heat, though, is another matter entirely. Sufficient heat will indeed destroy gluten, (and virtually anything else - sufficient heat will even destroy steel). On a comparison scale, though, baking temperatures are quite low, and certainly will not deactivate the gliadins.
If properly done, (I do it quite often), grills can be easily sterilized by the use of sufficient heat. I'm talking real heat here - keeping the grid close to an intensely hot fire, for a length of time sufficient to physically burn everything off the grid, in every nook and cranny. Then I rub it down with a crumpled-up wad of aluminum foil, and follow that with a wad of paper towels, to remove what's left of the burned residue.
Many people make the mistake of rubbing the grid with a brass or stainless steel bristle brush, but that brush is virtually always contaminated with gluten, because someone else will almost inevitably rub that brush on the grid before the combustion process is complete, thus contaminating the brush with gluten. Once a brush is contaminated, in my opinion, it will never be safely decontaminated, because to do so, would require enough heat that it would melt the plastic handle, (or burn the handle, if made of wood), of the brush, before the bristles would be completely decontaminated. (Besides, there's no telling what else is on that brush, after it has been in use for a while). Of course, if a grill is never contaminated by gluten-containing food items, then all of this is not at issue. I find, though, that anytime anyone else, (read that, anyone who is not known to be gluten sensitive), uses a grill, it will be promptly contaminated, because they are going to heat buns, or something else, that contains gluten.
I can't find any information on the web, concerning documented research, directly related to the use of high temperatures to deactivate gluten. However, based on common combustion characteristics for similar materials, (and using common engineering analytical techniques, I submit the following analysis, which you can classify as a WAEG, (Wild-Assed Educated Guess), if you prefer. LOL.
One of the most persistent infectious agents known, is found in a related class of diseases, which includes scrapies, (in sheep), BSE, (aka mad-cow disease, in cattle), chronic wasting disease, (in deer), and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, (in humans). These diseases tend to deposit protease resistant proteins, (PRP), in the brains of infected subjects. "Normal" processing temperatures do not deactivate the infectious nature of whatever component propagates these diseases. I suggest that the gliadins in gluten, are possibly as persistant as the infections agents connected with these diseases, and I further suggest that temperatures that will "deactivate" the infectious agents found in these diseases, should deactivate the gliadins in gluten.
It has been established that the threshold for destruction of such proteins begins in the area of around 600 degrees C, (1,112 F), and is complete at somewhere around or below the 1000 degrees C, (1,832 F), level. This can be readily seen in the research report at this site:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articl ... &tools=bot
Ergo, it is certainly very likely that normal flame temperatures of ordinary hydrocarbon fuels, are capable of deactivating the gliadins in gluten, since those temperatures are in the range of 2,200 degrees C, (4,000 F). Obviously, though, since heat transfer is time-dependent, sufficient time must be allowed for heat transfer to complete the job. Also, it is clear that this is beyond the limits normally encountered in cooking procedures. For example, polytetrafluoroethylene, (aka as Teflon, used in many cooking utensils), will begin to break down, and emit toxic gases, at around 300 degrees C, (572 F).
The bottom line is - it can be done, but it certainly isn't easy, nor is it practical, in most situations other than using a grill.
Thanks for posting the link.
Tex
!
), but do you have gluten eating people in your house, and if so, how do you handle it? I'm still trying to work out the logistics of having some eating and some not eating it, though we're still on the fence about whether the kids are going to be eating it or not (Enterolab results due back on them next week). Do I REALLY need to be wearing a mask and gloves when I handle anything with gluten? Do I really need to get new pots and pans, etc.? How far do I need to take this? I obviously want to be healthy and feel good (no, not just good, GREAT!), but to what extent do I have to go to do it? It did occur to me after the Predisone thread that perhaps I'm still getting glutened, which is why I'm still having the D. Either that or my intestines are just so damaged that it will take a very long time for them to heal...
