Search results for: ""Kasher""

Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Baking at Same Time: Both UNCOVERED and SPICY/Charif
Situation The food in two uncovered pans (one of dairy food, one of meat) baked in an oven at the same time is spicy/charif.
Status The food and utensils all become non-kosher, even if the:
  • Pans are clean and dry,
  • Pans are not touching, AND
  • Food is non-liquid.
Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Baking at Same Time: Solid, UNCOVERED
L'chatchila, you should not bake uncovered dairy and meat foods in the same oven at the same time, even if both pans:
  • Are non-liquid, AND
  • Do not touch each other.
B'di'avad, both uncovered pans remain kosher—even if they touch each other, if both pans:
  • Are non-liquid,
  • Are clean and dry (on the outside), AND
  • Do not contain spicy/charif food.
Example
Situation
  • Food in both pans is solid.
  • One pan is covered, one pan is uncovered.
  • Both pans are clean and dry on outside. 
  • No spicy/charif.
Status They are both kosher b'dia'vad.
Checking Frozen Vegetables for Bugs
You may eat any and all frozen vegetables and you do not need to soak them first or check them for bugs since the manufacturer washes the vegetables to remove bugs before cooking. If, however, you do find bugs, don't eat the vegetables. Kosher supervision is recommended.
Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Baking at Same Time: Liquid, UNCOVERED
Situation Two uncovered pans of food—one dairy, one meat—are baked at the same time in an oven. The contents of both pans are liquid (liquid before AND after cooking; even if not spicy).
Status They are both non-kosher, even if one pan is covered (but consult a rabbi for possible leniencies).


Situation Two pans—one dairy, one meat—bake at same time in same oven:
  • One is covered and contains liquid (even if not spicy);
  • One is not covered and contains solid food.
Status They are both kosher.


Situation Two pans—one dairy, one meat—bake at same time in same oven:
  • One is covered and contains solid food.
  • One is not covered and contains liquid (even if not spicy).
Status They are both non-kosher.
Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Hot Spills and Opposite Gender Utensil: Unused
Situation
  • Hot food of one gender spills (falls into or onto) an empty utensil of the opposite gender.
  • The utensil was unused at 120° F (49° C) or more for at least 24 hours.
Status
  • The utensil is usually non-kosher.
  • The food is kosher.
Note If the spill is spicy/charif or if the utensil had been used hot within the 24 hours before the spill, consult a rabbi.

Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Cutting Boards
Situation You cut a spicy/charif item of one gender on a cutting board (whether wood or plastic), and then cut the opposite-gender spicy/charif food on that same cutting board.
Status Generally, the board and the knife and whichever food was cut second becomes non-kosher. Consult a rabbi for exceptions.
What To Do If you can sand off the surface to below the level of any knife cuts, the board might be kosher. Consult a rabbi.
Kashrut: Dairy: Chalav Yisrael

Chalav Yisrael is milk or milk products for which the milking was supervised by a religious Jew. Chalav Yisrael applies to milk, cream, and milk solids/dried milk. The only milk derivatives that are not subject to restrictions of chalav Yisrael are whey and cheese. But they must still be kosher.

Note Cooking kosher, non-chalav Yisrael dairy foods does not render the utensil non-kosher, even for someone who only eats chalav Yisrael.


 
Introduction to Firsts (Reishit)
Jews thank God for His blessings by giving Him the “first” (reishit) of various products (as well as a tenth/ma'aser of agricultural and other wealth). 
“First” applies to:
  • First-Born/Petter Rechem
    • First-born male children/petter rechem (redeemed with money; see Introduction to Pidyon HaBein).
    • First-born male kosher domestic animals (calf, lamb, kid)/petter rechem (in Temple times: sacrificed on altar; now, permanent holy status--see Selling Mother Animal before Birth of Petter Rechem.
    • First-born male donkeys/petter rechem chamor (redeemed with sheep/goat; holiness of both the donkey and the sheep or goat then disappears).
  • Dough/Challa
In Temple times, given to cohen; now, see When To Separate Challa (Hafrashat Challa).
  • First Fruits/Bikurim
In Temple times, the Jew (man or woman) brought the bikurim fruits to the area between altar and Temple building; only the man said the
  • First Shearing/Reishit HaGeiz
Portion of sheep's wool (reishit ha'geiz) (given to cohen).
Note All of the above have holy status except for the wool and the human petter rechem.
Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Pot Spatters: Outside of Utensil, Below Normal Food Line
Situation A hot or cold meat utensil is empty or contains meat food. It receives a spatter of dairy below the normal food line and the spatter is less 1/60th of the volume of the pot.
Status
  • The food in the utensil (if any) is kosher in all cases.
  • Pot is kosher after 24 hours without kashering.
What To Do You must wash the pot off with cold water and soap.
Kashrut: Open, Uncooked Wine: From When May a Non-Observant Person Not Handle?
A non-Jew or non-shomer Shabbat Jew may not handle wine (or grape juice) once the juice has been separated from the lees (the remaining solid parts of the grapes).
Note Once ANY juice has been removed from the vat, all of the remaining grape juice or wine becomes subject to becoming non-kosher if contacted by anyone other than a shomer-Shabbat Jew.
Stovetop Surfaces: Hot Utensil with Food
Situation
A hot (120° F--49° C--or more) lid or utensil (such as a spoon, fork, or ladle) containing food is put on a stovetop surface. Consider:
  • Temperature of stovetop;
  • Volume of food on lid or fork/spoon;
  • Timing--Was the stovetop used at 120° F or more within 24 hours? (If not and if it is clean, everything is kosher b'di'avad.)
Status of Utensil
  • Utensil: Dry.
 Stove: Clean.
 Utensil is kosher.
  • Utensil: Dry or wet.
 Stove: Dirty.
 Utensil is non-kosher.
  • Utensil: Wet.
 Stove (clean or dirty); had hot opposite-gender food on it within previous 24 hours.
 Utensil is not kosher.
  • Utensil: Dry or wet.
 Stove: Clean; no hot opposite-gender food on it within the previous 24 hours:
 Utensil is kosher.
Introduction to Blood in Meat
Status of Blood in Meat
Blood is generally forbidden to be eaten. However:
  • Blood that has not moved from where it was in the animal before the animal was killed may be eaten--but only if eaten raw.
  • Blood in veins and arteries may not be eaten.  If meat is cooked with this blood still inside the meat, the meat is non-kosher. (During kosher butchering, the main veins and arteries are removed.)
  • Capillary blood is permitted once the animal is dead. 
  • After meat has been salted, even if pink liquid comes out, the meat is still kosher.
Kashering Meat by Broiling after Three Days
Normally, meat must be soaked and salted within three days of being slaughtered.
REASON The blood may have solidified by then and will not be completely removed by salting. If you were to cook such meat, the blood would move and the meat would become non-kosher.
But, even after three days, you may broil or grill and then EAT the meat, as broiling forces out any blood that will come out. But you may not then COOK it afterward.
NOTEThere is no time limit for broiling the meat and making it kosher if done this way, but consult a rabbi for such cases.
 
Hot, Wet Taste Transfer in Countertops
A hot (120° F--49° C--or more), wet utensil transfers its gender to a countertop upon which it is placed, but only at the area of contact.
Status of Countertop
  1. Gender status of the countertop:
    • D'rabanan, the countertop area of contact remains that gender until kashered (as long as the countertop material is kasherable).
    • D'oraita, the countertop reverts to kosher-neutral/pareve after 24 hours.
    Note If the utensil and counter were not wet (nor dirty with food) at the area of contact, there is b'di'avad no transfer of gender.
  2. If you put a hot, wet utensil of the opposite gender on that same spot, that counter space may become non-kosher.
Status of Utensils
If the counter had not had a hot, wet utensil/container of food of the opposite gender placed on the same spot within 24 hours of each other, the utensils may be used and the utensils are still kosher.
Status of Food
This does not apply to food that is directly placed on the counter, in which case the food might become non-kosher.
 
Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Baking at Same Time: Both UNCOVERED; One Is Spicy/Charif
Situation Two uncovered pans (one of dairy food, one of meat) are baked in the same oven at same time. The food in only one of them is spicy/charif.  Even if the:
  • Pans are clean and dry,
  • Pans are not touching, and
  • Food is non-liquid.
Status The spicy/charif one is b'di'avad kosher;
The non-spicy utensil and its contents are not kosher.
 
Baking COVERED/UNCOVERED Dairy and Meat Consecutively
Situation You cooked food of both genders:
  • In a clean oven,
  • In separate utensils,
  • UNCOVERED but consecutively (even within 24 hours).
    Note The first food must be removed before the second one is put into the oven.
Status
  • If one or both are solid (non-liquid) at either the beginning OR end of the cooking OR both beginning and end:
They are both kosher; both food and pan.
  • If they were both liquid:
The second one is probably not kosher (both food and pan), but consult a rabbi.
Note
  • If both are covered, they are both kosher.
  • If the first one to be cooked was covered, they are both kosher. 
  • If the first one was uncovered, they may both have become non-kosher--consult a rabbi.