WERE BOTH FOODS LESS THAN 120° F?
YES

ARE BOTH FOODS SOLID?
YES
Status If you can separate them (there are no cracks in the meat), both foods are kosher.  Consult a rabbi.
What to Do

• If one or both of the foods were already cooked, separate them and wash with soap and water (if possible).
• If it is not possible to separate them, just cut off the thinnest slice possible from each surface of each food which had been in contact with the opposite gender food and you may use the food.

NO
SOLID FOOD FALLS INTO LIQUID FOOD OR LIQUID FOOD FALLS ONTO SOLID FOOD
Status If both foods are cold and you can separate them (there are no cracks in the meat), they MAY be kosher.  Consult a rabbi.
 

• Both foods are non-kosher if they cannot be separated.
• If you can separate them enough that one becomes less than 1/60th the volume of the other:
  • The larger food is kosher.
  • The lesser one is non-kosher. 

What To Do

• Once the two foods are separated, wash or otherwise remove the smaller food from the larger one.
• If not possible, cut off the thinnest slice possible and you may eat the remaining food.

Note If there are cracks in raw or cooked meat, and if you can clean off enough of the dairy spill so that the remainder is less than 1/60th, it may be kosher--ask a rabbi.
 
LIQUID FOOD FALLS INTO LIQUID FOOD
Status Both liquid foods are non-kosher.
Exception If one liquid food is less than 1/60th the volume of the other one, the mixture is kosher.
Note If non-kosher wine is involved, see below.
 
SOLID FOODS, ONE OR BOTH ARE HOT
Status If one (or both) of the foods is hotter than 120° F, both foods are non-kosher.
Exception If one food is less than 1/60th of the volume of the other:

• The larger-volume food may be kosher (consult a rabbi).
• The smaller-volume food remains not kosher.

Possible Exception  If the food on the bottom is cold and thick, consult a rabbi.

If either food is spicy, see above.
If any combination (solid and liquid; solid and solid which are in any liquid; or liquid and liquid) of dairy and meat were soaked together for 24 hours or more, even if cold, they are all not kosher.
Exception In any of these three cases, in which one is less than 1/60th the volume of the other:

• The larger food is kosher.
• The lesser one is non-kosher.

Note You must remove the smaller food from the larger one and wash off the larger one, if possible. If you don't know how long the foods soaked together but it may have been less than 24 hours, you may use the foods.
 

You may microwave a dairy food in a meat (or meat food in a dairy) glass (or Pyrex or Corelle) utensil. Even if the food gets hotter than 120 degrees, the food and utensil are still both kosher. (This is not true if placed in a conventional oven!)

WERE BOTH FOOD AND UTENSIL LESS THAN 120° F?
YES
What to Do Wash off with cold water and soap.
Status Everything is kosher and may be used immediately.
 
NO
WAS THE UTENSIL CLEAN AND UNUSED at 120° F or more FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS?
Note Clean means no residual food, including pareve; this IS essential since the food or utensil or both were hot! If used at 120° F or more for pareve within 24 hours, ask a rabbi.
YES
Status

• Food is kosher
• Utensil requires kashering. 

What to Do

• Wash utensil with cold water and soap.
• Wait 24 hours after the spill occurred before kashering it.

Note If you wash off the utensil with hot (above 120° F) water, you must wait 24 hours after cleaning the utensil before kashering it.
 
NO
IS THE SPILLED FOOD LESS THAN 1/60th of the volume of the commonly used capacity of the utensil (if the utensil is empty) OR less than 1/60th of the actual volume of food contained within the utensil?
YES
Status

• Food is kosher.
• Utensil is kosher after 24 hours.

What to Do Wash utensil with cold water and soap and wait 24 hours before using the utensil.
Note If utensil had food in it and the spilled food was less than 1/60th of the volume of the food in the utensil, you may use the utensil immediately after cleaning it and you do not need to wait 24 hours.
 
NO (Spilled food was 120° F or more, OR the utensil not clean, OR the utensil was used within 24 hours, and spilled food is more than 1/60th of the utensil's volume)
Status

• Food is non-kosher.
• Utensil is non-kosher.

What to Do Utensil must be kashered.  See Hag'ala/Boiling or Libun/Direct Heat for instructions on how to kasher each material.

You may not wash a neutral/ pareve dish in a meat or milk dishwasher--even if there are no dirty dishes with milk or meat on them and even if there are no other dishes in the dishwasher. If you did, the neutral/pareve dish may have become the gender of the dishwasher, but consult a rabbi for leniencies.

Pot lids are treated as if they are utensils.

As with conventional ovens, these factors determine kosher/non-kosher status for a microwave oven:

• Was it clean?
• Did the interior surfaces get hot (120° F--49° C--or more)?
• Was it used in the previous 24 hours?

You may not intentionally put a pareve utensil in a dishwasher that contains dairy or meat dishes. If you do, the formerly pareve utensil will take the gender of the other dishes, unless it is of glass, Pyrex, or other materials that do not take on gender when in hot water.

Ideally, allot separate counter space for meat and dairy so they do not share the same space.  
 

Hot, clean, dry utensils of opposite genders, even if touching each other, both remain kosher.
Hot, clean, wet utensils of opposite genders touching each other are both not kosher. 
SITUATION One of the utensils had not been used in less than 24 hours before the contact.
STATUS That unused utensil becomes not kosher. However, even if the other utensil had been used in less than 24 hours before the contact, it remains kosher.

 

WERE BOTH FOOD AND UTENSIL LESS THAN 120° F?
YES
What to Do Wash off with cold water and soap.
Status Everything is kosher and may be used immediately.
 
NO
WAS THE UTENSIL CLEAN AND UNUSED at 120° F or more FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS?
Note Clean means no residual food, including pareve; this IS essential since the food or utensil or both were hot! If used at 120° F or more for pareve within 24 hours, ask a rabbi.
YES
Status

• Food is kosher
• Utensil requires kashering. 

What to Do

• Wash utensil with cold water and soap.
• Wait 24 hours after the spill occurred before kashering it.

Note If you wash off the utensil with hot (above 120° F) water, you must wait 24 hours after cleaning the utensil before kashering it.
 
NO
IS THE SPILLED FOOD LESS THAN 1/60th of the volume of the commonly used capacity of the utensil (if the utensil is empty) OR less than 1/60th of the actual volume of food contained within the utensil?
YES
Status

• Food is non-kosher.
• Utensil is kosher.

What to Do Wash utensil with cold water and soap and wait 24 hours before using the utensil.
Note If utensil had food in it and the spilled food was less than 1/60th of the volume of the food in the utensil, you may use the utensil immediately after cleaning it and you need not wait 24 hours.
 
NO (Spilled food was 120° F or more, utensil not clean, utensil used within 24 hours, spilled food is more than 1/60th of the utensil's volume)
Status

• Food is non-kosher.
• Utensil is non-kosher.

What to Do Utensil must be kashered.  See Hag'ala/Boiling or Libun/Direct Heat for instructions on how to kasher each material.



Note In this section, meat spilled onto a dairy utensil and dairy spilled onto a meat utensil are treated the same.