Kashering "for dummies" question

seeker

Sun, Apr 10 2022, 10:47 pm

Revealing my utter ignorance here I dont want to see

So I saw some advertisements for a kashering pot and also saw it in the background of someone's pesach prep social media posts. What's the difference between a kashering pot and, um, any other pot? Looks like you put it on the stove and boil water in it?

Next related question, I also see advertisements for kashering stations before pesach, bring your stuff to get kashered, which looks like the same idea - boiling water to soak (?) your non-kosher or chometz utensils in, I think? Why the need for kashering stations, can't I just boil water at home and dunk my questionable item into that?

Please be gentle, as you can see I have never learned the first thing about practical kashering. I only know that in theory you kasher something the same way it became unkosher, I.e. that if it was through contact with hot substance then it needs to be kashered with heat. But the details of applying said heat I never looked into.

ra_mom

Sun, Apr 10 2022, 11:11 pm

A kashering pot is for convenience. There's nothing special about it halachically. We have them because they make my husband's kashering job simpler in the way they are tall with a spout and a cover.

The kashering stations serve their purpose for people afraid they don't know how to do it, for those that don't have help and need someone to do it for them, for those that don't want to deal with fire and boiling water. Note that the stations can be very dangerous. They also are not so gentle on your items the way you will be. But they definitely serve their purpose, and we used them one year too, way back when.

Ema of 5

Sun, Apr 10 2022, 11:22 pm

seeker wrote:

Revealing my utter ignorance here I dont want to see

My kashering pit is the biggest pot I own, and it’s also not used for anything else.
We don’t kasher “things” but it’s the same idea- I giant pot that’s not used for anything else. You can probably do it at home.

seeker

Sun, Apr 10 2022, 11:45 pm

So if I have a couple of spoons and forks that were accidentally used for the wrong milk/meat plus a pesachdik fork that may have been used with chometz (was found in drawer with chometz utensils at a random time) that have been sitting in a special corner of my kitchen for when I figure this out - I can just take a clean pot that hasn't been used in a while, boil water, toss the utensils in, pour it out, and they're kosher? Is that all? Seriously? I also have a pot lid that belonged to a parve pot and then was accidentally used with dairy - real dairy. It is a metal lid with a plastic knob (presumably heatproof plastic, it's on a pot). Can I dump that in too? It's a lid from a 1 or 2 qt pot, and I have a much larger pot I could use for the kashering.

imasinger

Mon, Apr 11 2022, 5:03 am

seeker wrote:

You really should consult your LOR for this type of question. Especially the pot lid. It's not unreasonable that you can uncrew the knob, btw. It probably wasn't compromised, and most people say you can't kasher plastic.

AIUI, it matters how much water there is (volume) compared to the item you wish to kasher. You have to make sure the things you wish to kasher are completely clean. If you're kashering for Pesach, you have to use (or first kasher) a Pesach pot.

But yes, your description is how you kasher silverware. AYLOR for guidance.

balance

Mon, Apr 11 2022, 7:49 am

cutlery - yes, sure. Boil up a big pot, chuck them in, bring it back to the boil, wait a few minutes and then empty and done. Please note the minhag is to kasher from milchig to pareve or from fleishig to pareve but not deliberately from milchig to fleishig and vv. Ask your Rav if you have a question of a milchig dish that you want to kasher to fleishig and vv. There are exceptions to this rule. If something is treif (fleishig used for milchig or vv) you can kasher it.

Kashering stations are just simply bigger. So you can dunk things that don't work at home.

Ema of 5

Mon, Apr 11 2022, 9:06 am

balance wrote:

I’m not following. Kashering makes something have no status, which would mean it becomes parve. How would kashering MAKE something milchig or fleishig?

singleagain

Mon, Apr 11 2022, 9:34 am

Ema of 4 wrote:

I’m not following. Kashering makes something have no status, which would mean it becomes parve. How would kashering MAKE something milchig or fleishig?

I remember hearing that you're not supposed to keep kashering your meat to dairy or dairy to meat during the year... More so that way you shouldn't get confused for what it is during the year

HOWEVER for Passover if you wanted to take your meat regular dishes and make them dairy Passover that's okay.

asmileaday

Mon, Apr 11 2022, 9:40 am

imasinger wrote:

We were told not use a Pesach pot. Can be any pot that wasn't used in 24 hours.