Topic

Kosher kitchen questions

How long to wait between meat and dairy, a dairy spoon in a meat pot, one dishwasher for both, immersing new dishes, and whether produce needs a hechsher.

These are questions we chose and published. What readers ask here is private, and is never added to this archive.

• How long do I wait between eating meat and dairy?

  How long to wait between meat and dairy depends on your family's custom. Six hours is the most widely kept practice; some communities wait three or one.

• Can I wash meat and dairy dishes in the same dishwasher?

  Washing meat and dairy dishes in one dishwasher is generally avoided in Jewish law, unless specific conditions are met.

• Which new dishes need to be immersed in a mikvah before I use them?

  New metal and glass dishes need immersion in a mikvah before use: pots, pans, silverware, glassware. Plastic and wood do not.

• Do fresh fruits and vegetables need a hechsher (kosher certification)?

  Fresh fruit and vegetables need no kosher certification while unprocessed. What they do need is checking for insects — coatings and processing change that.

• I stirred a meat pot with a dairy spoon. Is the pot still kosher?

  Whether the pot stays kosher turns on heat and timing: a clean spoon, with no hot dairy in the last 24 hours, generally leaves the pot kosher.

All questions