Design and Organize a Kosher Kitchen
(Keeping Your Kosher Kitchen Kosher!)
That's not just a catchy headline about a kosher kitchen.
It's a central reality. It's why you need this page.
How would you first design and organize your kosher kitchen?
You would use our definition and follow the rules.
- Only kosher food allowed inside.
- Separate utensils for meat and dairy.
- Meat and dairy always eaten separately.
- Meat and dairy always cooked separately.
To keep the kitchen kosher
- even after doing those things -
you must keep the following in mind :
Status Can Transfer
By status I mean
- dairy status
- meat status
- non-kosher status
By transfer I mean it can move
to - or from - almost anywhere:
- foods
- cutlery
- dishes
- cookware
- appliances
- sinks
- countertops
How Do You Spell Boo-Boo?
OK. Let me quiz you.
What if...
you pour cream into your coffee
and accidentally...
stir it with a meat spoon?
H'mmn.
Does the meat status of the spoon transfer to the coffee?
How about to the dairy cup?
Does the dairy status transfer to the spoon?
Do we have to throw everything away? (nope)
The answer - as usual - is "It depends."
Before and After a Mistake
Here's a useful analogy. The status of
kosher food and utensils can spread -
almost like a cold.
How do you deal with contagion?
Two ways:
- prevention,
- and cure.
The best way to prevent those mistakes is
to use the techniques in the following article:
Avoiding mistakes in your kosher kitchen.
or, if necessary
"Dealing With Mistakes You Couldn't Avoid"
There is an essential need for kosher cookbooks
They are available and there is no
compromise on taste or nutrition.
Setting up From Scratch
You can see that a kosher kitchen requires
kosher equipment only . Before you panic
or throw anything out read this article;
Setting up From Scratch
For more advanced information there is a guide;
How food status transfers - and how it does not.
Interacting with others is a separate discussion.
Dealing with a relative, visitor, domestic employee
or commercial worker may require some tact.
What about visiting others? If you don't mind going
hungry and nobody will get offended - no problem!
Otherwise some useful methods of dealing with
those situations may be helpful.
Our newsletter, Hey! It's Kosher! may be just the
resource you need for a lot of situations that arise.
To subscribe to Hey! It's Kosher! please click here.
Is There a Doctor - I Mean Rabbi - in the House?
Here is the other half of the contagious-like-a-cold analogy.
Despite all your best efforts if a mistake happens
(oh all right, when a mistake happens and it will)
here are four words of advice -
consult a competent rabbi.
I rarely repeat myself,
hoping people will notice
when I do...
Consult a competent rabbi. You can do so for any
question but especially after a possible mistake.
Don't throw anything away - but don't use it either -
until you have contacted a reliable authority.
We will outline some search methods to help you.
A separate discussion about the Jewish Sabbath - as it relates
to keeping kosher - is here. It's called
kosher on Shabbos.
Done The Basics!
Using the questions what, when and how,
we have managed to summarize a lot of information.
Reading each page and its subheadings has given you
at least an outline of the halochos of kashrus
(the Biblical and rabbinic requirements of keeping kosher).
Congratulations!
Your next objective might be to find out
where to get the kosher food. Before you do
though, there is another question to answer:
Who says it's kosher?
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