Note: This week’s Parasha (Mishpatim) contains the first of three mentions in the Torah of the prohibition of mixing milk and meat (Ex. 23:19).
Dear Rabbi Simon
I came into the kitchen after Shabbos and found my youngest eating hot chicken soup with a milk spoon (a stainless steel spoon with enamel handle) in a meaty bowl. Yikes! Please advise if the spoon and/or the bowl can be salvaged.
Katy
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Dear Katy
Sorry to hear of your kitchen misadventure. These things can happen in the most meticulous households. Assuming that the spoon was not used for hot dairy food within the previous 24 hours, the bowl is OK. There is also the possibility that the soup was not completely hot when the spoon was inserted in it, as you mention that your “youngest” was enjoying her soup. The temperature suitable for a child may well be below the threshold of halakhic significance. Of course, it is also possible that the spoon was initially placed in the soup when it was still very hot. To be on the safe side, the spoon needs to be koshered through hag’alah ie carefully immersing it in its entirety in boiling water for a few seconds. It is preferable to then rinse it in cold water.
Bon appetit
Rabbi Rashi Simon