Basar BeChalav in the Modern Kitchen – Using the Same Gas Stove and Hotplate for Milky and Meaty

Shalom,I recently had a new kitchen installed and wanted to clarify a few issues regarding basar vechalav:Do I need to designate separate burners for milky and meaty pots, similar to how we keep separate ovens?What’s the halacha regarding using a plata (hot plate) that’s generally used for meaty pots? May I now use it to warm up a milky dish?If hot food spills onto the gas stove, does that food become assur? I’ve seen people discard it. Is that necessary?

Thank you for your question.

As long as the gas stove is clean, you may use it with whichever pot you wish, there’s no need to designate specific burners for meat or dairy.

If food falls onto the stove while cooking, it may be eaten, even if it was hot when it fell onto it.

According to the letter of the law, one may place a milky pot on a hot plate that is generally used for meaty dishes as long as it is clean. However, HaGaon Rav Fried shlit”a says that it is proper to be careful and that one should first cover the hot plate with silver foil and then place the milky pot on top.

The answer explained in depth:

The reason we are lenient is that, in order for the food to become forbidden, the meat, the milk, and the food that now fell would all have to have fallen on that exact same spot. In addition, all of this would need to have occurred within a 24-hour time frame, because otherwise, it would be considered ta’am lifgam.

Since the likelihood of all this happening is very slim, we do not forbid the food.

This is based on the halacha that if a pot absorbed issur but is no longer ben yomo, then even if one later uses it, the food does not become forbidden.

שולחן ערוך יורה דעה הלכות תערובות סימן קג

כל קדרה שאינה בת יומא חשיבה טעמה לפגם, ואינה אוסרת. ונקראת בת יומא כל זמן שלא שהתה מעת לעת אחר שנתבשל בה האיסור, וכיון שעבר עליה מעת לעת אחר שנתבשל בה האיסור אינה נקראת בת יומא. ואם בישל בה כשאינה בת יומא, התבשיל מותר דהוי נותן טעם לפגם 

Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah – Hilchos Ta’aruvos, Siman 103

Any pot that is not ben yomo (has not been used within the past 24 hours) gives a pagum (unpleasant) taste, and therefore does not forbid the food.
A pot is called ben yomo as long as 24 hours have not yet passed since the time that an issur (forbidden food) was cooked in it. Once 24 hours have passed, it is no longer called ben yomo.
If one cooked in it after it was no longer ben yomo, the food is permitted, since the taste absorbed in the pot is considered nosain ta’am lifgam, it gives a spoiled taste.

There is also another source we can rely on in this case to be lenient, the Pischei Teshuvah (Yoreh De’ah 91:9) in the name of the Chamudei Daniel. He writes a chiddush, that in a case where a piece of issur fell into a pot and it’s not known exactly where it fell, the pot is permitted, since it is batel b’rov.

(However, in that specific case he adds that, if possible, the pot should still be kashered.)

Nevertheless, we see from here that when it’s uncertain where the issur fell, we may apply the principle of bittul.

פתחי תשובה על שולחן ערוך יורה דעה הלכות בשר בחלב סימן צא

כתוב בכתבי הרב הג' מהר"ר דניאל זצ"ל אם נפל ציר או חלב מהותך חם בכלי ואין יודע באיזה מקום והוא מיעוט הכלי בטל ברוב. ונראה דאם הוא כלי שאפשר בהגעלה צריך הגעלה עיין לקמן סימן ק"ב ס"ג:

Pischei Teshuvah on Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah – Hilchos Basar BeChalav, Siman 91

It is written in the writings of the great Rav, Maharar Daniel z”l:
 If hot gravy or melted fat fell into a pot, and one does not know exactly where it fell, since it is a minority of the pot, it is batel berov (nullified by the majority).
However, it seems that if it is a utensil that can be kashered through hag’alah (boiling water), hag’alah is required. See later, Siman 102:3.

Using the Same Gas Burner for Milky and Meaty

The reason we say that, lehalacha, one may use the same gas ring for both milky and meaty pots is based on the Mishnah Berurah as follows

משנה ברורה סימן תנא

(לד) חצובה צריך ליבון - הוא כלי שיש לה ג' רגלים ומעמידין עליה קדרה או מחבת בתנור על האור כל השנה ואם רוצה להשתמש בה בפסח צריך ללבנה באור לפי שלפעמים נשפך עליה עיסה ונבלע בה טעם חמץ ע"י האור. וזהו רק לכתחלה משום חומרא דחמץ דבאמת שתי קדרות הנוגעות זו בזו אין יוצאת הבליעה מזו לזו כמבואר ביו"ד סימן צ"ב ס"ח וגם יש לתלות שאף אם נשפך כבר נשרף והלך לו כיון שבכל שעה היא על האש וע"כ בודאי די לזה בליבון קל ובדיעבד אף אם נשתמש עליו בלי ליבון כלל ג"כ אין לאסור: 

Mishnah Berurah, Siman 451

(34) A tripod requires libun (burning) — this refers to a stand with three legs on which one places a pot or pan inside the oven over the fire throughout the year. If one wishes to use it for Pesach, it must be kashered through libun (direct burning), since at times dough spills onto it and the taste of chametz is absorbed through the heat of the fire.

However, this requirement is only lechatchilah, due to the stringency of chametz. In truth, when two pots touch each other, the absorbed taste does not transfer from one to the other, as explained in Yoreh De’ah 92:8. Furthermore, we can assume that even if dough did spill, it would have already burned and disappeared, since the stand is constantly over the fire.

Therefore, libun kal  is certainly sufficient, and bedi’eved, even if one used it without any libun at all, the food is not forbidden.

Hotplate:

HaGaon HaRav Fried shlit”a says that even though one may cook on the same gas ring for either meaty or milky pots, regarding the Shabbos hotplate, me’ikar hadin, one may warm a milky pot on it if it has been properly cleaned beforehand.

However, it is proper to be machmir and first cover the hotplate with silver foil before placing the milky pot.

Wishing you much success.

1.      Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 103

2.      Pischei Teshuvah, Yoreh De’ah 91:9

3.      Chamudei Daniel (cited in Pischei Teshuvah)

4.      Mishnah Berurah, Siman 451

5.      HaGaon Rav Amrom Fried, shlit”a -  Kovets Pesakim Ve’horaot