Kosher kitchen

Dear Rabbi, does the ultimate true kosher household have 2 kosher kitchen's(1 for milk and cheese and 1 for meats) Thank you

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

No, there is no Jewish home that has two different kitchens for milk and meat. Rather, having one kitchen is completely acceptable for keeping kosher.

Here are some of the ways and examples that one kitchen can be used for both milk and meat.

1. Milk food and meat foods must be kept separate in their own designated utensils. In other words, even kosher kitchen has “duplicate supplies” such as: two sets of pots, two sets of dishes, and sometimes even two ovens or two sinks. One can label or color code utensils of each type in order that they don’t get mixed up.

2. One who only has one sink can be problematic and if you have a specific question regarding how to navigate it, please feel free to ask.

3. An oven may be designated for either meat or milk use but can be used for both. For example, one can designate an oven for meat, and bake/cook meat in the oven without restriction and when cooking dairy food, the foods must be well covered. Such an oven can be fully koshered to allow for uncovered dairy use by cleaning it out well, letting it sit for 24 hours, and then setting it at its highest temperature for 1 hour.

4. Regarding tables, only one table is needed. The table should be designated for use with one type of food, and then used with a tablecloth or placemats for the opposite type of food.

While there is far more that can be discussed, I trust that this basic summary suffices and gives you an idea how one kitchen suffices to keep kosher. One should not hesitate to reach out to a rabbi for further assistance in keeping kosher.