The local hardware store clerks may wonder why there is a sudden rush on blowtorch fuel.
The ladies browning artery hardening crème brulee?
Maybe, but more likely the blowtorch will be used by the man of the house to kasher skillets, bar-be-ques, and — unless it’s self-cleaning — ovens.
IT’S PESACH TIME and that means in-depth whole-house cleaning with special attention to the kitchen.
Many of the ladies start their Pesach cleaning before the last of the Oznay Haman (hametashan) are devoured, but the week immediately prior to Passover is PRESSURE WEEK. Until then, serious Pesach cleaning has been in every room BUT the kitchen.
When my children were young, I would “kasher” a room — dust from top to bottom, wash windows and blinds (“Venetian" blinds can cut!), vacuum or mop floors — and then I would put a homemade (easily removable) sticker on the door to the just cleaned room reading “כשר לפסח” which meant that no food could be brought into the kashered room at least until erev Pesach. (By then all hametz was history so the “No Food” rule was slightly lightened.)
Since most families don’t have space to store Kosher for Passover (K4P) pots and pans and complete sets of flatware, most families are obliged to kasher what they use on a daily and Shabat basis. Dishes are another matter; ceramic (china) cannot be kashered (made kosher) by any means. The options are two additional sets of dishes (meat and dairy — and maybe a Shabat set, too) or glass dishes that could be used, after kasheering, for meat and dairy (but not at the same time). Single use “paper” plates and plastic flatware also are options, especially for bachelors and bachelorettes.
HOWEVER, almost everything else can be kashered. Many of the K4P guides include “How To Kasher” instructions. Two of my favorites are Seattle (WA) Vaad and the Jersey Shore Orthodox Rabbinate, both of which include Sefardi and Mizrachi traditions as well as Ashkenazi traditions.
The two links above are to 2016 documents; the references are to the “How to Kasher” information, NOT K4P for 2017/5777. The new guides have yet to be published.
According to the Jersey Shore K4P document, there are two primary kashering methods: libun and haga’ala,
Libun is used for utensils used over an open fire or directly on an electric burner. These include skewers, broiling pans, baking pans. Libun is accomplished by placing the item over a direct heat source to a temperature of 900 to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, or using a blowtorch to get the item red hot, or putting the item in a self-cleaning oven for the cleaning cycle. This is NOT recommended for utensils with plastic, rubber, or wooden parts; survive the oven’s cleaning cycle.
Everything else is by tradition and for that I recommend reading the JSOR Passover Directory of 2016 (cited above). If the 2017 directory is out when this blog entry is read, the more recent is preferable (assuming it has the same kashering information). There is more to the differences between Ashkenazi and Sefardi/Mizrachi traditions than just kitniyot. Both Seattle and Jersey Shore note many of the differences.
REMEMBER: If you are kashering something with a blowtorch, KEEP IT MOVING or plan to buy a replacement.
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The image above, sans photographer information, appears on two web sites:
A Rabbi Armed with a Blowtorch Keeps Things Kosher by Casey Chan
This Is How a Real Man Cleans An Oven by Sean Fallon
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