Q&A: Kashering a Microwave
Kashering a Microwave
Question
Hello Rabbi,
We are careful to put covers on food in the microwave before heating dairy or meat foods.
Today we had a babysitter at home who heated dairy food without a cover.
About an hour later I wanted to put a meat cover in the microwave if the cover is meat-designated.
I thought maybe you can clean the microwave very well, put in a meat-designated cup with soap, and run it for a minute, and that way kasher the microwave.
But I tried to understand whether you need to wait 24 hours before the next use?
I tried looking for an answer online, but to my surprise I didn’t find a simple explanation of what to do.
I would be happy to get the Rabbi’s answer.
Answer
In my opinion, there is no need to do anything. The microwave can be defined as dairy, and then you only cover it when heating meat food. That is your situation. See an overview here: https://ph.yhb.org.il/17-25-15/
Discussion on Answer
You wait 24 hours before the kashering (so that the absorbed taste becomes spoiled), not after it. Clean it, wait 24 hours, and put in a cup with soapy water (some say plain water is enough) and run it for a few minutes so it boils and spreads steam inside.
Thank you for the answers.
1.
The Rabbi wrote that you wait 24 hours and then another 24 hours.
I assume the Rabbi means that you wait once for 24 hours, and then clean it and put in a cup of water with soap.
2. If in the meantime, while I was waiting, I used the microwave for dairy, but this time with a cover,
does the 24-hour count go only from the original use without a cover?
Or from any additional use?
3. In pressing circumstances, can you just clean it and put in a cup of water without waiting 24 hours?
I didn’t write it twice. I described the process and then summarized its stages.
Yes.
Yes.
Thank you for the reply.
The answer there seems straightforward.
But let’s say I decided that the microwave is dairy, but I want to turn it from dairy to meat so that I can heat meat food without a cover—
how do I kasher it, and how long do I need to wait after the kashering?