Soup Splash on Counter?

Ask the Rov: Fleishig soup splashed from a hot pot onto a milchig counter. Is it kosher?

By Rabbi Chaim Hillel Raskin – Rov of Anash in Petach Tikvah

Chazal teach us that in order for cooking — or a transfer of flavor between a food and utensil — to occur, at least one of the items must be hot at the temperature of yad soledes (at least 113° Fahrenheit). If there’s doubt about the temperature, we are machmir.¹ In addition, it must still retain the power of the fire with which it was originally heated and not have been transferred into a second utensil.²

We are also taught that when items of differing temperatures meet, the lower one is stronger (tata’ah gavar). Thus, when something cold is placed on top of something hot, the lower item heats up and “cooks” the upper item. Conversely, when the cold item is on the bottom, it quickly cools down the hot item on top of it. But before cooling down, the upper item still has a chance to cook the outermost layer (“k’dei kelipa”) of the lower item.³

Practically speaking, if hot fleishig soup was mistakenly poured onto a milchig bowl, the fleishig taste is absorbed into the surface layer of the bowl (though there are scenarios when the taste of the poured substance is absorbed into the entire thickness).⁴

What about liquid poured from a kli sheni or an interrupted splash from the kli rishon (which is equivalent to a kli sheini)? Poskim debate whether a kli sheni can facilitate a transmission of taste. While we are stringent l’chatchila, in times of great need, it is permitted b’dieved if 24 hours passed between the original transmission and the second use.⁵

With a solid piece of food, like a piece of schnitzel, many poskim hold that it is unaffected by the transfer to a new keli, unlike liquid or loose food that sit against the walls (e.g. rice). Thus, the solid food would retain its cooking power as long as it’s yad soledes, regardless of how many times it was transferred into different utensils. In a case of a significant financial loss, consult a rov.⁶

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From The Weekly Farbrengen by Merkaz Anash