How to Become a Top Kosher Chef
Keeping "kosher" is a mitzvah. This is a divine commandment from God that we eat according to the kosher laws and by fulfilling the divine commandment we connect to God. The Jewish Dietary Law instructs its followers to keep kosher when they process, buy or eat food. The kosher process includes meal preparation, food ingredients, and the environmental methods of food preparation. Products that are kosher are usually identified with certified kosher symbols in the food market. In order to become a top kosher chef you must first follow these kosher guidelines.
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Things You'll Need
- Jewish Dietary Laws
- A reliable rabbi or kashrut supervision agency
- A guide to the kosher certification organizations
- Kosher recipes
Instructions
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Habits of a Kosher Chef
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Buy and prepare food to strictly follow the Jewish Dietary Laws and find a rabbi who is knowledgeable about these laws to make sure that the food is kosher. Kosher certification agencies examine the ingredients in food to make sure the food is prepared and inspected to kosher qualifications, along with providing registered /certified kosher symbols to these products. Jewish Dietary Laws contend that certain animals may be eaten, all blood must be drained from the meat or boiled out before digested, and that meat cannot be eaten with dairy.
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Design your kitchen, or restaurant work area, so that it's a kosher environment in which all meat and dairy items must be separated. Your kosher kitchen must not have a non-kosher substance mixed with kosher ingredients. All of the cooking utensils and kitchen surfaces must be used only for kosher food and preparation including stoves, dishes, pots, pans, counter surfaces, cutlery, and all table coverings.
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Separate the meat and dairy cooking utensils and buy only kosher certified food, along with removing any questionable non-kosher food. Follow all kosher dietary laws and make sure that no hot food comes into contact with another food or with certain utensils that are not used for the hot food. Cold food and its utensils can transfer their taste so be sure not to mix hot and cold foods or the utensils together.
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Keep meat and dairy totally separate and you must also have separate sets of meat and dairy dishes, pots and pans, silverware, serving dishes, trays and even separate salt and pepper shakers. Separate cabinets must also be attained and, in some Jewish kitchens, separate sinks and stoves are also used. All dishes, pots, pans, glassware and cooking utensils require immersion in a mikvah before being used in the kosher kitchen.
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Do "The Immersion of Vessels" in your kosher kitchen by immersing pots and pans, utensils, and other cook and bake ware for at least 24 hours before cooking. In your kosher kitchen, immersions with a blessing given are standard for silverware, glassware, china, metals, and Corelle dishes. Pour boiling water over the sinks and counter-tops also to fully immerse and cleanse them.
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Clean the stove by disassembling it and making sure it is wiped free from baked food or grease. The stove is not to be used at least 24 hours before koshering. Wipe the refrigerator and other appliances in a similar way.
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Know that top kosher chefs follow the 1/60th rule that says that even a small trace of a non-kosher substance, as little as 1/60th (1.66%) of the food, will render it non-kosher. Prepare a tightly kosher meal in a kosher kitchen environment and always follow the 1/60th rule. Always look for the kosher symbols, which are registered trademarks on all kosher foods.
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Tips & Warnings
Any kitchen can be kosher. Begin to buy food that is certified kosher.
Use disposable utensils just before going kosher.
Remove all questionable foods prepared in the pre-kosher kitchen.
Decide which cabinets you will use for the separated meat and diary dishes.
Label these storage areas.
Look for the certified kosher symbols on all kosher foods, meat and dairy.
It is best to use the oven for one food and dairy for another.
Consult with a reliable rabbi for knowledge on Jewish Dietary laws.
No wood, paper, plastic, bone, or earth ware can be immersed with a blessing.
It is best to avoid cooking both types of food at the same time since the steam of food in one pot might splatter into the other.
Porcelain sinks cannot be koshered.
