How to Disinfect and Clean a Microwave Oven Kosher Style

A microwave oven must be treated a specific way to make it kosher.

Keeping kosher, a part of Jewish religious culture, doesn't just mean avoiding eating meat with dairy. Kitchen utensils, dishes and appliances that hold food are also cleaned in ways that render them kosher. Koshering is a way of purifying items so kosher foods cooked in them may still be considered kosher. You can quickly make a microwave kosher.

Things You'll Need

• Rubber gloves
• Dish soap
• Sponge
• Microwave-safe container

Instructions

1. Unplug the microwave and remove the glass tray from the microwave. This tray cannot be made kosher and must be replaced with a new one.

2. Fill your kitchen sink with hot water and 1 tsp. of dish soap. Put on rubber gloves.

3. Wet a clean sponge in soapy water and scrub the inside of the microwave until no food residue remains. Rinse out the microwave with a clean wet sponge to remove soap residue. Wash the outside of the microwave as well to remove dirt and food residue.

4. Wait 24 hours after cleaning the microwave. During this time, do not use it for anything. Fill a microwave-safe container half full of clean water and heat it up in the microwave until steam appears. Now the microwave is kosher.

References

• "Oukosher"; Mission Not Impossible--The Kosher Jew in a Non-Kosher Milieu; Rabbi Eliyahu W. Ferrell
• National Jewish Outreach Program: How to Keep Kosher
• Chicago Rabbinical Council: Tevillas Keilim & Hechsher Keilim (Kashering)