Can I Kasher my dishwasher?

 

Question:

These are the relevant details:

  • It has been used by previous non-Jewish owners,
  • The inside of the door is stainless steel with a plastic dispenser for the soap.
  • It has 3 plastic racks. The walls on the sides, bottom, and ceiling are plastic.
  • There is a turnstile that rotates which is plastic on top and a metal one on the bottom.
  • It is a Samsung Model DW80N3030US

I keep kosher while my husband does not. Although he keeps kosher at home, he does not understand the need to potentially not be able to use this perfectly new model dishwasher and have to pay money and installation for a replacement.

Please advise.

 

Answer:

It is preferable not to kasher a dishwasher, as it is extremely difficult to kasher properly, especially as dishwashers contain a lot of plastic, and in most cases, the water does not reach the necessary heat of 212° to kasher.

 

To Kasher:

  1. Clean extremely well, including crevices, joints, cracks and holes. If these difficult spots cannot be cleaned properly, then these areas will need to be torched to burn any residue, (this may damage plastic).
  2. Do not use it for 24 hours before kashering it.
  3. Then turn on to the hottest cycle.

Most dishwashers only reach 180°, however to kasher the water needs to be 212° In order to extract the non-kosher that was absorbed.

 

Some possible suggestions to raise the water temperature to 212°:

  1. To place a heated stone into the dishwasher before the cycle starts, thus heating the water during the cycle. However, if the bottom is plastic it will melt the floor of the dishwasher, and furthermore, the stone may cool down before it has a chance to boil the water.
  2. Alternatively, try to raise the temperature in the boiler to 212°, thus the hot water entering the dishwasher is already at 212°,
  3. Or, place an element such as a commercial immersion heater inside the dishwasher that will boil the water during the cycle to 212°.

The racks should be kashered separately using water 212° if possible. If not, they may be kashered during the cycle that is being run to kasher the dishwasher itself.

 

 

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