Non-food supplies

• peelers, knives (many need not be toiveled- check with the ones they have at Kosher groceries)
• cutting board
• slow cooker (s)!, and slow cooker liners
• 2-3 large spoons/ladles (plastic is fine)
• can opener
• sponge/soap pads
• paper towel
• water bottles
• ‘sackn’boil’ food mess saver bags (I use them for chicken in soup)
• ‘sackn’boil’ filter bags (for herbs for soup)
• sharpie pen for labeling
• parchment paper
• vinyl/plastic gloves
• garbage bags
• assorted aluminum or glass pans- I like to use mostly rectangular for easy stacking in fridge/freezer, if buying plastic cups, get some clear ones to have for checking eggs
• alum foil and contact paper!
• make sure to get some kind of thicker larger plates/trays for serving, or the thick KFP Dixie (avail at Costco and Kroger) paper serving dishes
• cookie sheets
• box or bin to keep onions or potatoes (i.e. Trader Joe’s boxes you can get free)
• corkscrew for wine
• a lazy Susan is helpful to keep spices organized on your work space
• tongs
• power strip if you are doing a lot at once
• plastic shopping bags -for easy cleanup etc.
• fridge liners
• gallon Ziplock bags
• contact paper for lining areas
• silverware tray or caddy to organize- or use box with dividers/heavy cups

Cleaning for Pesach 5780

Rabbi Asher Eisenberger

The Rama writes that we should clean our rooms in advance of bedikas chometz, and examine the pockets of our clothing which might have held chometz.  Based on this Rama, it has become the minhag to clean the house on the 13^th of Nissan so that a proper bedikas chometz can begin -and conclude- that evening.  This minhag was sufficient when smaller homes were the norm.

One should remember that cleaning for Pesach is not spring cleaning.  The goal of cleaning is to remove chometz and not to polish the furniture or paint or wash the blinds. 

We are not required to dismantle the panels beneath dishwashers, stoves, refrigerators or freezers to search for chometz.  If we know that there is chometz under a stove or refrigerator and they can be easily moved, they should be moved to dispose of the chometz.  However, if we don’t know whether or not there is chometz in these locations it is not necessary to search them.  Similarly, if we know that there is chometz but would have to hire workers to move the appliances, it is not necessary to search there.  The same reasoning applies to dismantling the various areas of the refrigerator or freezer that are inaccessible to the homemaker. It is not necessary to remove chometz crumbs from the inaccessible regions of the refrigerator or freezer.

Any area accessible to children should be thoroughly examined.  Children’s backpacks and lunch-boxes must be checked.  Garages, offices and cars should be cleaned as well.  Books that might have come into contact with chometz should also be checked.  It is advisable to sell our bentchers and zemiros booklets with the sale of other chometz, as they are very difficult to clean. I would suggest including the children’s backpacks in the sale of chometz. Anything sold with the chometz does not have to be cleaned or checked.

Any small appliances that we intend to sell with the chometz, (sandwich makers, toasters, toaster ovens, kitchen aid and food processors) do not have to be cleaned.

Any cabinets, cupboards, pantries and drawers that you will seal off for Pesach do not have to be cleaned.

The floors of the home must be cleaned, but do not require sanding, polishing, waxing, etc.  It is sufficient for tiled or vinyl floors to be swept and rinsed.  Carpeted floors should be vacuumed well. On Pesach, it is customary not to eat food that has fallen on the floor.

Stove tops and Ovens

Before kashering for Pesach, stove tops must be cleaned.  The grates on a gas range should be cleaned and then kashered by placing them in an oven while it is being kashered.  Electric ranges are kashered by setting the burners to their highest setting and the burners turn red hot for approximately 10 minutes.  The range top between the burners generally cannot be kashered and should be thoroughly cleaned and covered.  The area beneath the burners should be thoroughly cleaned, but does not require kashering or covering.  Similarly, drip pans beneath electric burners should be thoroughly cleaned but do not have to be covered.  Any hot food that comes in contact with the drip pans should be discarded.

Corning or glass top ranges should not kashered for Pesach. If needed they should be cleaned, and place something on the surface to elevate your Pesach pot to keep it from touching the range.

The temperature control knobs require a thorough cleaning.  No other process is necessary to kasher the knobs; however, due the difficulty involved in cleaning the knobs it is advisable to soak them in a detergent (ammonia) that renders any stubborn buildup inedible.  Covering the knobs with aluminum foil or plastic is also acceptable. 

If the range has a hood in close proximity to the stove top it accumulates a residue that is very difficult to eliminate.  The hood should be cleaned with detergent and covered with heavy duty aluminum foil. 

Conventional gas and electric ovens, along with their racks, can be kashered with the following process:

1. Thoroughly clean the oven with a caustic cleanser.
2. Let the oven sit for a 24 hour period.
3. Turn the oven to its highest temperature for one hour. 
4. If spots remain repeat the process.

Any spots remaining after two cleanings may be disregarded. 

Self-cleaning ovens can be kashered by running them through the self-cleaning cycle. Three hours is sufficient. It is not necessary to clean the oven first.

Sinks and Counters
In an ordinary year we would kasher a stainless steel sink for Pesach by pouring boiling water over the surface of the sink. To prepare the sink, the sink should not be used (with hot water) for 24 hours.  It must be perfectly clean, and it should be dry before the water is poured.  The water should be poured in an uninterrupted flow over every part of the sink and faucet.  It is advisable to use a rack in the sink even after it has been kashered.  Porcelain or enamel sinks cannot be kashered for Pesach.  They should be thoroughly cleaned and covered.  An insert would also suffice.

If it is difficult to kasher the stainless steel sink this year, one can treat it like porcelain and just clean it well and cover it.

Stainless steel, solid granite or marble counter tops may be kashered for Pesach in the same manner as sinks.  However, if the surface of the stone has been treated with any form of a protective coating, it cannot be kashered and should be covered for Pesach. Corian, Formica, plastic, or porcelain counter tops can not be koshered for Pesach and must be cleaned and covered.  This year I recommend to clean and cover your counters and forgo the koshering.

Dishwashers and microwave ovens are difficult to clean and properly kasher for Pesach; therefore it is advisable to seal up and/or store them for Pesach.