(Note: Follow these steps only when performing hagalah by immersing utensils in a vessel of boiling water. If, on the other hand, one is performing hagalah on a vessel, such as a large pot, by boiling water in the vessel itself—click here. )

Hagalah: A Step-by-Step Guide

1.   Make sure to perform the Hagalah before the end of the fourth hour of the day before Passover. (This is the same as the time that is announced to stop eating hammets).

      This allows koshering meat and dairy utensils together and koshering utensils that were used within 24 hours.

      After this time, and throughout Passover itself, hagalah should not be used to kosher vessels and utensils. Only libbun gamur or libbun kal may be used to kosher vessels or utensils.

2.   Make sure that the utensils to be koshered were not used for twenty-four hours.

3.   Make sure that the pot or other vessel in which the utensils will be placed—was also not used in twenty-four hours.

      If it is not possible to wait twenty four hours—place soap or something else inedible in the water as it is being boiled. This renders any taste which is emitted—inedible, and has the same effect as waiting 24 hours.

      Note: If all of the above steps are followed, meat and dairy utensils may be koshered together.

4.   Clean the utensils thoroughly, being especially careful to reach portions of the utensil which are hard to reach.

5.   Boil water in the pot or other vessel in which the hagalah will be done. Note that heating the water with electric heat is acceptable.

      It should be known that even though a utensil can absorb at a temperature of 113 degrees Fahrenheit (or 45 degrees Celsius), according to some opinions, hagalah water must reach boiling temperature (212 degrees Fahrenheit, or 100 degrees Celsius).

6.   While the water is boiling, drop the utensils to be koshered into the boiling water. The utensils to be koshered should be dropped in one-by-one, so that each will be totally surrounded by water as it falls to the bottom of the vessel.

      If one is using tongs to place the utensils in the water, one should be careful to loosen the grip of the tongs on the utensil at some point. This may be done by having two sets of tongs, releasing the grip of one and catching it with the other while the utensil is immersed.

      Or, one may place the utensils in a mesh sack or the like, and immerse the sack in water. When doing so, one must shake the sack while it is immersed, to make sure that all utensils are totally surrounded by water, and not covered by another utensil or by the sack.

      Note: If a utensil is too big to be completely immersed in the water, one may immerse a part of the utensil, remove the utensil from the water, then immerse the other portion of the utensil.

      It should be noted that some utensils, such as pots, need not be dipped into another utensil in order to be koshered by hagalah. Instead, water may be boiled in the pot itself, and this is its hagalah. For the steps to follow in doing this, click here .

7.   The utensils should remain in the water for a few seconds.

8.   Remove the utensils from the vessel in which they were koshered, while the water is still boiling.

9.   Place the utensils which were koshered—into cold water. This may be done by having a pot of cold water ready, and dropping the utensils into it as they are removed from the boiling water.

This procedure does not require the use of a heated rock. However, performing hagalah on a large vessel that cannot be placed inside another vessel—does. To learn the procedure to be followed in performing hagalah in such a case, click here.

To see a comprehensive list of various utensils and the methods of koshering them, click here