Kosher, Kosher Cooking, Kosher Cooking Tips, Rules for Koshering, Kosher Food, Kosher Meat, Kosher Wine

In the religious and dietary laws of the Jewish people, the term"kasher" is applied to the preparation of meat and poultry, and means"to render fit" or "proper" for eating.

To render meat "fit" for food, the animal must be killed and cut upaccording to the Jewish method of slaughter, and must be purchased froma Jewish butcher.
The meat should be put into a pan, especially reserved for thispurpose, entirely covered with cold water, and left to soak for half anhour. Before removing the meat from the water every particle of bloodmust be washed off. It should then be put upon the salting board (asmooth wooden board), placed in a slanting position, or upon a boardwith numerous perforations, in order to allow the blood to freely flowdown. The meat should then be profusely sprinkled on all sides withsalt, and allowed to remain in salt for one hour. It is then removed,held over a sink or pan, and well rinsed with cold water three times, sothat all the salt is washed off. Meat left for three days or moreunsoaked and unsalted, may be used only for broiling over coals; it maynot be cooked in any other way.

The ends of the hoofs and the claws of poultry must be cut off beforethe feet are _kashered_.

Bones with no meat or fat adhering to them must be soaked separately,and during the salting should not be placed near the meat.
The liver must be prepared apart from the meat. It must be cut openin both directions, washed in cold water, and broiled over the fire, andsalted while it is broiling. It should be seared on all sides. Watermust then be poured over it, to wash the blood away. It may then be usedin any manner, as the heat has drawn out the blood. Small steaks andchops may be _kashered_ in the same way.
The heart must be cut open, lengthwise, and the tip removed beforebeing soaked, so that the blood may flow out. The lungs likewise must becut open before being soaked. Milt must have veins removed.
The head andfeet maybe _kashered_ with the hair or skin adheringto them. The head should, however, be cut open, the brain taken out, and_kashered_ separately.
To _kasher_ suet or fat for clarifying, remove skin, and proceed aswith meat.
Joints fromhind-quarters must not be used, until they have been"porged," which means that all veins of blood, forbidden fat, andprohibited sinew have been removed. In New York City no hind-quartermeat is used by orthodox Jews.
All poultry must be drawn, and the inside removed before putting inwater.

Cut the head off and cut the skin along the neck; find the vein whichlies between the tendons, and trace it as far back as possible; at theback of the neck it divides into two branches, and these must beremoved.

Cut off the tips of the wings and the claws of the feet. Proceed as withmeat, first cutting open the heart and the liver. Eggs found inside ofpoultry, with or without shells, must be soaked and when salted beplaced in such a position that the blood from the meat does not flowupon them. Such eggs may not be eaten with milk foods.

In conducting a kosher kitchen care must be taken not to mix meat andmilk, or meat and butter at the same meal.

The utensils used inthe cooking and serving of meat dishes may not beused for milk dishes. They should never be mixed.

Only soaps and scouringpowders which contain no animal fat arepermitted to be used in washing utensils. Kosher soap, made according todirections for making hard soap, may be used in washing meat dishes andutensils.

To follow the spirit as well as the letter of the dietary laws,scrupulous cleanliness should always be observed in the storing,handling and serving of food.

It is very necessary to keep the hands clean, the flours and cerealsclean, the ice-box clean, and the pots and pans clean.