Keeping kosher
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Dietary laws
While the kashrut laws are complex, general guidelines for kosher meat or dairy products include:
# Meat: The Torah states that kosher mammals are those which chew their cud and are cloven-hoofed, for example: bison, cows, deer, goats and sheep.
# Poultry: The Torah lists 24 forbidden species of fowl, while all other birds are considered to be kosher. In the United States, chicken, turkey, duck and goose are accepted by mainstream kashrut organizations as kosher.
# Fish: The Torah establishes that kosher seafood must have fins and scales. The scales must be easily removable without damaging the skin. All shellfish are prohibited. The fish scales must be visible to the consumer in order to establish the kosher status of the fish.
# Other animals: All reptiles, amphibians and insects are non-kosher.
# Milk: The opinion of many Rabbinic authorities is that in the United States, the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls are sufficiently stringent to ensure that only cow's milk is sold commercially. However, some individuals are more stringent and only consume milk that was produced with full-time supervision.
# Cheese: All cheeses require kashrut certification, including hard cheeses (Swiss, cheddar, etc.) and soft cheeses (cottage, farmer, pot, and cream cheese). Rennet, the membrane lining of the stomachs of unweaned calves, is often used in the production of hard cheese as a curdling and coagulating agent, rendering that cheese non-kosher. Kosher hard cheese is produced with microbial rennet, derived from kosher sources. Soft cheeses may contain cultures and flavors that are not kosher.
Kashrut law also dictates the proper way to slaughter animals, in order to cause the least amount of suffering possible. Only a trained kosher slaughterer is qualified for the task.
After the animal has been properly slaughtered, a trained inspector examines the internal organs for any physiological abnormalities that may render the animal non-kosher.
The hindquarters of a mammal are not kosher unless the sciatic nerve and the fat surrounding it are removed. This is a very time-consuming process demanding a great deal of special training, and is rarely done outside Israel, where there is a greater demand for kosher meat.
Kosher meat also must be soaked and salted or broiled to remove all traces of blood. Years ago, salting of meat and poultry was performed in the home of the consumer. More recently, the kosher butcher performed salting in the butcher shop. Today, the entire process has shifted to the slaughterhouse. Meat is either clamp-tagged or specially wrapped bearing a seal certifying the product is kosher.
Because kosher meat and poultry have many processing requirements that must be performed by specially trained individuals, the labor costs are significantly greater, resulting in a higher cost.
Kosher kitchen
The Torah forbids cooking meat and milk together in any form. Eating meat or poultry and dairy products at the same meal or preparing them with the same utensils is forbidden. In addition, milk products cannot be consumed for a period of time after eating meat -- the idea is that they should not mix in a person's stomach. There are different traditions for how long to wait between meat and dairy, but the most prevalent custom is to wait six hours.
Other foods, including eggs, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and herbs, are pareve (contain neither meat nor milk products) and can be eaten with either meat or dairy.
Unless a family is vegetarian and meat is totally excluded from their kitchen, a kosher kitchen must have two different sets of utensils, one for meat and poultry and the other for dairy foods. There must be separate sets of pots, pans, plates and silverware.
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