Kashering meat
After slaughter all the blood has to be removed. This is very important.
For us is blood a symbol of life and in the Torah is written that it is prohibited to eat this:
“Therefore I have said to the Children of Israel: Any person from among you may not consume blood; and the proselyte who dwells among you may not consume blood” Vayikra (3 Moshe / Leviticus) 17:12 . Therefore all the meat has to be washed in fresh cold water, soaked in fresh cold water, and salted, so that there will not remain any trace of blood. An egg also has to be checked if there is a little spot of blood in it. This must be removed or in case of more spots the whole egg must be thrown away.
Buy the meat (beef), lamb meat, or calf meat (veal) if you are sure that you are able to kasher this immediately when you come home!! When it’s not possible to buy ritual slaughtered meat, then buy fresh meat.
Fill a big bowl – glass or porcelain – with plenty of cold water. Put in the under cold water tap washed meat. This must be fully covered with water. Let it stand during half an hour. May be a little longer not shorter. After that wash it again under the cold water tap.
Place a strainer / pan with holes over a plate or low bowl to strain the meat, during about 5 minutes. Salt the meat with plenty of salt and put it in the clean strainer. Leave the meat there for at least 18 minutes. Tilt the strainer above a big plate or bowl, so that the meat will not soak in the strained blood. Finally wash the meat again in fresh cold water. Use at least three times new fresh water. Then dap the meat dry with kitchen paper, or let it strain again in a clean strainer. Because of in the time of Talmud there was no kitchen paper available.
Sources: * Talmud, Tractate Chullin 113A note 22.
* “How to run a traditional Jewish household”, by Blu Greenberg.
Now the meat can be prepared for consuming. Behold, don’t add more salt. Use herbs or spices if you like. The meat can also be grinded to make meatballs, jammmmmy…….
Note: if you buy the meat at the kosher butcher’s shop, may be that it is already kashered. In that case wash the meat once or more under cold fresh water. First of all ask it the butcher.
Put together by Jacoba Spijker-Kort.