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739. Are Public Hot-Water Urns Kosher?

A hot water urn that is available for public use in a place of business, work or school cafeteria or an airline kitchen may become treif (non-kosher) when it comes in contact with non-kosher foodstuff. This can create issues for kosher consumers who would like a hot coffee or hot instant soup on the go.

It is safe to assume—based on standard food-safety protocol and additional halachic rationale—that a public hot water urn is used only for heating water, and, in most cases, is washed separately from other dishes. However, it can still become treif in three basic ways:

Negiah (physical contact) with non-kosher food that is yad soledes bo (the degree of heat at which the hand recoils) would render the urn treif. Whether food would likely touch—or more likely, splash on—the pot while dispensing hot water is contingent upon the design of the urn, any insulating material, and the location of the spout. (Contact with keilim—vessels such as kettles, reusable mugs or microwavable containers—that were used to heat treif within the past twenty-four hours* can also make the urn treif.)

Zei’ah (steam) is the second manner in which dispensing hot water for non-kosher provisions may compromise the kosher status of the urn. The rule in halachah is that zei’ah adopts the status of the solid or liquid it emanates from—so treif food produces treif steam. (See Halachah #706 for more about zei’ah.) If non-kosher steam that is yad soledes bo comes in contact with the urn, the urn becomes treif. The probability of this occurrence also depends on the design of the urn: the location of the spout would determine whether the steam is still yad soledes bo when it reaches the urn’s body, water gauge or spout. (Often, the steam cools quickly enough to prevent this from happening.)

Nitzuk (flow) is the last of the possible modes of contact. In certain areas of halachah, the product or kli that is at the end of a flow is considered to be in contact with the kli of origin through the chibbur (connection) made by the flowing liquid. Unlike negiah and zei’ah, nitzuk is much more limited (and less straightforward) when applied to a public urn. The halachah of nitzuk relates to kashrus situations only l’chatchillah (initially). Many authorities maintain that nitzuk is only an issue when pouring cold liquid onto hot or—according to others—hot onto hot as well.**

Urns that present all or some of the above modes of contact with non-kosher food through regular use should be avoided. However, in many situations it can be determined that negiah and zei’ah that are yad soledes bo are unlikely because the spout of the urn juts out from the body and/or is a distance from the receptacle. We also take into account that the concern of nitzuk is only l’chatchillah, and in the case of a hot-water urn, a far-fetched chumrah (stringency). The odds are quite slim that an already-steaming kli rishon (vessel heated directly on the fire) containing non-kosher food was put under the flow of the spout within the last twenty-four hours*—so many authorities are lenient in permitting the use of a public hot water urn when no other option is available.

*Called ben yomo. A clean, treif kli transmits its status to kosher food only in situations where it can conceivably enhance it—and not after it has soured (taamo lif’gam); in other words, it renders kosher food treif only if the treif food was cooked in it within the past twenty-four hours. For other halachos that touch on the subject of ben yomo, see Halachah #458 and Halachah #652.

**It should be noted that some poskim are stringent about nitzuk in this situation, considering the flow of hot water onto the cold treif food—and according to some, even keilim—to render the urn unusable l’chatchillah. Those who follow this opinion avoid using public urns except under the most pressing of circumstances.

Halacha #739: Are Public Hot-Water Urns Kosher?