Kashering & Toiveling - Sequence Requirement

QUESTION: I bought a brand new pre-seasoned cast-iron skillet and understood that it requires kashering. Should I kasher it first and then toivel the pan, or do I toivel it first and then kasher it afterwards?

ANSWER: Shulchan Aruch (YD 121:2) writes that if one buys a pan that requires kashering, it must be kashered before it may be toiveled. Tevila before kashering is akin to immersing in a mikvah while still holding a sheretz (the carcass of an unclean animal). What if one toiveled before kashering? Shulchan Aruch writes that this is a matter of dispute. Some maintain that bedi’eved (after the fact) the tevila was adequate, while others require that the utensil be toiveled again. Shach (121:5) rules that it should be toiveled again, but without a beracha.

With respect to a pre-seasoned pan, there is a more basic reason why tevila without kashering is invalid. This is because the seasoned layer of fat is a chatzitza (barrier) which prevents the water of the mikvah from touching the pan. As such, the pan must be toiveled again with a beracha.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.