Aino Ben Yomo - Ceramic Coated Pot

QUESTION: I bought a set of ceramic coated oil infused pots. The company claims that they use olive oil. May I believe the claim that they use olive oil? Can I use these pots?

ANSWER: In a previous Halacha Yomis we discussed pre-seasoned cast-iron pans, which the company claimed were seasoned with vegetable oil. We explained that the company does not have halachic credibility and we recommended kashering the pan in a self-cleaning oven.

A ceramic coated oil infused pot is different than a cast-iron pan. Cast iron is a metal that can be kashered, while ceramic is a hardened clay which has the halachic status of cheres (earthenware). Cheres cannot be kashered. If a ceramic coated pan was treated with non-kosher oil, even though the pan itself is metal and only the outer coating is ceramic, still it cannot be kashered. Since we cannot rely on the company’s claim that they used olive oil, it would appear that the pot cannot be used.

However, oil infused pots have a halachic advantage over pre-seasoned pans. A pre-seasoned pan has a visible layer of fat on the outside of the pan, and as we explained, the leniencies of aino ben yomo (not used for 24 hours) do not apply to visible fat. In contrast, the oil used for infusion is absorbed in the pan and is not an outer coating. The absorbed oil in an infused pan is certainly aino ben yomo by the time it was purchased. As such, even if the pan was infused with non-kosher oil, the restriction to use the pot after 24 hours is Rabbinic and not Biblical. We do not know if the oil used for infusion is kosher or non-kosher, and the status of the pot is a safek d’Rabbanan (a doubt involving a Rabbinic prohibition), and the halacha is that bidi’eved, if there is no way to rectify the situation, one may be lenient. In truth, most olive oil sold in America is kosher, but nonetheless, lichatchila, one should not purchase this type of pot unless it has a reliable hechsher, but bidi’eved (after the fact) if one already bought this pot, or received it as a gift, it may be used. 

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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.