Food Cooked in a Pot That Wasn't Immersed

I cooked food in a pot that had not been toiveled (immersed in a mikvah). What is the status of the food (is it kosher) and what is the status of the utensil (does it still require tevilah)?

The Rama (Yoreh De’ah 120:16) writes that if one used a vessel that requires tevilah without toiveling it first, the food remains kosher. However, as soon as one realizes, they should remove the food from the vessel. They may not wait until the food is used up, but rather they should immediately pour the food into another vessel (see sefer Tevilas Keilim 4:9). Even if the utensil had been already used for many years, it still needs to be toiveled. One should clean it out as best as one can. After it has been cleaned, even if there are some stains that remain, it can still be toiveled. If there is residue on the utensil which has substance, it can be toiveled provided that the owner does not care that the residue remains, and that most people would not care. For instance, Rav Belsky, zt”l once ruled that a Jewish bakery can toivel used baking trays even though not perfectly clean, provided that this baker and most bakers would not care about the residual matter.

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.