Kashering Hides for Use

Q. Kosher beef gelatin is made from the hides of kosher slaughtered animals. Do the hides require salting?

A. We know that kosher meat may not be eaten until it has been properly salted to remove the blood. Does this requirement apply to hides as well? The Taz (YD 23:7) writes that hides do not contain blood. According to Taz it would follow that there is no requirement to salt the hides before they are turned into gelatin. However, many poskim including the Tevu’os Shor (23:20) and Shevus Yaakov disagree with this assertion, based on the Gemara Yoma 48 that refers to the blood of hides. However, Igeros Moshe (YD 1:33) defends the position of the Taz. He explains that the Gemara is referring to blood that accumulates between the skin and the flesh. In practice, though, he agrees that the hides used to produce gelatin should be salted because small pieces of meat might adhere to the hides, and those pieces of meat surely require salting. The standard practice for kosher gelatin is to salt the hides.

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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.