The laws of Pesach-Summary-Part 9-Kashering-Part 4 Hagalah

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How does one do Hagalah?

• Having an expert do the Hagalah: Since the laws of Hagalah involve many details, it should only be done by one who is expert in its laws.
• When to Kasher: It is proper for a person to be careful to perform Hagalah to his vessels prior to the 5^th hour on Erev Pesach. Some (meticulous) individuals are accustomed to perform Hagalah three days before Pesach.
• Cleaning the vessels prior to Hagalah: One must remove any rust, dirt patches that are on the vessel prior to doing Hagalah to it, as the Hagalah must be done purely to the vessel. If one cannot remove the rust by hand then one may place a coal or flame on the rust spot until the other side becomes “Yad Soledes Bo” or until a piece of paper touching the outside gets scorched. Only the rust that is on the inside of the vessel needs to be removed, and only if it has substance to it. However, if it is just coloring or a stain, then it does not need to be removed at all as there is no suspicion that any food has been stuck under it. If the vessel has a crack in it which cannot be properly cleaned, then Hagalah does not help for such a vessel until one first does Libun to the crack. This however only applies if the crack is inside the vessel where it contacts food, however a crack the external part of the vessel does not need to have Libun performed on it. The company trademark that is on the vessel needs to be cleaned well. One should not Kasher a vessel which has paint on its interior, as it prevents the absorbed Chametz from leaving the walls of the pot.
• Cleaning and drying the vessel before Hagalah: One needs to clean and dry the vessels before doing Hagalah.
• Must the vessels stay 24 hours before Kashering: The custom is to only Kasher vessels which are not Ben Yomo, which means that they have remained without use for 24 hours.
• The Hagala vessel: From the letter of the law, when Kashering prior to the 5th hour on Erev Pesach, one is not required to first Kasher the pot being used for Hagala even if it is Ben Yomo. Nevertheless, the custom is to Kasher the Hagala vessel prior to using it, if it was used for Chametz, even if it is not Ben Yomo. One is to spill out this water, and then reboil water in it for the Kashering. Due to the size of the Hagala pot, it often cannot be Kashered through entering it into a larger pot of boiling water. Rather, it is to be Kashered through boiling water inside of it until its very top and then throwing into the boiling water an Even Meluban [red hot stone or slab of metal] which will cause the water to overflow and splash beyond the rims of the pot. From the letter of the law, when Kashering prior to the 5^th hour on Erev Pesach, one is not required to Kasher the Hagala pot a second time after the Kashering is finished, if it was already Kashered prior to the start of the Kashering [as explained above]. Nevertheless, the custom is to Kasher the Hagala vessel a second time after one finishes Kashering with it, if one plans to use it on Pesach. Thus, the vessel is Kashered twice; once before and once after the Kashering. This applies even if the Kashering was done before the 5th hour, and the vessels were not Ben Yomo, and one had 60x in the water. This applies even if the Hagala pot is only being used for Iruiy Keli Rishon.  It is not necessary to spill the Hagala water and reheat new water in the pot for the sake of the second Hagala, and rather one ay use this same water to use the Even Meluban to overflow it, as explained above.
• Boiling water for Hagalah: The water used for Hagalah must be boiling. It does not suffice for it to just be Yad Soledes. Furthermore, the water must remain boiling when the vessel is dipped into it. If the water stopped boiling after one vessel, then one must wait for it to boil before placing in it another vessel.
• How long does the vessel need to be placed into the water for? Some opinions say that one should place the vessel in for as much time as he accesses is needed to remove the foods that it has absorbed. However, the custom is to place it in and then immediately take it out. Nevertheless, one should leave the vessel in the water a little in order to allow the heat to penetrate the vessels thickness.
• May one Kasher many vessels together in a sack/basket? One should not do so, as if the vessels touch each other then Hagalah does not help for those areas.
• Washing the vessel after Hagalah: The custom is to wash the vessel in cold water immediately after Hagalah has been performed.