Hotel Room Coffee Machine

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I am staying in a hotel for a few days and it has a Keurig coffee machine. Can I use it (with a kosher K-Cup pod) or is there a concern of it not being kosher?

The Aish Rabbi Replies

Since the coffee machine was likely used by many others before you, you would have to be concerned that someone used it for a non-kosher pod in the past. However, it is not that hard to make it kosher again. In general, a utensil which absorbed non-kosher taste can be made kosher by exposing it to the same conditions which caused the non-kosher to be absorbed. I.e., the same heating process which caused the non-kosher taste to enter the machinery can be used to clean that taste out. Thus, a coffee machine, which is used with heated water, can be cleaned out by running one cycle with plain water. You must first remove any non-kosher residue on the machine by thoroughly cleaning the K-Cup holder area.

Normally a utensil can only be made kosher of absorbed taste by first waiting 24 hours since its last use. However, in your case there is room to be lenient. This is because there is a “double doubt” about its status. First of all, it may not have been used at all in the past 24 hours, and second, even if it was used, it may have been used with kosher coffee. Thus, if you have a need to use it sooner, you can boil it out without waiting 24 hours.

(Sources: Shulchan Aruch O.C. 452:2, MB there, Yabia Omer VII Y.D. 6:5.)

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