Kashering a Stovetop

MANY FAMILIES TAKE the opportunity to go on winter vacations, often finding themselves in a hotel suite or Airbnb rental where the need to kasher the stove arises. The four most common stovetop types in home kitchens are gas, electric, glass top, and induction. Each type requires specific considerations:

Gas Cooktop with Grates
The stove should be kashered l’chumra (as a stringency). The simplest method is to place the grates in a selfcleaning oven and run the self-clean cycle. If the oven does not have a self-clean feature, cover the stovetop with a blech or loosely with aluminum foil and turn the burners on high for 15 minutes. This will generate enough heat for kashering, but caution is necessary, as it can be very dangerous and may cause considerable damage, including potentially damaging the oven and injuring oneself.

In addition, the area between the grates should be cleaned thoroughly. If the grates were kashered in the oven, the area between them should then be kashered by pouring boiling water over it from a kettle or a pot that was boiled on the stove.  One can also cover the area well with foil. If the blech or foil method was used and the burners were turned on with the entire stove covered, no further kashering of the area between the grates is required, as it will have been exposed to sufficient heat.

Electric Cooktop with Exposed Coils that Double as Grates
Electric coils become red-hot and are self-kashering. To kasher them, simply turn them on and wait until they become red. After kashering the coils, the area between the coils should be kashered by pouring boiling water from a kettle or a pot that was boiled on the stove. One can also cover the area well with foil.

Flat Glass (Smooth Cooktop)
The area directly over the burner (within the circle of heat) does not require kashering. However, if the pot is larger than the circle and something spills, the taste may transfer, requiring kashering. To kasher, turn on all of the elements to the  highest heat and heat a pot of water. Pour the boiling water over the hot burners while they remain on, ensuring that it spills onto the rest of the glass top. This will effectively make a hagalah with an even m’luben (scalding with hot stones).

Induction (Glass Cooktop with Electromagnetic Elements) 
An induction cooktop can be kashered with boiling water (like a glass top stove), or one can purchase an induction interface disk, which acts as a barrier between the nonkosher surface and your pot.