I discovered that milk spilled in my refrigerator. I don’t know when this happened, but I found milk in my pot roast. It is possible that the milk has been there for more than 24 hours, in which case the milk would be absorbed in the pot, as explained in a previous Halacha Yomis. I threw out the meat. Do I need to kasher the pot?

In this case, the pot does not require kashering. The Rama (YD 105:1) explains that when there is a question as to whether meat and milk were kavush (soaked together for 24 hours), we are lenient. This is because meat and milk that were kavush together are prohibited only on a Rabbinic level. (The Torah prohibition is violated only if milk is cooked together with meat.) For Rabbinic restrictions we apply the principal of “safek d’rabbanan l’kula” (we are lenient if there is a doubt involving a Rabbinic prohibition). Since in the case above there is uncertainty whether kavush occurred, the pot need not be kashered. Nonetheless the meat should not be eaten, because cooked meat is soft and absorbs milk even before 24 hours have transpired.

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