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Question
Two practical she’elot come up regarding fish and meat: (1) Can fish be cooked in an oven at the same time as meat that is uncovered? (2) Can fish be cooked in a pan that was used for meat?
Answer
The Gemara in Pesahim (76b) is the mekor for not eating fish and meat together, calling it a sakana. The Tur (YD 116) brings this Gemara and explains the sakana can bring on tzaraat. The Rambam does not bring this halacha at all, and the Hatam Sofer (YD 101) writes that nishtaneh hateva — the world has changed — so this is no longer a concern today. Still, Maran in the Shulhan Aruch (YD 116:2) says that it is assur, and our minhag, following Maran, is to be stringent.
Regarding the oven: Maran (YD 108:1) holds that rehah alone — smell, without actual taste — does not make the food assur. The Rema (YD 116:2) brings this Halacha regarding fish and meat at well. Lechathila, one should still not place uncovered fish and meat in the same oven together. Bedi’avad, if it already happened, the food remains muttar, since rehah alone is not enough to make it assur. (Yalkut Yosef Issur V’Heter, vol. 2-3, p. 321). If either the fish OR the meat are covered, there is no transfer of rehah, and they may be placed in the oven together lechathila.
Regarding the pan: the Taz (YD 95:3) is concerned that beliah — absorbed taste — could itself be a problematic sakana. But most poskim disagree, reasoning that there is no sakana from a mere beliah. Shu“t Yabia Omer (YD 4:3:1) says that the minhag is to wash the pan well after meat, and then it may be used for fish, even if the pan is ben yomo.
If the pan is not clean, the Aharonim disagree about whether it is batel b’shishim or sakana is more stringent than regular issur and would not be batel. The Shach (Nekudot HaKesef 1) holds that it is batel b’shishim, and this is the accepted halacha (Yabia OmerYD 1:7:1; Kaf Hahaim 116:12).