Chullin 112

In yesterday’s essay, we talked about flavor that transfers when a food is hot. Specifically, we looked at hot fish placed into a bowl that previously contained meat. The temperature of the fish was relevant to that discussion because the normal assumption is that hot foods transfer flavor but cold foods do not. Indeed, when two cold (or room temperature) foods come into contact with one another, the regular rule is that no flavor has been imparted. The foods can simply be rinsed off and consumed (separately).

But anyone who has marinated items in the fridge knows that flavor can transfer at cooler temperatures. On yesterday’s daf, the rabbis identified salting and pickling as exceptions to the ordinary rule that cold foods don’t transfer flavor. Shmuel notes that when a food is salty, we do assume it transfers flavor — even at a low temperature.

Today’s daf relates an incident that helps us probe further:

There was a certain young bird that fell into a jug of kutah (a salty dairy food). Rav Hinnana, son of Rava of the city of Pashronya, permitted the bird. Rava said about this: Who is wise enough to discern reasons to permit the food in difficult cases like this, if not Rav Hinnana, son of Rava of Pashronya? He maintains that when Shmuel said that a salted food imparts flavor like a boiling (i.e., hot) food, that statement applies only to a food so salty that it is not eaten due to its salt, but this kutah can still be eaten despite its salt.

One might have thought that the salty kutah imparts flavor to the bird that fell in, even at low temperature, but Rav Hinnana teaches that this principle of Shmuel’s doesn’t apply unless a food is very salty. Specifically, to transfer flavor while cold, it must be so salty that it cannot be consumed in its current state. (Why would anyone salt food to the point that it’s inedible? Rashi gives the example of meat that’s been overly salted to preserve it and must be washed off before consumption.) A food like kutah, which has some salt but can be eaten as is, does not fall within the scope of this rule. Therefore, this case is like any other scenario of cold contact: Once the bird has been cleaned off, it’s completely edible.

The Gemara adds some caveats to this ruling:

And this statement applies only if the bird is raw. But if it is roasted, it requires peeling. And if it has cracks, it is entirely forbidden. And if it has been flavored with spices it is likewise entirely forbidden.

The Gemara points out that an item’s texture and permeability influence our view on whether it absorbs flavor, and how much. While a raw bird carcass isn’t thought to absorb flavor at low temperature, once cooked, the bird has become softer and more absorbent — therefore, one must peel off its outer layer, which we assume absorbed kutah flavor, and the rest is permitted. Further, if the bird is full of cracks, then the kutah will seep through the cracks and be absorbed throughout the bird, rendering it entirely forbidden. Similarly, Rashi explains that spices render the meat more absorbent, so that the kutah will spread throughout the entire bird. 

These rules add nuance to our understanding of how cold contact functions and under what circumstances flavor can spread. While the rule of thumb — hot transfers flavor, cold does not — is a good starting point, it is also an oversimplification. We also have to factor in how long items have soaked together, how heavily they are salted and how soft and absorbent they are. Only then can we rule whether a food has absorbed forbidden flavor.

Read all of Chullin 112 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on August 20, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.