Question:
We recently got a hot air popcorn popper. My question is whether or not it has to be toveled? If it is of any help, the machine basically is a metal cup to hold the popcorn kernels. The bottom of the cup has holes like a strainer. Hot air blows up through the holes and heats the kernels. When the kernels pop they also fly out of the metal cup into a separate dish (not part of the popper). If it is relevant, the instructions say that the unit cannot be put it water and doing so will cause it to malfunction and void the warranty. If necessary I may be able to disassemble it and take out the metal cup and tovel just that part.
Answer:
Essentially the popper should be toveled, and unless it has a computer chip, which isn’t likely, you can tovel it and nothing will happen to it. Just put it in the sun or in a warm place for a few days or use a blow dryer to dry it out, until all of the water inside the popper evaporates and it will be fine. If you want to take the popper apart and only tovel the metal cup you can. The fact that kernels fly out of the popper as they are popping would cause that the popper should be toveled without a bracha, since the contact between the popper and the kernels was only when they weren’t edible.
