Tevillas keilim is only required if the equipment is wholly owned by a Jewish person (or persons). Tevillah is not required if the dishes etc. are completely owned by a non-Jew, such as when using hotel glasses, or when they are even partially owned by a non-Jew, such as when a facility has a non-Jewish partner. Please be in touch with Rabbi Eisenbach or Rabbi Katz if there is some question as to the true ownership of a given facility, such as if it is owned by a corporation with multiple shareholders, if it is managed by a non-profit, or if there is a special shtar Shabbos.
Tevillah should always be performed in a keilim mikvah. There are situations when it might be appropriate to perform tevillah in a mikvah intended for people, or in a lake or river. However, due to the many factors that must be weighed to determine if those venues are truly suitable for tevillas keilim, they should only be used as a last resort and only after consultation with Rabbi Eisenbach or Rabbi Katz.
A utensil which requires both tevillah and kashering, should first be kashered and then undergo tevillah. For tevillah, the entire utensil must be in the water simultaneously. [This is in contrast to kashering, where hag’alah can be performed separately on the different parts of the utensil.] The item undergoing tevillah must be free of chatzizos – items that block the water from having direct contact. This means that not only must all stickers and labels be removed before tevillah, but the person performing the tevillah should be sure not to grip the item too tightly when it is in the mikvah (for if he does, his hand will be a chatzizah).
The bracha of אשר קדשנו במצוותיו וצוונו על טבילת כלים is recited before tevillah begins. If more than one person will be performing tevillah, one person can recite the bracha for all of the participants. That said, if the only one doing the actual tevillah is a non-Jew, a Jew cannot recite a bracha for the non-Jew’s tevillah.
Tevillah is only required for items made of metal or glass, and this includes aluminum, cast iron, chrome, pewter, Pyrex, stainless steel, tin, and many other materials. Tevillah is not required for utensils made of cardboard, ceramic, cork, leather, paper, plastic, rubber, stone, Styrofoam, or wood. In this context, we note that Corelle plates and bowls require tevillah, while Corelle cups are made of ceramic/earthenware and do not require tevillah. China should have tevillah without a bracha. Disposable aluminum pans do not require tevillah regardless of how many times they are used.
Tevillah is only required for utensil which have food-contact. Therefore, a stovetop-grate does not require tevillah since it never touches food, and neither does the water-pan used with a chafing dish, but tevillah is required for a barbecue spit or the food-pan used with a chafing dish. The cover of a chafing dish must also undergo tevillah; although it seemingly does not have contact with the “actual” food, it is considered to have food-contact because of the considerable amount of steam that rises up from the food to the cover.
A glass cake tray requires tevillah even if the cake is always placed in cupcake holders or on a doily (i.e., and never touches the actual tray), because the doily etc. is considered tafel/negligible to the food. A can opener does not have (intentional) food contact, and therefore it does not require tevillah. The tray in a toaster oven or microwave, requires tevillah because people put food right onto them, but the chamber of those appliances does not require tevillah since they do not have (intentional) food contact. The following are some other examples of items which have no food-contact and therefore do not require tevillah: corkscrew, dishwashing basin, knife sharpener, and napkin ring.
A crock pot consists of three parts: a base which creates heat, a pot which holds the food, and a cover. The base does not require tevillah since it does not come into contact with the food. If the base is made of ceramic, tevillah is not required. If it is made of metal, then it must have tevillah. The cover of the crock pot is typically made of glass, and must have tevillah.
Tevillah is primarily required for utensils that have contact with food that is either “ready to eat” (flatware, plates), or that prepares the food to the point that it is ready to eat (pots, pans). If a utensil is intended for us with raw food but the same item could also be used for meal-ready food, then tevillah should be performed without a bracha. For example, a pair of kitchen scissors bought to cut raw meat will not be used with meal-ready food, but since there are some who use those scissors for cutting vegetables, tevillah should be performed without a bracha. There is a difference of opinion as to whether tevillah is at all required if the utensil can only be used raw foods (e.g., a rolling pin).
Peelers, graters, and food processors which will be used with meal-ready food (e.g., peeling carrots) require tevillah with a bracha. If they will only be used for foods that require further cooking (e.g. potatoes), then tevillah should be performed but no bracha should be recited. Colanders, skewers, and spatulas, are used with food that is fully cooked, and therefore they require tevillah with a bracha (assuming they are metal or glass).
Containers used for storage of food, and from which no one ever eats directly, should have tevillah without a bracha. Rav Schwartz has ruled that any electrical appliance that might get ruined as a result of tevillah, is excused from the requirement of tevillas keilim, and may be used without tevillah.