Adding water to chulent on Shabbos

Hi,

One may add water to a chulent on Shabbos, if the water is poured from a kettle that has been on a blech. The chulent should be removed from the heat first and held by someone else while water is added, and then returned to the heat afterward.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:256)

[Note: The chulent pot should itself be on a covered flame, and the water in the kettle must be fully heated. Also, there is some debate regarding whether the lid must be placed atop the chulent before the chulent is returned to the heat. For a good collection of details/sources, look here.]

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Putting on a blech on Shabbat

Hi,

One who forgot to put the blech on a flame before Shabbat may put it in place on Shabbat, if the flame is so low that it will not heat up the blech to the point of making it like a coal. Heating the blech in this way would be an act of quasi-cooking, according to some authorities. If the flame is that high, one should not do this, other than in case of need.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:185)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Covering an urn for Shabbos

Hi,

May I cover my urn on Shabbos, to keep the water inside warm?

The sages of the Talmud were concerned that one who would try to keep food hot on Shabbos might become disappointed in its heat, and turn up the flame without remembering that it is Shabbos. Therefore, they created two decrees:

• One may not wrap a vessel containing food or water on Shabbos, if this would preserve or increase the current level of heat;
• One may not wrap a vessel containing food or water before Shabbos, if this would increase the level of heat.

Therefore, one may not wrap an electric urn in entirety before or on Shabbos; the water's heat increases on Shabbos, via the cumulative effect of the urn and its wrapping. However, one may wrap the urn if he leaves part of the urn exposed to the air, and this includes draping a cover in a way that it will not be flush with the walls of the urn.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 253:1, 257:8; Chayei Adam 2:2:5; Mishneh Berurah 253:49; Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 257:2, 4, 10)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Running hot water on Shabbat

Hi,

One may not run hot water on Shabbat, if this will cause cold water to enter the boiler and be heated. Doing so might even be considered intentionally heating the water that enters, since if the water wouldn't enter, he wouldn't have hot water later.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:33)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

If the blech falls off

Hi,

If a blech (see previous posts for a definition) falls off the burner, one may put it back in place, if:

1. It is not entirely off, and
2. Putting it back in place would not cause any part of the metal to be heated to the point of glowing.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 29-30)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Warming food in an oven on Shabbat

Hi,

Under certain circumstances, one may return fully cooked food to a covered stove on Shabbat. The cover is called a "blech".

For an oven, the equivalent of a blech is a box which is closed on all sides, in which the food is placed.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 26-27)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Blech on a gas stove

Hi,

Even if a gas burner is entirely open, such that the flame could not be raised, it must be covered if one wishes to leave food on the burner from before Shabbat. This is for several reasons, including:

1. We do not distinguish between burners which could and could not be raised, and
2. One might accidentally lower the flame and then raise it later.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 25)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Maachal ben Drusai, for water

Hi,

One must cook food to the stage of "maachal Ben Drusai" before Shabbat, in order to be allowed to leave it on a flame into Shabbat. "Maachal ben Drusai" is the stage of minimum edibility, generally gauged by halachic authorities as 1/3 or 1/2 of "full cooking". At this point, there is reduced concern that one might turn up the flame on Shabbat to speed up the food's cooking.

Regarding heating water, "maachal Ben Drusai" of 1/3 is when water reaches "yad soledet bo"; 1/2 is when it is slightly hotter. Full cooking is when it is bubbling hard.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 24)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A Shabbat kettle

Hi,

There is no need for any sort of blech for an electric kettle which heats water at a fixed, non-adjustable temperature.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:22)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Using a damp cup for boiling water on Shabbat

Hello,

One who uses a cup for boiling water, and then wishes to re-fill it, may find that there a few drops of cooled water remain along the walls of the cup.

One may re-fill the cup with boiling water, for two reasons:
1. The drops of water have already been heated, and so many authorities rule that the re-heating is not halachically significant;
2. One has no particular wish to heat up these drops of water.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 19)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Lemon and Onion

Hi,

Although one may place spices into a kli sheni [for a definition, please see previous emails] on Shabbat, one may not put lemons or onions into a kli sheni; these might not be in the category of "spices".

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:18)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kli Shlishi

Hi,

[As always, we note our disclaimer that the emails cite only the halachic authorities attributed therein, and other authorities will disagree.]

The vessel in which something is cooked on a heating element is called a kli rishon. If food is taken from a kli rishon and placed into another vessel, the second vessel is called a kli sheni. If food is taken from a kli sheni and placed into a third vessel, that vessel is called a kli shlishi.

Nothing cooks in a kli shlishi, and so one may put tea leaves into hot water in a kli shlishi.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 15)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Adding water to keep food from burning, on Shabbat

Hi,

One may add water to fully cooked food which is burning, on Shabbat, if:

a) The food is not actually on a heating element, and
b) The water has been heated to above yad soledet bo, and has not cooled much below that.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74: Bishul 13)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Moving food around on a blech

Hi,

If fully cooked food is already atop a blech which covers a heating element on Shabbat, and it is hot, one may move it laterally from a spot which is not actually over the heating element to a spot which is directly over the heating element.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:12)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Stirring the pot, Part II

Hi,

We have said that one may not stir a pot of fully cooked food which is atop a heating element on Shabbat, lest one think the food is cooked when it is not.

If the pot of fully cooked food is atop a blech [a layer of material covering a heating element], in a spot which is not over the heating element but only adjacent to it, then one may stir the pot.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Stirring the pot, Part I

Hi,

Stirring a pot of fully cooked food, which is atop a heating element, is prohibited rabbinically on Shabbat. Although it is biblically permitted, the Sages forbade it lest one think the food is cooked when it is not, and so violate a biblical law.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 8)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Re-heating a mostly-solid food on Shabbat

Hi,

A solid which has been cooked is said to remain cooked even after it cools, such that one may re-heat it on Shabbat without concern for a new act of cooking [assuming all other halachic concerns, such as the appearance of cooking, are addressed]. Regarding liquids which have been cooked and which have then cooled, though, there is significant doubt, and we rule strictly to prohibit re-heating.

Regarding a food which is mostly solid, but which contains some liquid, the sources are unclear. Therefore, one may not re-heat such a mixture, other than in very extenuating circumstances.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:7)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Salting hot food on Friday night

Hi,

One may not add salt to hot food which is in a vessel which had been on a fire [kli rishon], but once that food is placed into a new receptacle, one may add salt.

In truth, it may be argued that salt is not cooked even in a kli rishon, but we are strict regarding that circumstance.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Putting ketchup on hot food on Friday night

Hi,

There is a view suggesting that hot solid food, which was heated directly over a flame - like roast heated up in an oven before Shabbos - has the status of a kli rishon even after it is removed from the flame, as long as it retains its heat.

Further, there is a view suggesting that liquids which have already been cooked may not be re-heated on Shabbat, as this would be considered a new act of cooking.

However, one may pour ketchup on solid food which was heated directly over a flame and then removed, on Shabbat. Ketchup is considered a liquid, and we do not combine the two strict views mentioned above, to prohibit this; each view is subject to dispute.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

What is "yad soledet bo"?

Hi,

In kashrut and Shabbat, we say that food undergoes some level of cooking, and taste is absorbed, at a temperature called "yad soledet bo". Literally, this describes a temperature at which "one's hand would be scalded", such that one would pull his hand back from [unanticipated] exposure to that level of heat [Rashi Shabbat 40b]. What is this temperature, though?

Rav Moshe Feinstein tested this, and determined a lower bound of 43 degrees Celsius / 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and an upper bound of 71 degrees Celsius / 160 degrees Fahrenheit. In between is doubtful, and halachic rulings will depend on the issue involved.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai