Search results for: ""Blech""

Blech and Food Fully or Incompletely Cooked by Sunset
When using a blech (sheet of metal to cover fire source and controls), it is customary for food to be fully cooked (edible) before sunset (or before candle lighting for a woman) to avoid the temptation to stir the food or increase the heat to help the food cook more quickly.
Shabbat: How To Reheat
How To Reheat on Hotplate or Blech: Before Shabbat Begins
  1. Cover any cooking controls (knobs, switches, etc.) so no one adjusts them during Shabbat.
  2. Cover the heat source with a "blech" (sheet of metal). This will help prevent Torah law violations by serving as a reminder not to adjust the heat.                                      Note Some blechs also block the temperature controls, to help with the previous step.                                                                                                                                Note To use a hotplate, remove the control knob before Shabbat.
  3. Turn on the source of heat (hotplate, burner under the blech...).
  4. Put onto the hotplate or blech at least one utensil containing food or water.
How To Reheat on Hotplate or Blech: After Shabbat Begins
  1. Start with food that is fully cooked and solid (no liquids may be heated on Shabbat!). Note"Solid" food includes cooked meat with congealed jelly or cooked fish with jelly.
  2. Place the fully cooked dry food on top of the food- or water-containing utensil that had been placed on the heating appliance before Shabbat began. Remember not to put the fully cooked food directly onto the hotplate, blech, or other heat source after Shabbat begins (even if there is a separation between the heat source and food).
Note After sunset on Friday, you may not put any incompletely cooked food (whether hot or cold) onto the heated part of the heating appliance or move it from a cooler part of the blech to a hotter part.
NOteAt some time during Shabbat, someone must eat or drink from the food- or water-containing utensil that had been on the blech since before Shabbat began.
Returning Hot Soup or Cholent to Heat Source
To serve hot soup, cholent, etc., and then return the food to the hotplate, blech, or other covered heat source:
  • You may pick up the pot or utensil containing the food from the hotplate, blech, or other covered heat source, but you must not put it down, even to partially rest on a table or other surface;
  • You must intend to return the utensil and food to the hotplate, blech, or other covered heat source; and
  • You may not remove/serve food from the utensil while it is still on the hotplate, blech, or other covered heat source.
 
Heating Frozen Food
Frozen food is considered “dry” (unless it has ice crystals or frost on the outside) and, unlike liquids, may be heated (under some conditions) on Shabbat. See How To Reheat on Hotplate or Blech.
Preparing for Jewish Festivals
Here are some suggestions (they are NOT halachot!) of what to prepare in advance of Jewish festivals. Add or delete to suit your needs!
  
Candle Lighting
  • Check candle lighting time
  • Set the candles in their holders (and have matches nearby)
 
Set the Table
Set the table, including the challa and its cover
 
Kitchen Preparation
  • Sharpen knives
  • Tear paper towels
  • Refrigerator: Turn off or unscrew lights; disconnect any LEDs or fans
  • Turn on blech, stove, oven, etc., for whatever you will need
  • Set up hot water urn
  • Turn off stove, oven, if needed
 
Food Preparation
  • Thaw frozen meat, fish, and other food that might take hours to defrost before being cooked
  • Cook whatever can be cooked ahead of time
  • Squeeze lemons; do any other boreir-type preparations
  • Chill wine
  • Open bottles and cans that will be needed on the Jewish festival
 
Cleaning
  • Make beds
  • Sweep or vacuum
  • Dump garbage
 
Clothing
  • Do laundry
  • Empty pockets of muktza
  • For men, set out Jewish festival talit
 
Muktza
Check that nothing you will need is beneath a muktza item
 
Personal Care
  • Cut hair and nails, if needed
  • For men, shave or trim beard and mustache, if needed
  • Tear dental floss
  • Tear toilet paper or put out tissues in bathrooms
  • Open any new boxes of tissues
 
Electronics
  • Set heat or air conditioning
  • Turn on or off lights, or set timers for them
  • If desired, turn off or disconnect:
  • Alarms 
  • Cellphones and phones
  • Computers
  • Microwave detectors
  • Other electronics
Preparing For Shabbat
Here are some suggestions (these are NOT halachot!) of what to prepare in advance of Shabbat. Add or delete to suit your needs!
 
Candle Lighting
  • Check candle lighting time
  • Set the candles in their holders (and have matches nearby)
 
Set the Table
Set the table, including the challa and its cover and the wine cup.
 
Kitchen Preparation
  • Sharpen knives
  • Tear paper towels
  • Refrigerator: Turn off or unscrew lights; disconnect any LEDs or fans
  • Set up blech
  • Set up hot water urn
  • Turn off stove, oven
 
Food Preparation
  • Thaw frozen meat, fish, and other food that might take hours to defrost before being cooked
  • Cook whatever can be cooked ahead of time on Thursday night, Friday morning, or earlier in the week
  • Squeeze lemons; do any other boreir-type preparations
  • Chill wine
  • Open bottles and cans that will be needed on Shabbat
  • Prepare tea essence
 
Cleaning
  • Make beds
  • Sweep or vacuum
  • Dump garbage
 
Clothing
  • Do laundry
  • Empty pockets of muktza (or if there is no eruv, of everything!)
  • For men, set out Shabbat talit
 
Muktza
Check that nothing you will need is beneath a muktza item
 
Personal Care
  • Cut hair and nails, if needed
  • For men, shave or trim beard and mustache, if needed
  • Tear dental floss
  • Tear toilet paper or put out tissues in bathrooms
  • Open any new boxes of tissues
 
Electronics
  • Set heat or air conditioning
  • Turn on or off lights, or set timers for them
  • If desired, turn off or disconnect:
  • Alarms 
  • Cellphones and phones
  • Computers
  • Microwave detectors
  • Other electronics
 
Eruv
Check that the eruv (if any) is good
Introduction to Toveling: Utensils
Tevila is the Hebrew word for immersion.  You must tovel (immerse in a mikva or other halachically purifying water) new utensils made of metal or other materials that require tevila unless you know that they were:
  • Made by a Jew,
  • Sold by a Jew, and
  • Not owned by a non-Jew in between.
Toveling: Utensils: How To Tovel
To tovel a utensil, you may go to any kosher natural mikva (see section on natural mikvas) or to a mikvat keilim (a small mikva for utensils, often attached to the outside of a regular mikva building). To tovel several items, some of which require a blessing and some on which there is doubt whether a blessing is necessary, say the blessing over the item that requires the blessing and have in mind that the blessing will cover all the rest of your items.
Remember to remove all stickers, rust, etc., before you begin. Nail polish remover may help with stubborn stickers. Say the blessing al tevilat keilim and then let the item free fall through the water. Unlike with hagala, during which the item may be immersed in sections, when you tovel a utensil, the entire item must be in contact with the water at the same time, even if only for an instant.

Toveling: Utensils: What Gets Toveled?
Note The main halacha applies to metal utensils that will be used repeatedly.
Say the blessing al tevilat keilim on metal or glass items--including Pyrex, Duralex, and Corelle-- that come in contact with food. Items that require toveling include:
  • Bowls
  • Cups
  • Forks
  • Knives
  • Pans
  • Plates
  • Pots
  • Spoons
  • Storage containers (only if they are brought to the table).
The below chart is copied with permission from the Star-K (www.star-k.org):
 
 
Utensil Tevila Guideline   Utensil Tevila Guideline
Aluminum Pans, Disposable
if intended to be used more than once		 Tevila with Brocha Meat Tenderizer Hammer,
Metal		 No Tevila
Aluminum Pans, Disposable
to be used only once		 Tevila w/o Brocha Melamine No Tevila
Blech No Tevila Metal Cutlery Tevila with Brocha
Blender with metal blade on bottom Tevila with Brocha Metal Flour and Sugar
Storage Canisters		 Tevila w/o Brocha
Bone No Tevila Metal Pots Coated with
Teflon, Enamel or Plastic		 Tevila w/o Brocha
Brush, Pastry No Tevila Metal Spoon Specifically for Medicine Tevila w/o Brocha
Brush for Grill, Metal No Tevila Microwave Turntable, Glass Tevila w/o Brocha
Can Opener No Tevila Mixer Beaters Tevila w/o Brocha
Cans, Reusable Empty
if opened by a Yehudi		 No Tevila Paper No Tevila
China, Bone Tevila w/o Brocha Peeler, Vegetable Tevila with Brocha
China, Glazed Tevila w/o Brocha Plastic No Tevila
Colander, Metal Tevila with Brocha Porcelain Enamel Tevila w/o Brocha
Cookie Cutters, Metal No Tevila Racks, Cooling Tevila w/o Brocha
Cookie Sheets, Metal Tevila with Brocha Racks, Oven No Tevila
Cork Screw No Tevila Rolling Pins
Metal or Wood		 No Tevila
Corningware Tevila w/o Brocha Sandwich Maker Tevila with Brocha
Crockpot Ceramic Insert Tevila w/o Brocha Silicone No Tevila 
Crockpot Glass Lid Tevila w/o Brocha Sink Racks, Stainless Steel No Tevila
Crockpot Outside Metal Shell No Tevila Spatula, Metal Tevila with Brocha
Dish Rack, Metal No Tevila Stoneware Tevila w/o Brocha
Dishes, Ceramic Tevila w/o Brocha Stoneware, Non-Glazed No Tevila
Earthenware, Non-Glazed
Dull Finish, e.g. Flower Pot		 No Tevila Storage Utensils, Glass
not brought to the table		 No Tevila
George Foreman Grill Tevila w/o Brocha Styrofoam No Tevila
Glass
(including Pyrex, Duralex & Corelle)		 Tevila with Brocha Tea Kettle, Corelle Tevila with Brocha
Grater, Metal
used for foods that are ready to eat, eg, apples, onions		 Tevila with Brocha Toaster
which will not break		 Tevila w/o Brocha
Grater, Metal
used only for foods that need further cooking,eg potatos		 Tevila w/o Brocha Toaster Oven
rack & tray only		 Tevila with Brocha
Hamburger Maker Tevila with Brocha Trivet, Metal No Tevila
Hot Air Popcorn Maker, Metal Tevila with Brocha Waffle Iron Tevila with Brocha
Hot Water Urn, Metal Tevila with Brocha Warming Tray No Tevila
Knife, Arts & Crafts No Tevila Wood No Tevila
Knife Sharpener No Tevila Wooden Cask with
Metal Straps		 Tevila w/o Brocha
Meat Thermometer No Tevila    
Introduction to Shabbat: Cooking
Bishul B'Shabbat/Cooking on Shabbat
The Torah forbids cooking on Shabbat.   “Cooking” means making food edible by heating it to above 120° F (49° C).
Cooking includes:
  • You may not make a soft food hard (such as cooking an egg).
  • You may not make a hard food soft (such as cooking meat).
  • You may not, in any manner, heat (to 120° F or above ) liquids that you will drink or foods with liquids—such as sauces and gravies--whether fully cooked or not. 
Timing of Cooking
According to the Torah, you may eat food on Shabbat that had been placed on the heat source Friday afternoon but was not completely cooked by sunset.
ReasonNo action is being taken and the cooking will be completed by itself.
 
Kli Rishon and Kli Sheini
According to Torah law, food is only considered to be cooked if it has been directly heated from the heat source, such as a kettle on a fire or a pot on a flame (even if that utensil has been removed from its heat source). This is called a kli rishon.
Once you pour water from a kli rishon into a glass, the glass is a kli sheni. Some foods, such as an egg or tea, get cooked in a kli sheni (kalei bishul--easily cooked). These foods are forbidden by Torah law to be put into a hot kli sheni on Shabbat.
Exception Halacha allows spices and water to be “cooked” in a kli sheni.
NoteIf the water is less than 120° F, nothing gets halachically cooked in any kli, even in a kli rishon.
Reheating/Replacing to Heat Source
   1.    Do Not Reheat Food Unless It Is Halachically Dry.
This includes heating on a hotplate, stove, or oven and applies to even fully cooked food. Halachically dry means the food is solid at either the beginning or the end of the cooking, or both. To determine whether a food is liquid (and therefore may not be reheated on Shabbat), shake the container. If the food does not move around, it is considered to be solid. (For when solid food may be reheated, please see Shabbat: Reheating.)
   2.    To Replace Heated Food onto/into Its Heat Source (hachzara):
  • You must have taken it off with the intention of replacing it, and
  • You may not put the utensil down onto a surface; you must continue to hold the food (or the utensil) in your hand.
  • The heat source must be covered.
Reason Chazal were concerned that someone might see you put food on the heat, mistake it for actual cooking, and erroneously think that cooking is permitted on Shabbat.
Note You may not replace incompletely cooked food to a heat source.
Reason To do so would facilitate the cooking.
   3.    Do Not Put Food on a Heat Source that has Adjustable Controls.
This applies even to fully cooked food.
Reason You might adjust the heat and thereby violate a Torah law due to shehiya (stoking the fire or turning up the heat).
Note Shehiya is simple to avoid; just cover the flame (or electric heating element) and any temperature controls before Shabbat, as when using a blech (a metal sheet that covers the flames and controls). Then, on Shabbat, you may put fully cooked solid (but not liquid) food on top of other food (or utensils containing food) that were already on a blech from before sunset on Friday.
Reason Doing so does not look like you are cooking and the blech prevents you from adjusting the heat.
   4.    Do Not Insulate Food to which Heat Is Added.
You may not add insulation (which will help keep in the heat) during Shabbat to foods that are on a heat source, even to fully cooked foods, if they are “wet.” By rabbinic law, you may not apply heat to an insulated utensil—or apply any insulation that adds heat--even before Shabbat began and let it remain that way during Shabbat--even if the food was completely cooked before sunset on Friday.
Note Regarding food on a heat source, you may add insulation if there is at least one uncovered area at least the size of a quarter. Adding insulation on Shabbat is only a problem if the insulation completely surrounds the food or utensil on all surfaces and the top.