Warming Food on Shabbos
< Lesson 3: Serving Food From the Blech
Lesson 4: Putting Up Cholent in a Crockpot
In this fourth lesson about warming food on Shabbos (or Shabbat), Rabbi Rappaport discusses the laws of preparing a cholent in a crockpot.
There is a big difference between the two types of crockpots – that which sits on a flat base, and that which gets inserted into the heating element.
Crockpot Style 1: Pot Over Flat Base
A crockpot which sits on a flat base has exactly the same halachos (Torah laws) as a regular pot sitting on a stovetop.
Option 1: Cholent Fully Cooked Before Shabbos
The safest way to cook your cholent for Shabbos is to put up your cholent early enough so that when Shabbos arrives, it is completely cooked. In this case, a blech is not required but it is recommended to use one as a barrier between the heat source and the pot, in addition to covering the controls with a piece of tape or removing the knob.
Option 2: Cholent is At Least Half-Cooked Before Shabbos
A cholent that is at least half-cooked before Shabbos is considered edible, and so a blech is again not required, but recommended. However, if you choose this method, it is important to make sure that you do not uncover and recover the pot, as this will hasten the cooking process, which is a Torah prohibition on Shabbos.
Option 3: Cholent is Less Than Half-Cooked Before Shabbos
As long as the blech is present, it is halachically okay if the cholent is less than half-cooked at the onset of Shabbos. As in option 2, do not uncover the pot, as covering it again will speed up the cooking process, and is therefore prohibited. Again, a blech must be used!
Option 4: Cholent is Completely Raw Before Shabbos
You can prepare your cholent and plug in the crockpot right before Shabbos. There is no concern that you will touch the cholent till it’s fully cooked, so a blech is not required, but recommended. Again, do not remove the pot cover!
Crockpot Style 2: Crockpot with Insert
There is a machlokes (difference of opinions amongst the Rabbis) whether there is a problem when it comes to a crockpot with an insert.
The heating element comes up and surrounds the sides of the pot, rather than just being on the bottom. There are those that feel that because it’s surrounded by heat, it may not be used (due to the prohibition of hatmana, or insulation) unless there is some sort of object under the pot, like foil balls, an empty tuna can, or the like, that will raise the pot slightly, adding space so that it is not completely surrounded by the element.
According to those who hold that having the element surround the pot on all sides is not a concern, including Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, you should insert a piece of aluminum foil into the heating element and shape it so that it covers the whole inside of the element. This will serve as a blech – a barrier between the element and the pot.
If you want to follow both opinions, you can use the foil insert in addition to placing foil balls or a tuna can at the bottom.
After that, the laws are exactly the same as Crockpot Style 1 above.
Lesson 5: Friday Night Cholent >
Rabbi Pinchus Rappaport is a respected rabbi who received his Rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva of Staten Island, under the tutelage of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. He currently serves as a rabbi in Brooklyn, NY.
Since halachic opinions vary among the rabbis of different communities, Oorah and Rabbi Rappaport encourage you to direct any questions to, and get halachic guidance from, your local Orthodox rabbi. You may, however, rely on this video and email Rabbi Rappaport with questions in the interim, at askrpr2@gmail.com.
Shared as a zechus l’iluy nishmas Moshe Zeev ben Aryeh Leib
