Shabbos hot plate question

Posted: Mon, Feb 27 2012, 4:58 am Post subject: Shabbos hot plate question

I am sooo embarrassed to ask this, because maybe we've been doing the wrong thing all this time. Are you allowed to put food from the fridge onto the hotplate on Shabbos morning? If not, how do you warm your food for Shabbos lunch?

Posted: Mon, Feb 27 2012, 5:00 am Post subject: Re: Shabbos hot plate question

Posted: Mon, Feb 27 2012, 5:09 am Post subject: re: Shabbos hot plate question

I knew about liquid, although for sephardim a sauce is fine. Our guest said even without liquid it's assur? He said it has to be left on the hotplate all of shabbos, not taken from the fridge.

Are timers okay for hotplates?

Gold Member Joined: Jan 11 2011 Posts: 1164

We use timers every week. It goes off about 1/2 after after we finish the cholent.
YOu use a timer for your electricity, air conditioning etc. too.

Gold Member Joined: Aug 24 2010 Posts: 1464

You are allowed to heat up food on the hotplate, but I don't think you are supposed to put food from the fridge DIRECTLY on the hot plate - generally, you should put it onto something else that is cooking there anyway (like the cholent pot, or a kettle of water). I don't know if everyone holds like that, but I was told that is the most okay way to heat things up.

That aside, I can't stand guests who think it is okay to criticize the way you run your home and question your halachic standards... even if they're right. It kind of gives the impression that if I had known how you run your kitchen, I never would have come!

Diamond Member Joined: Sep 16 2007 Posts: 4185

there are lots of different opinions on this - if you can put things directly on the plate or only on top of another pot, if it must be dry or if you can even heat up soup - you really need to ask your own rav.
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Posted: Mon, Feb 27 2012, 6:46 am Post subject: re: Shabbos hot plate question

I agree there are lots of opinions. Our Rav holds there is no point in the metal grate, either you need to put it on something significant (overturned pan, not cookie sheet, etc), or just put it straight on. He holds the plata doesn't "look" like cooking because there are no temperature controls and people never cook directly on one, it is only for heating, but there may be a problem with direct heating, thus the overturned pan.
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Posted: Mon, Feb 27 2012, 7:04 am Post subject: re: Shabbos hot plate question

Which is why I was taught there are different opinions. We don't use a hotplate but a blech, a piece of aluminum that goes over the whole top of the stove and we don't put anything directly on the area that is on or right next to the fire, it's a question of yad soledes, not to heat up anything "too hot". There are those who put in only dry, some with a bit of liquid that it tofel, others put in dry but if they have hot water that has been on the blech and is always hot they can add that to the solid to keep it from sticking (like in rice) not to make "gravy" or anything like that.

And there are those who won't put anything on the plata or blech if it wasn't there from erev shabbos.
All this, again for ashkenazim. Sefaradim do it differently.
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Posted: Mon, Feb 27 2012, 10:20 am Post subject: re: Shabbos hot plate question

I learned that you can heat up something that has a little congealed fat/sauce on it on the plata even though it will liquify since it is solid at the time you put it on.

Diamond Member Joined: Sep 16 2007 Posts: 4185

so we can once again prove the adage: 2 Jews; 3 opinions.

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48136

there are varying hanhogos. does your plata have a heat control?

I attended a shiur on the dinim of the plata which was a few sessions long. If you don't have that available, yu should at least have a conversation with your rov about it.

Silver Member Joined: Jun 08 2010 Posts: 527

Ask your Rav.
From what I understand, you can't put anything cold on a direct source of heat. You can use a pan or oven rack-slightly raised and it's not directly on. I totally understand your embarrassment though because I had the same situation. We looked into it and yes, you need to use something on top. Friday night you can put it on before shabbos and as long as it's warm before shabbos you can put it directly on the plata.

Timers- we used one until recently. DH learned that R' Moshe Feinstein says timers can be used for lights etc, but not for cooking. I don't understand it myself, but we hold by R' Moshe. You should have a Rav in general because you will have many questions in future, it's just part of a Jewish home.

Diamond Member Joined: Dec 18 2005 Posts: 2906

I never knew about the timers.....
anyone know why its ok for lights but not for hot plates? dh likes to set the timer especially in the summer because the kitchen gets so hot.
I know ppl use timers for air conditioners, electric nursing pumps, and things like that.
is it only problematic for cooking?

I will probably ask my rabbi too, but the response here is faster Smile

Posted: Tue, Feb 28 2012, 8:41 pm Post subject: re: Shabbos hot plate question

My recollection is LBD (main Ashkenazi orthodox group, comparable to OU) actually recommends using the timer on plata, so you put cold non-liquid food straight from the fridge to a cold plata whose timer is not turned on yet. You set the timer so that the plat turns on automatically after the food is already placed. Some people do put a blech/foil underneath.

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48136

Rov Moshe held that way years ago because timers were not a usual thing to use in someone's home. Today, they are more commonplace and many rabbonim allow their widespread use.

As far as a plata, you will get the gamut of replies. Some say anything can go on it, and others will say noting can go on it. You need to ask your rov how your community holds. You don't wants guests coming to your house and refusing to eat.