Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of Warming Up Soufflé on Shabbos

Question

Last week, I couldn't find my blech. I remember learning in seminary that if one does not have a blech, they can still leave food on the fire as long as it is not cooked. However, after Shabbos, my neighbor told me that some of the contemporary poskim no longer rely on this leniency. Can the rov explain if we can rely on this?

Rav Auerbach 

Chazal decreed that one may not do shehiya, i.e., leave food on the fire over Shabbos, unless they do garuf or katum, removing or covering the coals beforehand (Shabbos 36b). The reason for this decree was so that one should not inadvertently stoke the coals underneath the pot (Shabbos 18b).

However, as you noted, if one is cooking a kedeira chaysa, literally a pot of raw food, garuf or katum is not required (Shabbos 18b, Shulchan Aruch 253:1). Chazal understood that since the raw food will not be ready for the upcoming meal, a person generally would not stoke the coals under such a pot of food, and thus they did not require garuf or katum.

It is cited in the name of my father, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbacgh zt"l, and my father-in-law, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt"l, that the heter of kedeira chaysa does not apply today (see Shevus Yitzchok 11:1). Perhaps the reason for this is because the methodology of cooking has changed significantly from what was practiced in the times of Chazal.

Before there were gas stoves, cooking went very slowly. If a person left a raw pot of food on the fire, it was a clear indication that he was not planning to use this food for the upcoming meal. Therefore, we can assume that when putting up the food, one has essentially decided that he will not be using this for the upcoming meal and we are not worried that he will stoke the coals.

With the advent of gas and electric stoves, the modernization of the cooking process changed the way people think when they put up food to cook. Since adjusting the flame has become part and parcel of the cooking process, and varying the level of heat can drastically change the cooking time, putting up a raw pot of food no longer implies that one will not use this food for the upcoming meal. Since we cannot verify that one has made the decision not to turn up the flame, we must be concerned that he might turn up the fire while cooking, and this is reason enough not to rely on the leniency of kedeira chaysa.