Soufflé and Sufganiyot

Question

I read the article about heating up soufflé on Shabbos with great interest. We often serve warm soufflé for the seudos and I wanted to clarify some points about it, but before I do, I wish to describe how we make soufflé.

We make cake batter and add a significant amount of margarine and chocolate to it. After the soufflé has been baked, it is completely solid at room temperature, but when it is reheated, the chocolate and margarine inside it melt, forming a runny liquid that looks like raw cake batter. This is considered the perfect way to eat this dessert.

It is very difficult to make a good soufflé, because in order for it to taste right, it has to be cooked for exactly the right time. If it is taken out too quickly, it will be too runny. If it is left in too long, it will be over-baked and will no longer become runny when it is reheated.

The rov said in the last teshuvah that one may reheat soufflé on Shabbos, since leaving the soufflé on for too long will ruin it. My question is that even though if it is left on too long the runny batter will get baked more, and then it is no longer soufflé, nonetheless, this could still be served as a dessert similar to soft brownies.

Even though we didn't plan on serving this dessert, since it still becomes a type of brownie, maybe leaving soufflé on for too long is not considered "ruining" it. Is this sufficient reason to forbid warming up the soufflé on Shabbos?

Also, would the same halacha apply to heating up medium rare steaks on Shabbos? Since many people eat their steaks medium rare or well done, perhaps we cannot consider the additional cooking to have ruined the steak.

Thank you,

Rabbi Ari Maman,

Yerushalayim

Rav Auerbach 

In order to clarify your question, we must deal with a number of issues:

1. Does the issur of bishul after bishul of reheating fluids apply to viscous substances like jelly or soufflé batter?

2. Even if there is an issur of bishul after bishul with jelly, does it make a difference if the jelly is inserted into a solid, e.g., heating up a sufgania (doughnut) or a soufflé?

3. If we consider the soufflé batter to be a solid substance, which the issur of bishul after bishul does not apply to, will it make a difference if after heating it, the batter becomes runny?

4. If it is not forbidden to heat up a viscous substance, is there an issur to heat up soufflé on Shabbos, when this may cause the batter to become more baked?

5. Is there an issue of nolad to heat up a soufflé if the batter becomes runny when heated?

Heating Up Sufganiyot on Shabbos

Before dealing with the question of soufflé, I would like to discuss inyonei deyoma, heating up sufganiyot, because some of the issues that we raised are relevant to this question as well.

My father, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l, was asked if warming up sufganiyot, jelly doughnuts, on Shabbos is an issue of bishul on Shabbos, since the jelly inside will get heated up. Even though the jelly was once cooked, if we classify jelly as a dovor lach, a liquid, then there is a question of chillul Shabbos to re-cook it.

My father replied that there are a number of reasons why it is permitted to heat up these sufganiyot. First, since the jelly is not runny like water, it is possible that jelly may not be classified as a dovor lach but rather a dovor yaveish, a solid food. Furthermore, even if we were to view the jelly as a liquid, once the jelly is inserted into the doughnut it gets the status of a dovor yavesh and there is no longer a problem of reheating it.

My father-in-law, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt"l, disagreed with both of these sevaros. Rav Elyashiv ruled that since jelly is fluid, if there is a significant amount of jelly inside the doughnut (i.e., not merely a thin layer), it is forbidden to heat up sufganiyot on Shabbos (see Meor HaShabbos 2,8,[112], who cites these rulings).

In the case of the soufflé, the halacha would depend on how runny the batter is. If the batter is extremely runny, then even my father may have prohibited it. However, from what I understand, in most cases the filling of soufflé is not so fluid. Even if after heating the soufflé up it becomes very fluid, nevertheless, since it was a solid when it was put to heat up, in regards to the halacha of bishul after bishul we judge this as a solid and not a liquid (Mishnah Berurah 318,100). 

However, there are a number of other issues that are involved to properly answer your questions, and now that I have been shown how soufflé looks before and after it is cooked, I will be able to discuss the halachos of heating soufflé and other foods that appear to be "partially cooked" in more depth.

Summary

1. In regards to the halacha of bishul after bishul on Shabbos, it is not clear how we define viscous substances such as jelly and soufflé batter.

2. However, if the jelly or batter are fluid, but not like water, one can be lenient to heat them up if they are solid inside.

3. Based on this, my father permitted heating up jelly doughnuts on Shabbos.

4. There are other factors to consider when heating up soufflé. These will be discussed next week, when your questions will be answered in full.

   
   

   PART 2

   
   

   Two Types of Soufflé

   
   

   A few weeks ago, I was asked about heating up soufflé onShabbosand I ruled that it is permitted. I was since shown two types of soufflé that are commonly made, both containing large amounts of chocolate and margarine, which are mixed in with the batter made of flour and water. Consequently, when the soufflé is reheated, the batter becomes soft and runny. Based on what I was shown, I must modify this ruling:

   
   
   
   

   The first type of soufflé is fully baked and has a piece of chocolate inserted on top of it. When this fully baked soufflé is heated up, the chocolate on top of the soufflé melts. Since the batter is fully baked and the chocolate on top was previously cooked, one may heat up this soufflé onShabbos. However, I also saw a half-baked soufflé, where the inside of the soufflé remains batter-like after baking it. When one heats up this type of soufflé, additional cooking takes place in the half-baked batter. I believe that this additional baking may be consideredmelechasbishulonShabbos, as I will explain in thisteshuvah.

   
   
   
   

   Soft-Boiled and Hard-Boiled Eggs

   
   
   
   

   In order to clarify thishalacha, I would like to discuss a similar question. My father, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, was asked if it is permitted to place a soft-boiled egg into akli rishhononShabbos. Inside thekli rishon,the egg will change from being soft-boiled to hard-boiled. Since many people eat soft-boiled eggs and the egg is currently fit to eat, perhaps there is noissur bishulto put the soft-boiled egg into akli rishon.

   
   

   My father responded that there are two reasons why one should not put a soft-boiled egg into akli rishononShabbos.TheRambam(Shabbos9:6) writes that themelachaofbishulincludes hardening a soft item. Therefore, heating up a soft-boiled egg may be included in this prohibition.

   
   
   
   

   Furthermore, as long as the egg is soft-boiled, there is room to argue that it is not fully cooked. Practically speaking, when the soft-boiled egg sits in akli rishon, it gets cooked, and therefore this may constitutebishul(seeShemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah1,[169] andMe'orosShabbos2,9,13,40). 

   
   

   Just like the soft-boiled egg gets harder and cooked in akli rishon, when one heats up half-baked soufflé onShabbos, the batter gets both harder and more cooked. According to my father's reasoning, I believe it would be forbidden to heat up this half-baked soufflé onShabbos.   

   
   
   
   

   Ruined Food

   
   
   
   

   Once we have established that heating up soft boiled eggs is forbidden, we can move on to the next issue. Is this additional baking considered improving or ruining the soufflé, and are we worried that heating up the half-baked soufflé will definitely causebishul?

   
   

   TheMishnah Berurah(318:91) cites two reasons why there is noissurto leave analuntisor akli oferesnear a fire onShabbos. One reason is that they will get ruined if left by the fire for too long. Additionally, because they will get destroyed, one will not leave them for the duration of time that it will take to get cooked.

   
   

   At first glance, we could compare heating up the half-baked soufflé to these cases, since this soufflé will seemingly get ruined if it is left near the fire for too long, and thus a person will not leave it on the fire. However, I do not believe that this is a valid comparison. In the two cases that theMishnah Berurahcites, the items will get completely destroyed if they are left near the fire for too long. Since they will get ruined, we are not concerned that he will do this and it is permitted to leave them near the fire.

   
   

   Half-baked soufflé is different. If this soufflé is heated up and the batter-like dough gets more baked, it is not considered ruined. Even though the person who put the half-baked soufflé on the fire did not want this and would prefer the soufflé to be moist in the middle, we cannot consider the soufflé to be ruined. I am sure that there are other people like myself who would gladly eat such a soufflé and would not be bothered in the slightest if the soufflé dough got hard.

   
   
   
   

   International Soufflé Consensus

   
   
   
   

   I understood from the initial letter that I received that most, if not all, of the world eats this second type of soufflé half-baked. This may be the case, but thehalachaofbishulonShabbosdoes not take into account that people in the world decided to eat this soufflé half-baked. Since the dough is going from half-baked to fully-baked, this is considered to bebishul.Even if there is only a small level of change from half-baked to slightly more baked, this is still considered to bebishul.

   
   

   The definition of baking is not determined by soufflé that people eat half-baked. Rather, it is established by the broader spectrum of cake, which is considered to be fully-baked when the dough is no longer batter. Even a gooey brownie that could technically be considered fully-baked should not be heated up onShabbossince the brownie will get more baked.

   
   

   There is another important point that must be added. Heating up half-baked soufflé will inevitably cause a slight increase in the level of the baking. I do not believe that even the most sophisticated soufflé connoisseurs would consider this relatively small level of extra baking to be "ruined”, yet is still considered cooking. For this reason, we cannot apply the argument that the food will be ruined as grounds to permit heating up half-baked soufflé onShabbos.

   
   
   
   

   Rare Steaks in France

   
   
   
   

   Now that we have established that food must be classified as objectively fully cooked to permit heating it up onShabbos, we can move on to the question of heating up rare steaks onShabbos. We must determine if a rare steak is considered fully cooked or not. 

   
   

   TheGemaradescribes two levels of cooking. The first level ismaachal ben Derusa’i(Shabbos20a). Ben Derusa’i was a bandit who used to eat his food partially cooked, since he was running away from the authorities (Rashi). The second level ismevushal kol tzarko,which is fully cooked. Although someRishonimrule that it is permitted to reheat food that has been cooked likemaachal ben Derusa’i(Rashba, Shabbos40a), manyRishonimforbid this (Rambam9:3 - seeBiur Halacha318:4).

   
   

   I have heard that in France most people eat their steaks rare to medium rare. If their steak is cooked to the point that people from other countries would consider it well done, the French may not eat the steak. In my opinion, this does not change the status of the rare steakfrommaachal ben Derusa’ito fully cooked, and all of the people who eat their steaks like that are simply eating their food likemaachal ben Derusa’i.

   
   

   Based on the above, it is forbidden to reheat these rare steaks onShabbos.

   
   
   
   

   Soufflé Eaters - Beware

   
   
   
   

   Now that I have explained my ruling, I want to make a critical point. Even those who do not agree that there is anissur bishulto reheat half-baked soufflé onShabbos, there is a scenario where everyone will agree that heating up soufflé is anissur de'OraisaonShabbos. The scenario is the following:

   
   
   
   

   Some people purposely under bake their half-baked soufflé. The reason for this is because the soufflé needs to be reheated and they do not want to serve an overcooked soufflé, so they purposely undercook it to leave them some leeway afterwards to reheat it without it getting overcooked.

   
   
   
   

   Everyone will agree thatheating up the highly undercooked soufflé is a violation ofbishul de'Oraisa!! Since the people who under-bake their soufflé would not be willing to serve it in this current state as soufflé, when they heat it up onShabbosthey are transgressing the Torah prohibition ofbishulonShabbos.This is a very serious transgression and theissurof this practice should be publicized.

   
   
   
   

   Summary

   1. The definition of fully-cooked does not depend on what people decide is called fully cooked, but, rather, practically speaking, on whether this item can be cooked more, e.g., a cake being fully baked and a steak being well done. 

   2. Therefore, it is permitted to reheat soufflé that has been fully baked and is merely reheated on Shabbos, even if the piece of chocolate on top melts.

   3. However, it is forbidden to reheat soufflé whose batter has not been fully baked. Even though one does not have intention to bake the batter, since it does gets more baked, this is bishul on Shabbos.

   4. One should be especially careful if the soufflé was originally significantly under-baked, for this is definitely considered an act of baking on Shabbos and is unanimously prohibited.