Question:Regarding the prohibition of bishul akum on food cooked sous vide, does it make a difference if the food is finished off in a conventional pot or on a grill after being cooked sous vide? Introduction:Sous vide is French for ‘under vacuum’, also known as low temperature long time (LTLT) cooking and is a method of cooking in which food is vacuum-sealed in a bag or placed in a plastic pouch or glass jar and cooked in a water bath for longer than usual cooking times (usually 1 to 7 hours) at a precisely regulated temperature. The temperature is much lower than usually used for cooking, typically around 55°C to 60°C for meat, and higher for vegetables. The intent is to cook the item evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside, and to retain moisture. Bishul akum is the rabbinic prohibition to eat a food item that has been cooked by a non-Jew. Bishul akum was only decreed on foods that meet the following two criteria: the food is inedible while raw, and the food is “oleh al shulchan melochim” literally “served at a royal banquet” (Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De’ah Siman 113 se’if 1). The exact definition of “served at a royal banquet” is subject to much discussion among the Poskim; some understand this definition literally, and some understand it to mean a food dish that is served at a respectable and formal meal. Discussion:We have previously discussed and clarified that whether or not sous vide cooking poses an issue of bishul akum depends on the temperature that the food was cooked at: If the food was cooked at a temperature of at least yad soledes bo, which for the purposes of this discussion is any temperature of at least 45°C, the food is subject to bishul akum because sous vide cooking is classified bishul. However, food that is cooked sous vide at a temperature less than 45°C, as can be the case with fish cooked tender, is not subject to bishul akum, because this temperature is not Halachically classified as bishul. Regarding food prepared by pickling or salting, which is not forbidden because of bishul akum, the Tur (ibid) adds another dimension to this permissibility and says that even if the food is subsequently cooked (i.e. after picking pickled or salted) it is still permitted, because the pickling or salting did not forbid the food, and now when the food is cooked it is akin to cooking an edible food item which is not an issue of bishul akum (as discussed earlier, one of the basic conditions of bishul akum is a food that cannot be eaten raw). The Shulchan Aruch rules (Yoreh De’ah Siman 113 se’if 12) that fish that were salted and then roasted by a non-Jew are permitted. The Taz (s.k. 12) explains that since the food was rendered edible with salting, there cannot be a prohibition of bishul akum if a non-Jew subsequently cooks the food. This is because salting (which is not classified as cooking) is not subject to bishul akum, and when the food was subsequently cooked it was already edible and therefore can no longer be forbidden because of bishul akum. Therefore even if a food such as fish was cooked sous vide at a temperature less than yad soledes bo and then “finished off” in a conventional pot, or on a grill, it is still permitted and does not pose an issue of bishul akum. The reason for this is because the initial sous vide cooking at a temperature less than yad soledes bo is not a problem of bishul akum (because this is not Halachically considered cooking) and the subsequent “finishing off” is effectively cooking an edible food item, which also is not prohibited because of bishul akum. Conclusion:Not only is sous vide cooking at a temperature of less than yad soledes bo not a problem of bishul akum, even if the food was “finished off” after being cooked sous vide in a conventional pot, or on a grill, it will not become prohibited because of bishul akum, since it is already edible before the “finishing off”. |
Bishul Akum
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