7) Question:Am I allowed on Shabbos to place a food that was cooked sous vide inside a hot pot of soup? 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. Discussion:Although there is no prohibition of bishul achar bishul, there is a prohibition of bishul achar afiya, i.e. cooking on Shabbos a food item that was roasted before Shabbos (discussed in Orach Chayim Siman 318 se’if 5). This means that even though an item that was fully roasted before Shabbos may be roasted again on Shabbos (if one manages to do this in a way that does not contravene the prohibition of chazoro) there still exists a prohibition to cook the food on Shabbos – e.g. by boiling it or (deep) frying it. The reason for this is because although it is permitted on Shabbos to repeat a cooking process that already occurred before Shabbos, because this has no Halachic significance, it is not permitted to subject the food to a different cooking process, which is Halachically significant, and thus forbidden. From a Halachic perspective, bishul (cooking) and afiya (baking/roasting) are different processes, and that is why there exists the prohibition to cook on Shabbos a food that was roasted before Shabbos, and vice versa, to roast on Shabbos a food that was cooked before Shabbos. Bishul is defined as cooking in liquid; e.g. boiling or frying, and is irrespective of whether we are discussing liquid that was added, or natural juices that are exuded by the food item itself, e.g. a piece of meat that exudes gravy. Tziliyah (roasting) and afiyah (baking) are both defined as cooking a food item without liquid. Returning to sous vide, as discussed above, the food item is cooked by vacuum sealing in a bag and then cooking it in a water bath. We need to determine if sous vide cooking is classified bishul (because of the surrounding liquid) or afiya (because the food item being cooked is not in actual contact with the surrounding liquid)? It is obvious that the classification of sous vide cooking is bishul as opposed to afiya, because even though the food item is not in direct contact with the surrounding liquid of the water bath, it is cooked in its own juices, and this constitutes bishul (similar to a piece of meat that cooks in its own juices without the addition of any additional liquid, and is classified bishul). One other point that needs to be considered is that in order to reheat a cooked food item on Shabbos one needs to ensure that it is fully cooked; otherwise reheating the food would constitute bishul which is certainly prohibited on Shabbos. To have the Halachic status of cooking, the temperature needs to be over yad soledes bo. Since sous vide is typically cooked at a lower temperature than in conventional cooking, care must be taken to ensure that the food item being reheated on Shabbos is in fact fully cooked, and that there does not exist the possibility that the food was cooked at a temperature lower than yad soledes bo before Shabbos, and is now being reheated on Shabbos to a temperature higher than yad soledes bo. Conclusion:Sous vide cooking is clearly defined as bishul and is thus subject to all Halachos pertinent to bishul. It would therefore be permitted on Shabbos to place a food item that was (fully) cooked sous vide before Shabbos inside a pot of hot liquid, because this is classified bishul achar bishul and permitted (even in a kli rishon as long as it is off the fire or heat source). |
Shabbos
Leave a Reply