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    05 Nov KASHRUTH QUESTIONS: WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT FROM THE OU

    Posted at 18:08h in by
    0 Likes

    May I use a warming
    drawer on Shabbos?
    Warming drawers on Shabbos
    is indeed a serious issue. There
    are a number
    of things to
    consider. First
    of all, you
    have to make
    sure that if
    you’re putting
    cold food into
    the warming
    drawer, that
    food can’t
    become yad soledes bo. That means 120 degrees.
    So if your warming drawer can heat your food to
    that point, then you have a problem. If it’s not able
    to do that, there is much more room to be lenient,
    especially if the food is completely cooked and
    dry. So my basic answer for you is, if the food is
    completely cooked and dry and can’t really get to
    yad soledes bo, it’s fine. There is one other

    consideration, and that is the dial. When we have
    a blech on our stove on Shabbos, we’re not just
    supposed to cover the fire, we’re also supposed to
    cover the dial. So, if there’s a way to cover the dial,
    or even better just take out the dial, that would be
    good. If not, you should put a piece of tape over the
    dial as a reminder to not, chas v’shalom, move it on
    Shabbos or Yom Tov.

    What bracha do you make on wraps?
    Rabbi Belsky zt”l and Rabbi Hershel Schechter both
    paskan that one should say Hamotzi on wraps.
    The only time they were lenient, which is not
    very relevant, is if you’re eating a plain wrap with
    nothing in it. In general, there’s another factor you
    should take into consideration. That’s why we at
    the OU don’t certify what is sold as mezonos rolls.
    If you’re kovea seuda, which means that you’re
    turning it into a whole meal, even if it’s a mezonos
    for example, eating a tremendous amount of cake
    to where it would be a meal, you would have to
    make hamotzi on the cake. Certainly something
    like a mezonos roll or a wrap, if you’re making it

    into a meal for your lunch, aside from the fact that
    a wrap has the qualities of hamotzi, it should be
    hamotzi. That’s why we won’t allow the companies
    that make the airline meals that we certify to put on
    the wrapper of the roll that it’s mezonos. We get a
    lot of pushback for this, but we feel halachically that
    there is no compromise on this.