Cooking on Shabbat

QUESTION:

Dear Rabbi Maroof,

Hopefully you can answer these questions before this Shabbat.

1) In our home, we use an electric Shabbat warming plate to keep food warm; recently, I was reading about hatmanah and it only confused me. Please tell me if the following is halachically correct -- here's what we usually do: on top of the electric plate we place a pot with water -- this pot is covered with the lid inverted so that on top of it we can place a pot with food (this way the pot with food doesn't get too hot overnight). The pot containing the food is covered with a lid as well. Are we violating the laws of hatmanah by covering either pot with a lid?

2) My understanding is that dry, solid items can be reheated on Shabbat. Does rice fall into this category? I've heard contradicting opinions about this. Usually, we put the rice in the refrigerator Friday night and take it out again on Saturday morning to reheat it on the electric plate. Part "B" of this question would be, should we be concerned about the water droplets that form in the rice pot when take out of the fridge and then we reheat it in the hot plate? Is this considered reheating a liquid?

3) Can baked plantains be reheated on the plate? They are solid, but when baked in foil, they look soggy.

Thank you for your time!

Joseph


ANSWER:

Dear Joseph,

1) This is no problem. The restrictions on Hatmana, or insulating, only apply when the pot is entirely surrounded by insulating material. Covering the top of a pot would not be included in this prohibition.

2) Rice can be taken out of the refrigerator on Shabbat morning and placed on an electric hotplate for warming. If condensation has created water droplets in the pot, one should either dry them or move the rice to a dry container for reheating.

3) Just for clarity's sake, let me explain that the reason that reheating liquid is treated more stringently than reheating solids is the following: When we cook a solid for the first time, we affect a real change in the substance of the food. Even after the food item cools off, it remains permanently transformed by virtue of the cooking process to which it was subjected. Subsequent reheating of the dish, which merely raises the temperature of the food but has no other significant impact on its quality, is clearly differentiated from the act of cooking and is therefore permissible under certain conditions.

On the other hand, the only difference between, for example, cooked and uncooked water, is the temperature of the water. If I cook water and then it cools, it has reverted to its original state. Reheating it is identical to cooking it for the first time. Therefore, reheating liquids is not permitted on Shabbat - it would be tantamount to cooking liquids.

Some foods have a soggier quality than others when cooked or reheated. However, as long as they are solids, these foods can be reheated on Shabbat without compunction.

Best Regards,

Rabbi Maroof