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Forum -> Household Management -> Kosher Kitchen
Teach me how to use my stovetop blech!



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amother
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Post Sat, Jul 30 2016, 3:33 pm
We just switched from an electric hotplate to a stovetop blech over a gas stove. Can anyone tell me how to use it? Halacha I know, but how do I get the food to stay hot? I tried with the gas on lowest and only right over the fire was hot, everything else seemed hot-ish. How high do you put the gas on when you are using the blech? Also, when I put col food on it on shabbos morning (on an upside down pan) the cold food seemed to cool the whole blech down and it took ages to reheat, then the food didn't get so hot, even the food directly over the flame.
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Rutabaga




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Jul 30 2016, 10:29 pm
For Friday night, you need to heat up the food before putting it on the blech. I heat my soup on the stove and as soon as it's boiling I move it off and put the blech up. I leave a back burner on at a medium heat. I put the soup pot back on slightly offset from the flame. Everything else gets heated up in the oven and transferred to the blech right before I light candles. Arrange the food so that anything that is best eaten hot is closer to the flame and things that are ok slightly cooler are further away. Then cover the food with towels to keep the heat in. I have something like this that I received as a gift and it works pretty well: http://www.worldofjudaica.com/.....vers. Just make sure that the towel/cover is not touching the blech directly or it may catch fire. BTDT.

For shabbos lunch, I use an upside down frying pan to heat my kugel. It conducts heat well and is shallow enough that the heat gets to the food. I place it close to the flame with the handle off the blech. You have to give the food long enough to heat up. It takes a while. I never put chicken on the blech itself. I always put it on the counter right next to the flame and rotate it every so often so the whole dish gets pretty warm.
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amother
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Post Sun, Jul 31 2016, 2:24 am
Thanks Rutabaga!

So I was putting the food on hot on erev shabbos and it stayed quite hot but not as hot as I would have liked, but I did have the gas on the smallest flame.

I'm thinking that if I leave the flame on medium then I should be able to put two or three dishes on the blech and keep them hot. How long on shabbos morning do you think the food needs? I was doing 1.5 hours - which was plenty for the electric hotplate - but maybe it needs more?

Also how come you don't put the chicken on the blech? If it's getting just warm aren't you worried about food poisoning?
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Rutabaga




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 31 2016, 2:32 am
1.5 hours should be fine.

I don't put chicken on the blech for lunch because either it's saucy and too liquidy to heat or it's breaded and I don't want it to dry out. I've never had an issue with people getting sick.
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amother
Azure


 

Post Sun, Jul 31 2016, 4:19 am
I leave a back burner on with a medium-high flame so that the whole blech is hot. I heat the soup before Shabbos starts and put it close to the flame since we eat it first. The rest of the food goes on the blech either straight from the fridge or room temperature and gets moved closer to the fire when the soup comes off. It's always nice and hot when I serve it. Shabbos morning, I heat the food up on top of the cholent pot, which is very close to the fire. No problem with it not getting hot on time.
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amother
Blue


 

Post Sun, Jul 31 2016, 4:30 am
So I must have been leaving the flame too low. Thanks all! Next week we will try again Wink
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