Electric ignition&gas stove--do you use a blech on yom tov?

zaq

Mon, Jun 17 2019, 6:28 pm

A "heat sink" is an object or material that absorbs heat and keeps the temperature of something else down. If you had a blech on a flame all by itself, the blech would get hotter and hotter and become ever more dangerous. When you put a pot of water on the blech, the water will absorb heat and evaporate as it simmers even if it doesn't reach a roiling boil. Thus, the temperature of the blech and the stove under it will stay more or less level until the pot goes dry. Once the pot goes dry, there's nothing to absorb the heat, the temperature of the blech rises, and you're back in trouble territory. The heat sink doesn't totally eliminate the hazard but it does lessen it.

You do have to make sure the edges of the blech don't touch anything remotely combustible, because even with a heat sink, the blech can conduct enough heat to scorch or even ignite materials like wood , cloth, paper and plastic, especially if it remains in contact with them for a long time. And many cabinets and counters are covered with laminate that is nothing more than polyurethane-impregnated paper.

BetsyTacy

Mon, Jun 17 2019, 6:39 pm

Thank you zaq! I always felt it was safer to keep my 8 qt pot filled with water on top of my blech, even on yuntif, when I don't need to use it for kdairah al gabei kdairah. Now I know why.