Can I add water to my cholent?

amother

Natural

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 3:35 pm

If you have a blech in your Crock-Pot (which you should if you're turning it on right before shabbos) you can add water from the urn right into it using chazara rules. Simplest way (still may involve a helper) is take insert out, put in hot water without letting go of the pot, also making sure not to fleishig up your urn, return pot into lined crocpot base.

amother

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 3:38 pm

zaq wrote:

You can’t add tap water and in any case should never use hot water from the tap in cooking. Hot water leaches lead, copper and other toxins from the pipes. Use only cold tap water for drinking or cooking.

oh no I added from tap......
I dont know hilchos shabbos
and my husband doesnt either which bothers me but thats besides the point

amother

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 3:39 pm

amother [ Natural ] wrote:

what are chazara rules?

amother

Denim

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 3:39 pm

Why should it be raw right before Shabbos?
You can’t turn the tap to hot on Shabbos and you can’t add non-hot water to a hot cholent on Shabbos because it’s going to cook the water. You want to put an urn on and add hot water from there to your cholent. Lift it out of crockpot base before you add the water to it and don’t let go

amother

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 3:41 pm

amother [ Denim ] wrote:

thats what I read in a halacha book
what happens if someone forgets to turn on the urn before?

and why does crockpot base need to be lifted out?

amother

Tuberose

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 4:05 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

thats what I read in a halacha book
what happens if someone forgets to turn on the urn before?

and why does crockpot base need to be lifted out?

Because how are you going to bring the crockpot to the urn? You have to add water straight from the urn, not using an intermediate utensil like a cup or a ladle, and you can’t unplug either appliance.

Poor wording: you don’t lift out the base; you lift the crock out of the base (which is the part with the heating element.) the base stays put.

It’s much less of a hassle, physically and halachickly, to make cholent Friday afternoon so it’s edible by candlelighting, then put it on a blech with a kettle of water that’s been boiled before candlelighting.

ra_mom

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 4:06 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I made cholent on shabbos
I remember reading in by cookbook that it should be raw until right before licht bentch and then I should turn it on

shabbos morning it dried out and I realized idk if I can add water from the tap to it...

what do u do when ur cholent dries out? add hot water from the urn?
we forgot to plug ours in

You can add boiling water from the water urn to the cooked cholent. Not cool water/not from the tap.
Depending on the element and what you hold, you may need to have someone lift the pot off the element while you point the boiling water in, and then place back on the hot element. (I asked a shaila about lifting if I want to take out some cholent but leave it to stay hot for later, and was told we do not have to if it's cooked through.)

amother

Pumpkin

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 4:09 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

oh no I added from tap......
I dont know hilchos shabbos
and my husband doesnt either which bothers me but thats besides the point

You definitely can't add from tap.
Not knowing hilchos Shabbos is actually not besides the point. It IS the point.
There are a lot of good books available in English. Buy something and read a little every day or every time you have a few minutes. You won't have all the answers but you'll know when to ask a question.
Best of luck!

ra_mom

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 4:11 pm

amother [ Thistle ] wrote:

Your Cholent should be at least 1/3 cooked before Shabbos. You can add raw meat right before Shabbos but not raw veg or grains. To add hot water there are several conditions. It's best if you have a good halacha Sefer at home. We have the 4 volume set The 39 Melochos by Rabbi Dovid Ribiat

The halacha is that the cholent has to be 2/3rds cooked *OR* fully raw when shabbos starts.

ra_mom

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 4:11 pm

amother [ Thistle ] wrote:

The halacha is that the cholent has to be 2/3rds cooked (more than half) *OR* fully raw when shabbos starts.

Sb1234

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 4:13 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

what are chazara rules?

1. The food must be fully cooked
2. You have to have the intention to return it
3. You have to hold onto it the whole time (even with one hand while it’s on the counter is fine)
4. The food must be returned to a blech (a foil lining on the bottom of the crockpot is fine)
5. If the food is liquid it must still be hot when you return it (which it should be because you’re just taking it off and returning it quickly)

amother

Snowdrop

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 4:19 pm

It's complicated, a lot of people don't understand the concepts fully. There are lots of books in English nowadays about Hilchos Shabbos, and even if you DO know the halachos they are complex and we can all use a review!

The Problem

- We are not allowed to cook on Shabbos.

- Bringing cold or warm water to a hot temperature is cooking.

- Turning on the hot water tap is also cooking (because it causes more water to enter the hot water tank and cook).

Added Problem

- Liquid that is transferred from one container to another can change its status halachically

- Hot liquid stays cooked halachically ONLY while it is in the original container it was heated in

Solution

- Pour water that was heated before Shabbos and kept hot on Shabbos, directly from its original container (urn, kettle) directly into the pot of food which was heated before Shabbos.

(Note that if your cholent is fleishig, this may make your kettle 100% fleishig too.)

- If you don't have an urn on, you just have to take your cholent off or have burned cholent. There is no way to add uncooked water to a hot cholent on Shabbos without it being considered cooking.

General Note About Cooking Cholent

There are two acceptable ways of having food continue to cook on Shabbos:

1. Food is completely cooked (to an edible state, Maachal ben Drusa'I as argued about below) before Shabbos, just kept hot on Shabbos

2. Food is completely RAW before Shabbos, and contains a slow-cooking item (like raw meat) that takes so long to cook that one would not be tempted to stir it or otherwise hurry up the proceess

- Some people choose to completely cook their cholent in advance and just have it simmer all Shabbos (bonus: you can taste it)

- Some people choose to prepare their cholent, and add raw meat right before candle lighting (bonus: it is cooked fewer hours)

If your cholent does NOT contain meat, it is better halachically to cook it fully in advance.

Miri1

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 4:24 pm

Here is an article on cholent matters:

https://www.star-k.org/article.....ment/

It is a good idea to go through the basics of the halachos of bishul. They get complicated, and that's why we ask shaylos, but getting clear on the basic concepts will make things a lot easier.

You will see in the article above that there are differing opinions, and many considerations. Therefore, once you have the basics down (I'll post a good book for you later, when I get the proper name), it is a good idea to run it all by your rav.

zaq

Sun, Sep 19 2021, 5:01 pm

One plus—though some may see it as a minus—of having cholent fully cooked Friday afternoon is that folks can have a late-night cholent snack. Most people make way more cholent than they will consume at lunch, and some will throw out the leftovers. (I didn’t just say that, did I? Yes I did, because as painful as it is to say it and as wicked as I believe it to be to do it, this is a reality.) Why not make it possible for people to treat themselves to a portion or two Friday night?