Timers for shabbat/chag (food)

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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, Fast Days, and other Days of Note

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Do you use a timer for warming food?

yes

71%

[ 23 ]

28%

[ 9 ]

Total Votes : 32

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 2:45 am

Its very interesting for me to read so many people asking how to warm things up on shabbat or chag and not know about a shabbat timer.
So this is just a curiosity thing but do you use a timer on shabbat? Ive been married a long time and we have used a shabbat timer almost from day one. To me its so obvious. This way the heat isnt coming off the plata all shabbat and its not pulling electricity all shabbat or chag.

essie14

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 2:47 am

Yes, I have always used a timer. I feel it's not safe to have the plata on for a whole day or multiple days.

moonstone

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 3:02 am

essie14 wrote:

Yes, I have always used a timer. I feel it's not safe to have the plata on for a whole day or multiple days.

Yup. Same here.

amother

Goldenrod

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 6:14 am

For shabbos we have our hot plate on a timer to just be on at night.
Chag we use a flame on the stove since I like to cook fresh, but I'm gonna leave a crockpot on a timer to cook 1 meals food

amother

Moonstone

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 6:16 am

I set a timer primarily because the heat makes the house hot!

BadTichelDay

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 6:58 am

We use timers. I'm a fire-hazard-o-phobe and wouldn't want anything with a heating element on unwatched throughout the night.

amother

Jetblack

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 7:14 am

Our rav holds we can't use timers for anything but lights (except for necessary medical things like nebulizers.)

ra_mom

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 7:37 am

Been using it throughout.

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 7:56 am

amother [ Jetblack ] wrote:

Our rav holds we can't use timers for anything but lights (except for necessary medical things like nebulizers.)

interesting. Do you know the reasoning?

amother

Goldenrod

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 8:04 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

interesting. Do you know the reasoning?

I believe Rav Moshe paskened this way

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 8:06 am

amother [ Goldenrod ] wrote:

I believe Rav Moshe paskened this way

I wasnt asking who, I was asking what the reasoning is, only for lights and not food?

amother

Goldenrod

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 8:47 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

I wasnt asking who, I was asking what the reasoning is, only for lights and not food?

I think the limit was because otherwise we could automate everything and then what would shabbos be? We don't hold that way, but my husband did look into it

essie14

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 8:59 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

I wasnt asking who, I was asking what the reasoning is, only for lights and not food?

And where does AC fall?

Elfrida

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 10:27 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

interesting. Do you know the reasoning?

I remember hearing that he didn't actually approve for lights, but that had become so entrenched that it would be hard to alter. But he felt that Shabbos shouldn't just become an entirely automated process where we use electricity almost as normal. I don't remember the source, and I'm relying on my memory of what someone said, so it may not be fully accurate.

Full disclosure. My lights are on a time switch, and so is my platta. I don't have air conditioning, but the fan stays on throughout.

icedcoffee

Fri, Jun 03 2022, 2:29 pm

We have the hot plate and ACs on a timer. Super helpful!

etky

Mon, Jun 06 2022, 1:18 am

Let's see.
Over shabbat/chag I had two plattot on an external timer, an electric burner on an external timer, my oven on Sabbath mode and my dishwasher on a delay.
And AC set to go on and off at different times, various lamps on external timers as well as the general shabbat clock set for the overhead lights downstairs, but all that's not food related.

salt

Mon, Jun 06 2022, 1:36 am

Regarding Rav Moshe feinstein's psak about timers, I always understood it to be that you cannot alter the timer during shabbos, as it's muktza.
We hold that if necessary, one can extend the time that the timer is already on. eg. your lights are due to go off at 10, and you decide you need them for an extra 2 hours, you can extend it till 12, but not shorten the time.
So, anyway, that's what I thought Rav Moshe says you cannot do.

I didn't realize he says no times for anything other than lights.

Regarding warming up food - we've had too many messups with our plata on shabbat - eg. I've set it wrong, the pegs got stuck, it blew the fuse 10 mins before shabbat came in, etc - we found ourselves more than once running round to find a [gentile] to help us out. So we keep the plata on - and yes, it makes the kitchen very hot!
We use a timer for a/c and lights.

Bnei Berak 10

Mon, Jun 06 2022, 2:02 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

I wasnt asking who, I was asking what the reasoning is, only for lights and not food?

I use play a with time BUT once it goes off and again goes on it can't use the plata. Its considered to be "a rekindled fire" which you are not permitted to use. I am speaking about shabbos use.
Yom tov: I have a shabbos timer connected to my gas stove. Only use it for YT. Highly recommended!

WitchKitty

Mon, Jun 06 2022, 2:15 am

I don't use a timer. It wouldn't work time wise!
I have everything on the plata by 3 pm Friday (this is summertime). DH comes home from shul after 1 PM on shabbos, so I wouldn't be able to set the (24 hour) clock in a way that the plata would be on at 3 Friday but not 3 on Shabbos.
The plata is near the window at the edge of the kitchen so the heat doesn't bother me that much.

someone

Mon, Jun 06 2022, 4:28 am

I also don't use a timer on a regular basis on my hotplate, but I was surprised by how many people had never heard of such a thing. Is that an American thing? I live in Israel, but growing up in England we used them.

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