Cooking on Yom Tov

From Halachipedia

General Guidelines of Cooking on Yom Tov

  1. It’s permissible to cook on Yom Tov only if one intends to eat the food that’s prepared that day of Yom Tov. However, one may not cook for the next day whether it’s a weekday, Yom Tov, or Shabbat. [1]
  2. Food which wouldn’t have deteriorated by being cooked before Yom Tov should be cooked before Yom Tov. However, if one forgot, one may cook on Yom Tov but should do so with a variation from the regular method. [2] Additionally, if it was physically impossible to cook before Yom Tov, or guests came on Yom Tov one may cook without a variation. [3] Nonetheless, water may be heated up on Yom Tov even without a variation. [4]
  3. One may cook a whole pot of meat even if one only needs one piece because the extra meat improves the taste of the whole dish [5] as long as one doesn't say that one is doing for after Shabbat. [6]

Lighting a fire on Yom Tov

  1. It’s permissible to cook on Yom Tov as long as the flame was lit before Yom Tov or the timer was set for it to begin operating on Yom Tov. [7]
  2. It is forbidden to turn on an electric stove on Yom Tov.[8]
  3. One may not raise or lower the temperature of an electric stove. [9]
  4. On Yom Tov, an oven which is thermostatically controlled, is permitted to be opened and closed in order to put in, check, or remove food. [10]

Extinguishing a Fire

  1. If a food is burning and in order to cook it one needs a lower flame, some permit lowering the flame[11], while others say that one should light a new flame which is smaller and not extinguish the other one.[12] Sephardim can also rely on the lenient opinion for a gas stove.[13]

Sources

  1. Shulchan Aruch 503:1, Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 2:1
  2. Rama 495:1, Mishna Brurah 495:8 and 10
  3. Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 2:2
  4. Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchata (chap 2 note 6)
  5. Shulchan Aruch 503:1, Mishna Brurah 503:5
  6. Mishna Brurah 503:6
  7. Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 1:27
  8. Igrot Moshe 1:115
  9. Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 1:27 because in doing so you'll usually be extinguishing one coil and heating up another in its place.
    • How do electric stoves work? This writeup is only a beginning and needs more research:
    • Some electric stoves have discrete temperature options such as low, medium, and high. In those stoves, depending on the temperature setting that it is on, a particular circuit is connected and used to heat up the stove to that temperature. When a temperature is adjusted, the circuit that was previously connected is disconnected and a new circuit is connected. In such cases, adjusting the temperature on Yom Tov is forbidden since connecting and disconnecting circuits is an issue of electricity on Yom Tov and if the metal is red hot then additionally it involves igniting a fire and extinguishing it. Sources: Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 1:33, Rabbi Meir Sendor.
    • Some electric stoves use a variable temperature and the temperature depends on the voltage going through the circuit, which is adjusting depending on the temperature setting. There is one caveat; the circuit isn't continuously connected. Rather it alternates between being connected and disconnected depending on whether the heating element is at the desired temperature. When the heating element is below the right temperature, the circuit is closed in order to heat up and when it is at the right temperature, the circuit is disconnected for some time. The issue is that if one raises the temperature when the circuit is disconnected, one will cause the circuit to close immediately and if one lowers the temperature when the circuit is closed one will cause the circuit to open immediately. Sources: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/12666/do-all-modern-electric-stoves-have-binary-heating-elements, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxzBG-xLV6Q, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOdYp8CFjdU, http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/21432/what-temperatures-do-low-medium-high-on-the-stove-correspond-to, and the Star-K.
  10. Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 1:30
  11. Igrot Moshe 1:115, 1:150
  12. Mishna Brurah 514:6
    • The Gemara Beitzah 22a says that according to Rabba it is forbidden to extinguish a flame to avoid a loss of money. Based on one reading of the gemara, the Rif (Beitzah 11b) concludes that it is forbidden also to extinguish a fire in order so that your food doesn't burn. This is also the opinion of the Rambam (Yom Tov 4:6). However, the Rashba (Avodat Hakodesh 2:7:85, Beitzah 22a s.v. im) and Mordechai (Beitzah 681) hold that it is permitted to extinguish so that your food doesn't burn. The Ran (Beitzah 11b s.v. gemara) seems to agree. The Rosh (Beitzah 2:19) concludes that if your food is burning you should light a smaller fire rather than extinguish this fire and cook the food on that smaller fire. If there's no way to light a smaller fire then it is permitted to extinguish the fire. The Bet Yosef 514:1 and Maggid Mishna (Yom Tov 4:4) equate the opinion of the Rashba and Rosh. The Shulchan Aruch 514:1 follows the opinion of the Rif and Rambam, while the Rama follows the opinion of the Rashba and he too seems to equate the Rashba and Rosh (Darkei Moshe 514:1). Therefore, the Mishna Brurah 514:6 concludes according to the Rama if your food is burning it is permitted to light another smaller fire to cook the food and that's preferable to extinguishing or lowering this fire.
    • Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe 1:115) holds that it is permitted to even light another fire. The Dirshu Mishna Brurah n. 7 quotes Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchata ch. 13 fnt. 52) as disagreeing with Rav Moshe and explaining that it is better to light another fire rather than lower the larger fire because lighting a fire is a positive melacha that enables cooking while extinguishing a flame is more similar to removing something that was preventing cooking.
  13. Even though Shulchan Aruch 514:1 is strict to forbid extinguishing for the purpose of not burning food, Chazon Ovadia (Yom Tov p. 58) is lenient for a gas stove. See Yabia Omer 1:31 and 3:30.