Q. I'm moving into a house with only an electric connection and I will buy a new stove. What kind of a blech can I use for a stove with coils or a glass top? Is it permissible to use the stove top to warm up food Shabbos night if the stove top automatically shuts off after 12 hours? Any suggestions for how to cook on Yom Tov with an electric stove.
A. On an electric stove a regular sheet of metal such as a steel sheet or aluminum plate can be used as a 'blech'. As in gas stoves, the controls should also be covered.
The fact that the stove shuts off automatically after a number of hours, does not remove any of the Shabbos restrictions that usually apply to all stoves.
In order to be able to turn down or up the electrical current during Yom Tov, you will need an added indicator that electricity is on or off on that particular element. The red light indicator is usually meaningless, since it only shows that the element has been turned on, but not if electrical current is actually being used at that time or not. That depends on the thermostat attached to the element.
This indicator can be attached by someone that is familiar with electrical equipment. Otherwise, you may have to ask a Rabbi or a knowing Halacha individual to guide you to the right technician that usually does those installations.
You may also consider acquiring a stove with a Shabbos and Yom Tov mode. However, one has to become familiar with the Halacha limitations of their use.
We will Iy'H address as a separate shaila the covering of a glass top stove.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu Shlit'a
Important Numbers
