Heating Cholent on a Hot Plate on Shabbos
Question
Hello,Is it permitted on Shabbos to warm up cholent in its container on the hotplate? The cholent was frozen from last week, and on Shabbos day it thawed in the refrigerator. Now we’d like to place it on the hotplate.It’s not clear how much liquid is in the container—it’s a thick, sticky mixture filled with ingredients such as meat, potatoes, beans, and so on.
Answer
Shalom uVracha,
It is forbidden to place any food directly on the hotplate itself, even if it is completely dry and fully cooked.
A completely dry, fully cooked food may be placed on top of an empty overturned pan (or other upside-down utensil) that is sitting on the hotplate.
A dry food that has just a slight coating of already-cooked sauce is treated as a dry food.
A cooked dish that contains a noticeable amount of liquid—enough that it is considered its own sauce and not merely the natural moisture of the dry food—may not be reheated even on top of an overturned pan.