- If there is a chance that the raw food will be cooked in time for the Friday night meal you might come to stoke the coals. Therefore raw beef, goat meat, whole chicken and whole lamb is not allowed to be placed on the grill just before Shabbos, even if the grill is closed. (ShA1 – MB2,8)
- The same applies to raw beans and vegetables in a pot and placed over coals. Since they cook in time for the meal, you might be tempted to stoke the coals to expedite the process. (MB5)
- Lamb and poultry (portions) however, will get charred if you stoke the coals. These you may put on the grill raw or rare just before Shabbos. The minhag is to be machmir to use a closed grill. (ShA1 – Rama1)
- If you place the food directly on the coals you obviously don’t care if it gets charred – so you might come to stoke the coals. Do not put any food that isn’t eaten raw on the coals before Shabbos unless there is enough time for it to cook half way on both sides. (ShA2 – MB16)
- If you transgressed, even unintentionally and left the food grilling when there is a worry of stoking – no one may eat the food on Shabbos – even if you didn’t end up stoking. (ShA3 – MB20)
- When the lid is removed from a hot pot of not yet fully cooked food, it is forbidden to return the lid on Shabbos since it will complete the cooking sooner. (ShA4)
When are you allowed to leave things baking in an oven over Shabbos?
- If you are baking a thin dough, as long as one of the surfaces has formed a crust before Shabbos, you won’t come to stoke the coals. (ShA5 – MB26)
- If you are baking thick dough it needs to have formed a crust on top and on the bottom (either on the floor of the oven or in the baking pan) before Shabbos. (MB26)
- If you are baking a pastry with a filling between the dough, besides for the two surfaces needing to have crusts, the filling must have enough to bake k’maachal ben derusai before Shabbos. (Rama5)
- If there is not enough time before Shabbos to bake enough for the above stated condition, you must either sweep out the coals, cover them with ashes, or seal the oven door so you won’t come to stoke the coals. (MB28)
- A way to tell if it’s considered crusted is by pulling the dough apart – if the dough doesn’t stretch in the middle it is certainly baked enough both on the top and the bottom. (Rama5 – MB27)
- If one Jew puts a pot of (edible) raw food on the stove on Shabbos – another Jew has a mitzva to save him from sin by removing the pot before the food cooks. That’s because no other sin is involved in removing the pot. But in a case that would involve even a slight sin, the rule is: We don’t say to a person to do even a slight sin so that his friend will avoid a grave sin. This is true even if the Jew did the sin by mistake. (MB40 – ShaH40)
- Do not put up a pot of water on a kira just before Shabbos without either sweeping out the coals or covering them with ash – you might come to stoke the coals. If there is enough time for the water to heat up significantly before bain hashmashos, you can leave the coals alone. (ShA9 – MB50)