Bishul Akum - Instant Potatoes

Q. Instant potatoes are served at weddings and fancy banquets. As such, they are oleh al shulchan melachim and subject to bishul Akum. Instant mashed potatoes are made by cooking potatoes and then the moisture is removed through dehydration. If the initial cooking of the potatoes was done by an Akum, and a Yisrael rehydrated the flakes by cooking the flakes in hot water, can instant mashed potatoes be consumed?

A. One might argue that the mashed potatoes would be permitted because the Yisroel finished the cooking process. Rabbi Belsky, zt”l rejected this argument because the potato flakes can be rehydrated even with cold water. This shows that the flakes are fully cooked and adding hot water does not add to the cooking process. It would therefore seem that kosher certified instant potatoes must be bishul Yisroel. However, in reality, there is another basis for leniency. Commercially manufactured instant potatoes are commonly prepared in steam without water. The Minchas Yitzchok (Vol. 3, 26:6) writes that food cooked with steam in a factory need not be bishul Yisroel. (The rationale for this ruling will be explained in the next Halacha Yomis) The OU follows this position and does not require bishul Yisroel for instant potatoes.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.