Bishul Akum - Instant Potatoes (Continued)

Q. In a previous Halacha Yomis, it was explained that since instant potatoes are made with steam, they are not subject to bishul Akum. Can you please explain why this is so?

A. Shulchan Aruch (YD 133:13) writes that foods that are made edible through salting, brining, or smoking are not subject to bishul Akum because these are not traditional forms of cooking. Only foods that are cooked in water or baked with fire are prohibited. Poskim debate whether cooking with steam is equivalent to cooking with water or to cooking with smoke. Sefer Zer Zahav (commentary on Issur V’heter) and Rav Ovadia Yosef, zt”l (Yabia Omer YD 5:9) held that steam is equivalent to smoke. In addition, the Minchas Yitzchok (Vol. 3, 26:6) writes that one may be lenient regarding steam provided there are additional mitigating factors, such as, the food is produced in a factory. (The Maharit Tzahalon (Yeshanos 161) held that bishul akum does not apply to foods cooked by random workers in a factory.) Finally, Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l is quoted as saying that there is no prohibition of bishul Akum if the factory cooks in a manner that would not be duplicated in a home. (The logic for these two last positions is beyond the scope of this discussion.) The OU permits instant mashed potatoes because all three conditions are met: the potatoes are cooked with steam in a factory and in a manner that would not be duplicated in a home.

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