Adding Cold Water to Hot Soup on Shabbos

Q. May one pour cold water into hot soup to cool it down?

A. A hot pot of soup is a kli rishon (primary source of heat) and one may not add cold water to the pot, since this will cook the water. However, a bowl of soup is a kli sheini (secondary source of heat), and water does not cook in a kli sheini. It would therefore seem that one may add cold water to a bowl of soup. Still, the halacha is not so obvious, since there are also pieces of meat or vegetables in the soup. A solid food transferred to a secondary vessel retains the status of a kli rishon according to some poskim. Perhaps we need be concerned that the hot pieces of vegetable or meat may cook the water. The Pri Megadim (253: Aishel Avrohom 32) writes that it is possible that all agree that hot pieces of meat that are submerged in liquid in a kli sheini have the status of a kli sheini and cannot cook. This appears to be the consensus of many poskim (see Pischei Teshuva YD 94:7 and Kitzos Hashulchan 124:39). Therefore, one may add cold water to soup.

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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.