Hot Beverages
The problem of preparing hot beverages on Shabbat revolves around the temperature of the water. If the water is hot enough to cook the tea leaves, it would constitute malacha. Pouring straight from an urn (also considered a klei rishon) would cause the cooking of the substance. For a solid substance the outer and concrete layer will definitely be cooked (bishul kdai klipah), which would be malacha. For a liquid there is no concrete layer, and therefore no specific part that is being cooked. Therefore it is ruled that a liquid is not considered cooked if it is not yad soledet bo or 113 degrees Fahrenheit. To bypass this problem we use a kos sheini.
Using a Kos sheini is acceptable because when the liquid is poured (Erui kos sheini) some of the heat is transferred into the atmosphere, and therefore the liquid loses some heat. Most people hold that this will not cause enough heat to be emitted and therefore the tea leaves will still be cooked. To lower the temperature of the water further people rule that a klei shlishi must be used. Once again in the pouring process (erui klei sheini) more heat is emitted and therefore most people hold that the tea will not be cooked and it is therefore permissible to make tea with this water.
Read more about this topic: Sabbath Food Preparation
Famous quotes containing the word hot:
“Away went the messenger’s bicycle,
His serpent’s track went up the hill forever.
And all the time she stood there hot as fever
And cold as any icicle.”
—John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974)