1) Due to the recent finds in several ovens that the heating element shuts off immediately or after a short delay (i.e. 10 seconds) upon opening, and turns back on immediately (or after a delay) upon closing even in “Shabbos Mode”, one should not rely on this feature of Shabbos Mode for Shabbos or Yom Tov without checking his individual oven first.
[In gas ovens the glow bar to start the fire can usually be seen as a sort of “sun-rising” in the bottom of the oven and then a click and a “whoosh” as the gas starts. Turning off would be a click of the gas and main fire shutting off followed by “sunset” as the glow bar cools. In an oven where one cannot see his heating element he should consult with an expert.]
The following ovens have thus far been found to have a problem: BOSCH – HGI8054UC, HGIP8054UC, HBLP651LUC, HBLP651RUC, HBLP651UC
[The company now has a fix available for these ovens. One should contact Bosch.]
LG – LRE3083, LRE3021ST, LDG3031ST, LRE3085ST
[The Star-K has revoked their Hashgacha from LG ovens.]
2. Most current ovens are designed to turn off the fire when opened and re-ignite when closed. The Shabbos Mode in these ovens has added a delay of 15-90 seconds before turning off and before re-igniting. This is based on the opinion that if one opens the oven and removes all of his food he may rely on this delay. However, according to many Poskim one may not open the oven door if the fire will inevitably turn off (even after a delay). Even if one plans on closing the door before the allotted time some Poskim will assur. One should test his oven to see how long the delay is and ask his Rav if he can rely on this. [Any oven that has no door switch (and the light is not activated by opening the door) will not turn off at all.]
The following ovens, when in Shabbos Mode, have been tested and do not turn off/on based on the door switch at all:
1. Bosch – The above mentioned models once fixed, All gas models.
2. Wolf -“E” Series, “L” Series.
3. GE – Non self cleaning ranges.
4. GE – JGB630, JGB660, JGB700.
5. Hotpoint – All.
6. Kitchen Aid KODE500ESS, KOSE500ESS, KOSE507ESS.
To avoid all of the above shailos one can keep the door switch pressed down before Shabbos. [Note-Be careful to use something that is heat resistant even at very high temperatures such as self clean]. The “shabbos switch” for ovens is available by many retailers. (Many appliance stores and repairmen can help advise placement in difficult ovens.) Alternatively, one may set the oven to turn off completely before he needs to open it.
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3 Responses
Gedolei Haposkim hold that one may NOT open any appliance which has active sensors that are transmitting information in the form of voltage to the computerized control board in the back of the appliance on Shabbos and Yom Tov. These sensors are NOT disabled EVER by the manufacturer.
Bikurim, I don’t know who you are referring to as “gedolei Haposkim”, but that is not necessarily true. I asked Reb Dovid Morganstern years ago about a refrigerator and he told me that HaRav Elyashiv zatzal reluctantly permitted it.
The ShabboSwitch has the Haskoma of Rav Shlomo Miller shlita and works perfectly for this problem. Got it at the Judaica store for $15.