Whether it’s gefilte fish, challah, brisket, noodle kugel, latkes, or one of the many other iconic mainstays of the Jewish kitchen, there is one critical ingredient that cuts across them all – the cooking appliance. While electronics and safety features on modern ranges have added complexity and challenges to the Kosher kitchen, GE has answered with a Star-K-certified Sabbath mode feature on hundreds of its cooking appliances.

GE offers a Sabbath Mode feature on over 264 GE, GE Profile , Monogram and Hotpoint models. Consumers can find this feature on GE wall ovens, smooth-top electric slide-in and smooth-top electric drop-in ranges, as well as on the majority of its free-standing ranges.

This feature meets the certification requirements of a nationally recognized Kosher certifying agency, Star-K. This capability can be utilized, if desired, but otherwise it stays inactive and unnoticeable to the non-Jewish consumer. A list of certified GE models is available on the Star-K website.

The voice of Jewish consumers led GE engineers to the development of this feature. Although the Sabbath and holiday laws, especially as they relate to the cooking and heating of foods, are rather complex, the engineers at GE have appreciated and comprehended the intricacies of Halacha (Jewish law) as they developed a Sabbath mode that enhances the Sabbath and holidays of observant Jewish families.

Most modern ranges are equipped with an integrated 12-hour shut-off safety device. This feature shuts down the oven’s power after the oven has been operating consecutively for 12 hours. The GE cooking products with Sabbath Mode will override the 12-hour shut-off. The oven will not shut off automatically, making it possible to keep cooked foods warm on the Sabbath or use the range over religious holidays for cooking and warming food.

In addition to overriding the shut off, the Sabbath Mode feature will meet the observant Jewish consumer’s restrictions for observing the Sabbath and other holidays by:

Eliminating tones or timer beeps.

Not displaying icons.

Permitting temperature adjustments on holidays without displays or beeps.

How does this feature work? When the consumer activates this feature, the oven may be set either to:

Go on immediately and stay on for a set amount of time, or

Turn off automatically after a set amount of time.

The oven will stay at the temperature the user selects when entering the Sabbath mode. The digital control display will not show time, temperature, or selected oven function until the Sabbath mode feature is manually de-activated at the conclusion of the Sabbath or holiday. This makes it possible for observant Jews to serve warm food on holidays, the underlying principle being that it is permissible to use electricity that is already on but not to turn it on or off during the duration of the holiday. Observant Jews are thus prohibited from turning on or off the oven, or taking an action that causes the oven control display to change during the Sabbath or religious holidays.

(Source: Business Wire)