Question:
Thank you for all of your help! Tizkul’mitzvos! I recently purchased an Israeli “wonderpot”, that special pot designed to take the place of an oven by being heated on the stovetop atop a special aluminum plate designed to spread the heat evenly. This is an old idea, but may help me out for now as I have no milchig oven. I assume that it needs to be toveled since it’s made entirely of aluminum. But should one recite a Bracha? If it matters, the wonderpot is intended to be used with food touching the inside of the pot, although I myself may actually place small pans inside of it. Thank you so much for your help on this issue.
Thank you so much for your help on this issue.
Answer:
If it was made in Israel it does not need to be toveled, because it was made by a Jew. But if it was sold to a non Jew in between (you bought it from a non Jewish store) then it would need toveling,with a bracha, as it is made of metal.
If you do not intend to use the pot in a way that it comes directly in contact with the food, but you are always going to put the food in a small pan in between, then the pot does not need tevilah. Then it isn’t considered a kli for food, since it doesn’t have direct contact with the food. However if you are only going to lining the inside of the pot with silver foil or wax paper then the poskim say that it needs tevilah. This is since the foil is not a kli for itself, it is botil to the pot, and considered as if the food was baked directly in the pot.
Sources:
Aruch hashulchan Y:D 120-25, Igros Moshe Y:D 3-23, Chelkas Yackov Y:D 46, Minchas Shlomo 2-66 (5).
