If the electric goes out in a community and it is turned back on by coned or the like, would there be a bishul akum issue regarding uncooked foods (less than “Ma’chal benDrusai”) in a crockpot that restarted to cook due to the electric turn-on by the company?
Answer:
This would not be bishul akum, because the non-Jew is not doing any act of cooking.
When a Jew kindles the fire, the Shulchan Aruch and the Rema discuss whether this is enough to permit the food (according to the Shulchan Aruch, this helps only for bread, and not for cooked foods; according to the Rema, it helps for all foods). The reverse, however, of a Jew cooking on a fire lit by a non-Jew, does not constitue a problem of bishul akum (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 113:7).
