[Avodah] What is Hard Matza - Difference between Baking and Drying

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Meir Rabi asked:
> Perhaps we are just drying it out very rapidly and we are
> eating not baked dough but just dried out dough

If it was not baked but only dried, it would not change color. If it changes color, surely this is proof of baking, no? But I concede that if only *part* of the matzah changed color, and part stayed white -- however tiny that white part might be -- then RMR's question still stands.

I recall reading a few years ago about some communities who avoided certain brands of matzah because those matzos were too white, and were perhaps insufficiently baked.

My only point is that RMR is raising an interesting point. I have no evidence whether the groups I mentioned are being justifiably careful because they have determined that the hashgachos neglect to do the tests he mentioned, or whether, perhaps, those groups are being improperly machmir because they are unwilling to accept that the hashgachos DO do those tests.

(Personally, I trust the hashgachos which I rely on, that their rabbonim have looked at all of the many aspects of matzah-baking under their jurisdiciton, and that they feel okay with it. I work under the presumption that just like they know what to look for regarding crumbs of dough that might get caught in the machinery and become chometz, so too do they know what to look for when they see a matzah coming out of the oven. It is hard for me to believe that the hashgacha has no say over how long the matzos must stay in the oven, or what temperature the oven is set to. Surely their knowledge of Hilchos Chometz includes an awareness of the test which RMR mentioned, AND ALSO an awareness of when a matza is baked so well that those tests are not needed.)

Akiva Miller

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