[Avodah] Safety warning re: microwave Pareve Fleisihg

[Akiva Miller via Avodah]

R' Simon Montagu asked:

>>> DO NOT EVER enclose foods in closed bags in a microwave oven.
>
> Sakanta hamira me'isura, so does this mean that there is no way
> to follow the pesak that requires double wrapping in a microwave
> oven under various circumstances? Or is there a middle path whereby
> the wrapping can be pierced sufficiently to allow steam to escape
> and still be considered well-wrapped enough to prevent NTbNT?

There is a brand of frozen meals called "Mon Cuisine". I haven't eaten them
in a while, but it was a major portion of my diet when I used to travel on
business. The frozen food is in a black plastic tray, covered with a thin
plastic film, and all that is in a sealed cardboard box. For many of these
items (especially my favorites, such as the Vegetarian Breaded Chicken
Style Cutlet), the Microwave Cooking instructions explicitly say "Do not
puncture film." I don't if this is still on the label, but I remember an
additional notice on the box, the for a kosher consumer, one can simply
place the entire box in any (i.e., even a non-kosher) microwave, and cook
it as per the label instructions.

And so I did, many many times. Yes, the air inside the package, between the
food and the film, did heat up. It was not unusual for it to break the
film, and some gravy might even splatter on the inside of the box. My
understanding is that this sort of eventuality is exactly why the halacha
prescribes *double* wrapping: To prevent the treif steam of the oven from
coming back into the kosher food. Even if the steam escapes from the first
wrapping, it will be stopped by the second wrapper, and it will not be able
to bring any taam issur back into the food.

Those more knowledgeable than me can comment on the halachos involved. The
main thing I want to say is that if one is careful to follow the
manufacturer's instructions, then yes, one CAN follow the pesak that
requires double wrapping in a microwave oven.

Another example would be microwave popcorn, which is sold in sealed bags. I
concede that one CAN smell the popcorn while it is cooking, which would
suggest that steam is getting out of the bag. But I don't think the halacha
requires the container to be so tightly sealed as to make that impossible;
my evidence is that a pot of soup is considered adequately covered as long
as the pot cover is on it, despite my ability to smell the soup. Anyway, if
one puts that bag of popcorn inside a larger paper bag -- and it is already
open so that the popcorn will have room to inflate -- then I think it would
be okay. I even did this a couple of times, but it was just too cumbersome
in a practical sense.

Akiva Miller
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