{"id":12195,"date":"2026-07-11T00:12:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T21:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=12195"},"modified":"2026-08-05T13:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T10:33:17","slug":"17-11-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-12\/","title":{"rendered":"12. Liquid Batter \u2013 Blintzes and La\u1e25u\u1e25"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a general rule, dough intended for baking is thick, since it is meant to become a baked grain product. By contrast, batter prepared for cooking \u2013 such as porridge or soup that contains a large amount of flour \u2013 never takes on the status of bread, and therefore one is not obligated to separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from it. For the same reason, even if one eats enough of it to constitute a full meal, he recites mezonot<\/em> and al ha-mi\u1e25ya<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, however, liquid batter is poured into a pot, baking pan, or frying pan and gradually sets into a baked item, such as pancakes. Once it takes on the form of bread \u2013 that is, the form of a baked grain product \u2013 one must separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from it. If one establishes a meal on it, he recites ha-motzi<\/em> and Birkat Ha-mazon. Only once the batter has finished baking does the obligation of \u1e25alla<\/em> take effect; until then, it remains a batter rather than bread dough (Sefer ha-Teruma<\/em>; Torat ha-Aretz<\/em> I 4:92\u201393). However, even after baking, one separates \u1e25alla<\/em> only if the baked items contain enough flour to reach the \u1e25alla<\/em> threshold. Since a single pancake or similar item generally does not contain that amount on its own, \u1e25alla<\/em> becomes relevant only when several such items are combined, as explained above, section 7.<\/p>\n

This is the rule for pancakes, la\u1e25u\u1e25<\/em>, blintzes, Belgian waffles, and similar foods. When the batter bakes into a product with real thickness \u2013 the kind of thickness created as it rises during baking \u2013 it has the form of a baked grain product. One must therefore separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from it, and if one eats enough of it to constitute a full meal, he recites ha-motzi<\/em> and Birkat Ha-mazon. If, however, the batter is made especially thin, the finished product does not have the form of a baked good; one does not separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from it, and even if one eats enough of it to constitute a full meal, he recites mezonot<\/em> and al ha-mi\u1e25ya<\/em>. When it is uncertain whether the items are ordinary baked products or especially thin ones, one separates \u1e25alla<\/em> without a berakha.[14]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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[14]<\/a>. The Gemara states: \u201cTruknin<\/em> are subject to \u1e25alla<\/em>\u2026 trita<\/em> is exempt from \u1e25alla<\/em>\u201d (Berakhot<\/em> 37b). In both cases, the food begins as a liquid batter. The difference is that truknin<\/em> becomes a thick baked product, while trita<\/em> becomes a thin one. Rosh explains that trita<\/em> is exempt because it lacks the form of bread. This is also the ruling of SA YD 329:5 and SA O\u1e24 168:15.<\/p>\n

The practical question, then, is how to identify the \u201cform of bread\u201d in foods made from liquid batter, such as pancakes, crepes, la\u1e25u\u1e25<\/em>, blintzes, and Belgian waffles. Many authorities distinguish between thick and thin products: when the batter bakes into something with real thickness, one must separate \u1e25alla<\/em>; when it becomes especially thin, one does not separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from it. Some attempted to define this threshold numerically, ruling that one does not separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from a product less than 3 mm thick, while one must separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from a product thicker than 7 mm (Shul\u1e25an Arukh ha-Mekutzar<\/em> YD 170:19). Others suggested judging by the baking process itself: if the batter becomes ready to eat almost immediately after being poured into the pan, it lacks the form of bread, and one does not separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from it; if it is thick enough that baking takes several minutes, it has the form of bread, and one must separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from it (Tevu\u2019at ha-Sadeh<\/em> 5:14).<\/p>\n

It seems, however, that these are only external indicators, not practical standards for halakhic ruling. People cannot reasonably be expected to measure the thickness of a pancake, and baking time depends greatly on the heat of the pan. Therefore, as a rule, one must separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from these baked batter products. Only in unusual cases does one not separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from them: when they are made so thin that they no longer appear to have the form of bread \u2013 that is, the form of a baked product. This also accords with the example commonly given by the poskim for exempt trita<\/em>: a wafer, meaning a single very thin layer of an ordinary wafer, crisp because of its thinness and dryness. A Belgian waffle, by contrast, is thick, and therefore one must separate \u1e25alla<\/em> from it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a general rule, dough intended for baking is thick, since it is meant to become a baked grain product. By contrast, batter prepared for cooking \u2013 such as porridge or soup that contains a large amount of flour \u2013 never takes on the status of bread, and therefore one is not obligated to separate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[232],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-11"],"yoast_head":"\n12. 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