The Grains

From Halachipedia

The Grains (Wheat, Corn & Rice)

The five grains (wheat, barley…)

  1. Halacha treats five types of grain as special. They are wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye. If any of these grains were ground up and then made into bread, the appropriate Bracha would be HaMotzei. [1]
  2. If any of the 5 grains were ground up and then made into a cooked dish or a baked good such as cake, the appropriate Bracha would be Mezonot. [2]
    1. Oatmeal, which is cooked grains has the Bracha of mezonot and is followed by Al Hamichya. [3]
  3. Cooked bulgur is one of the five grains and is mezonot. [4]
  4. If the grain remained whole and it was only slightly processed (roasted or toasted) then the Bracha would be Haodoma. [5]
    1. Therefore Granola, which are toasted grains, are Ha'adoma. [6]
  5. Puffed wheat is a matter of controversy whether we considered the process of puffing to be enough to make the grain mezonot or if it still remains hoadoma, see Bracha on smacks.

Exceptions

  1. If the grain is mixed into the food in order to bind the ingredients together the Bracha is not Mezonot. [7]
    1. Licorice is Shehakol because even though it contains flour, the flour is only used as a binding agent. [8]

Vegtables (corn, potatoes…)

  1. If one grinds a vegetable or grain not from the five grains and cook it, if the vegetable is still recognizable in the product then the Bracha is the same the vegetable, however if it’s ground and unrecognizable then the Bracha is shehakol unless it’s still intact. [9]
    1. Popcorn is HaAdama either because the seed is considered to be recognizable [10] or even though the seed has changed to the point that it’s unrecognizable as corn but nonetheless the seed is still intact [11]. However, some consider it Shehakol. [12]
  2. Corn flakes can either be shehakol or haadoma depending on how they are made. If made from flour – then shehakol. If made from rolled grits – then haadoma.
  3. Corn tortillas and corn chips would be shehakol since both are processed to the point where they loose their ideal brocha. [13]
  4. Potato chips are HaAdama because it’s recognizably a thin slice of a potato that was fried. [14]
  5. Some say that pringles are HaAdama since the result retains a resemblance of the original vegetable. [15]
  6. Some say that instant potatoes are HaAdama since the result retains a resembalance of the original vegetable. [16]
  7. Peanut butter is Shehakol because it’s because crushed and unrecognizable as a peanut. [17]
  8. Strawberry or cherry jelly is Shehakol because it retains neither the form or look of the fruit. [18]

Questions

  1. What's the bracha on bulgur/bulgar? see above

References

  1. ↑ Vezot HaBracha (pg 102, chapter 12)
  2. ↑ There’s two forms of mezonot: Tavshil Mezonot which requires Mezonot even if one establishes it into a meal (S”A 208:2) and Pas HaBah Bekisnin which requires Mezonot if eaten as a snack and HaMotzei if established as a meal (S”A 168:6; see Pas HaBah Bekisnin).
  3. ↑ Vezot HaBracha (pg 102, chapter 12). Halachos of Brachos (Rabbi Pinchas Bodner, pg 532 and Brachos Handbook pg 64) writes that instant oatmeal which is made into a hot cereal is is Mezonot and Al HaMichya (even if one has a shuir keviyut seudah) unless it's made with a lot of water and it's so thin that it has the form of a drink in which case the bracha would be Shehakol and Boreh Nefashot. [This is based on Shulchan Aruch 208:2 regarding daysa.] This is also the ruling of Vezot HaBracha (pg 107) that oatmeal cereal is mezonot unless it's very thin and pours like a liquid (he adds that if one pushes the grain to one side of the bowl and it remains there as a clump and doesn't spread out right away it's considered a food and not a drink).
  4. ↑ Vezot Habracha (pg 105)
  5. ↑ S”A 208:4
  6. ↑ VeTen Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner, chapter 4, pg 67), Vezot HaBracha (pg 103, chapter 12)
  7. ↑ S”A 208:3
  8. ↑ Vezot HaBracha (pg 108, chapter 12), http://www.ou.org/torah/tt/5759/eikev59/specialfeatures.htm
  9. ↑ Mishna Brurah 202:42 writes that the halacha is if the vegetables were crushed but still it’s intact then it retains the original Bracha, whereas if it’s crushed and unrecognizable the Bracha is Shehakol. So holds Vezot HaBracha (pg 100, chapter 12) and Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 403-4, chapter 22)
  10. ↑ Vezot HaBracha (pg 100, chapter 12) and Or Letzion (vol 2, 14:11)
  11. ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 409, chapter 22) in name of Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Shlomo Zalman
  12. ↑ Vezot HaBracha (pg 100, chapter 12) quotes Rav Mordechai Eliyahu who says that the Bracha on popcorn is Shehakol.
  13. ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 410, chapter 22)
  14. ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 407, chapter 22) in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman
  15. ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 407, chapter 22) in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman
  16. ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 407, chapter 22) in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman, Rabbi Pinchas Sheinburg, and Rav Elyashiv
  17. ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 410, chapter 22) in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman
  18. ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 404, chapter 22) in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman and Rabbi Pinchas Sheinburg
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