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If one heats, toasts or grills Pas Palter (commercially baked bread with only kosher permissible ingredients) before consuming it, does that finishing action transform the bread into Pas Yisroel? The final cooking is being done by an observant Jew.

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From OU.org:

If I bought bread that is not Pas Yisroel, is there a way to make it Pas Yisroel?

Yes. Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 112:12) writes that if a non-Jew baked bread, it can become Pas Yisroel if a Jew is mashbiach(improves) the bread by placing the bread in the oven and continuing the baking process. The improvement is effective only if it is the result of additional baking. For example, if bread had a light color and a thin crust, and re-baking the bread will make it darker and give it a thicker crust, this improvement will render the bread Pas Yisroel. Similarly, Rabbi Belsky, zt”l held that if a Jew toasts bread or bagels to enhance the taste, this will effect a Pas Yisrael status. This is also the position of Rav Sternbuch (Teshuvos V’hanhagos I: 444).

In contrast, Sefer Issur V’heter Ha’Aruch(43:11) writes that heating cold bread to make it fresh does not make the bread Pas Yisroel since there is no change in the degree of baking

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  • Who knew? Does this apply to just bread or also frozen cakes and pies?
    – DanF
    Apr 19, 2018 at 21:36
  • @DanF yes it applies to anything that can become pas akum. How do i know? Because in YD 112:1 it uses the word pas when explaining the issur, and it says that the issur is on anything that's made out of the 5 grains. The same word (pas) is used in the YD 112:12. But if you're just heating it up, it might not be enough as you can see in my answer.
    – aBochur
    Apr 19, 2018 at 21:44
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    @aBochur Yashar koach on easing anyone’s burden who reads your answer. Many lay-people who don’t understand how simple it is to make something pas Yisroel stress out searching for products and waste time and money. Regarding your last comment in the answer, as far as I am aware, that is not the majority view. Think in terms of an observant Jew lighting the pilot light on the oven. If it doesn’t go out, whatever the baker does afterward has pas Yisroel status generally if ingredients are OK.
    – Yaacov Deane
    Apr 20, 2018 at 11:57
  • @YaacovDeane that you for asking such a great question, as I'm one of those that you mentioned, who go crazy to find pas Yisroel stuff. As for the second part of your comment, I'm not sure i understand. Are you talking about heating up frozen food, that it's fine?
    – aBochur
    Apr 20, 2018 at 14:23
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    Not only Kudos, but, I'm thinking of "circulating" this to a few local rabbanim, to solicit an opinion (and, more likely, a few sneers or shoulder shrugs.) One of the rabbanim happens to be a local mashgiach, too.
    – DanF
    Apr 20, 2018 at 14:48

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