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i've read conflicting things about baking ones own Matzah. So apparently it can only be baked in a "professional oven that can be heated to over 600 degrees," which doesn't make sense to me since before Ashkenazim started mass production of selling Matzoth, people had to bake it for themselves in their personal ovens. Also i read that one has to use "shmurah matzah" that was guarded from the field it was ripened, and i went to 3 different Jewish markets and bakeries to attempt to buy "shmurah flower" and of course they looked at me like i was insane. Does one need to use Shmurah matzah as defined is this strictest sense? Or can one use normal flour?

So when one wants to bake their own Matzah, what are the halakhoth? Are there differences of opinion between Sephardim and Ashkenazim? i grew up eating soft matzah and want to bake some for myself, but since my family wasn't very religious growing up i don't know if they followed any kind of halachah so i wanted to ask first.

Aaron
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    Shmura flour exists, just there isn't currently almost any market for it as few people bake matza at home. You're unlikely to find it in a regular kosher store. – Double AA Mar 30 '15 at 17:49
  • Back in the day people had fire ovens which could easily be heated to 600 degrees. – Double AA Mar 30 '15 at 17:50
  • I've actually heard that too hot (i.e. the way they do ashkenazi matzos today) is considered by some to be problematic because the matzoh ends up having to come out of the oven while still soft (to avoid burning) which they argue means we should still be concerned with chimutz (rising) after it emerges from the oven. (These matzos harden as they cool/dry out.) If you want soft matzos, you might want to contact a Teimani since I believe they still often use them (at least in Israel). – Loewian Mar 30 '15 at 18:11
  • Found this online: http://softmatza.com/index.php/soft-matza/1lb-soft-matza-ww.html (Can't personally vouch for their reliability but don't see any reason why they wouldn't be reliable.) – Loewian Mar 31 '15 at 17:59
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    Rav Nesanel Kostelitz shlit"a in Baltimore (who makes/has made matzos Erev Pesach) tells me that if you know what you're doing, strong caveat, it isn't that hard to make a few matzos at home, using your oven. He has started to tell me about the process, and encouraged me to begin practicing like, now, since there are a number of skills involve that take practice. He is looking into finding us some shemurah matzah flour. Probably a good idea to learn the section of the Shulchan Aruch that discusses it. – MichoelR Apr 21 '23 at 14:27
  • Rav Kostelitz told me that the way he does it is with a flat metal plate on top of the burners. He puts small bricks on three sides of the plate, and another metal plate on top to hold in the heat. He uses wires or something to lift the top plate off, put down one matzah, put the plate back on. Then start over again kneading the next matzah. It didn't sound like he tries to make the bottom plate super-hot (like glowing red or something). Use one-use plastic rollers to punch the holes in the matzah. He repeated that it isn't hard at all. - Not a mass production method: a few for the seder. – MichoelR Jan 08 '24 at 23:36

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Don't use normal flour. It can be bleached and enriched, which means it might already be chametz.

Long ago people had wood-fired ovens. If you knew what you were doing with a good wood-fired oven, you could easily get a temperature of 600 degrees Farenheit. Today's electric/gas ovens aren't designed for that kind of baking.

It's complicated enough that today it's really best not to try baking your own matza, unless you're really knowledgeable and have the right setup. Maybe contact a matza bakery if there's one in your town and see if you can help there?

Shalom
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  • Besides bleached and enriched, today's normal flour is almost always chametz, as it was soaked before grinding – Yishai Mar 30 '15 at 17:55
  • @Yishai Soaked in warm water for a long while? – Double AA Mar 30 '15 at 17:57
  • Shalom it's not hard to find unenriched and unbleached wheat flours, especially in more 'organic' kinds of stores. – Double AA Mar 30 '15 at 18:01
  • @DoubleAA, 12 to 24 hours. I don't know what temperature is typical in industry today, but some googling suggests a preference for keeping the wheat between 25 and 45 centigrade during the process. – Yishai Mar 30 '15 at 18:15
  • @DoubleAA, BTW, this is why "baked after Pesach XXX" is an outdated anachronism, unless you are just looking for freshness. – Yishai Mar 30 '15 at 18:18
  • i understand that in those days you could get a wood fired stove to hit 600 degrees, but one wouldn't necessarily know that they hit 600 degrees, correct? – Aaron Mar 31 '15 at 17:38
  • And there is no Matzah bakery in the area. Which is unfortunate. i also contacted the local sephardic community near me and the Rabbi said he hasn't done it for fear of being challenged for making soft matzah. Since i'm not a Rabbi, i figure people will be less likely to lynch me. – Aaron Mar 31 '15 at 17:39
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    @Yishai Soaking before grinding is actually the traditional way of making matza (Pesachim 40a). Most communities don't do it nowadays because we aren't "good at it" (whatever that means) but that's a chumra. It's probably fine meikar hadin. – Double AA Apr 02 '15 at 15:36
  • @DoubleAA, arguably I guess. Note the OU article at the link by someone who specifically observed the process - we don't pasken that way, but maybe in a Hefsed Meruba situation. – Yishai Apr 02 '15 at 16:09
  • @Yishai Obviously it would depend exactly how the companies are doing it nowadays, but that's just a Metziut question. If anything I'd expect modern processing to be more efficient about cleaning the wheat with less water. IAE there were Jews still doing לתיתה for their Matzas less than 100 years ago in Yemen (against the position of the Rambam, interestingly). I'm not saying we should change anything about the current practice; just keeping an open mind. – Double AA Apr 02 '15 at 16:15