Chapter 80:57
Some Activities Forbidden on Shabbos
57. [A leniency is granted when] the third day [after meat was slaughtered]
falls on Shabbos, and the unsalted meat had not yet been rinsed in water
(1). Since the meat will become forbidden unless it is rinsed on that day,
one may ask a Gentile to do it. It is, however, forbidden for a Jew to
rinse it on Shabbos (2).
FOOTNOTES:
(1) Meat must be salted (to extract the blood) within three days after the
slaughtering. If it was not salted, it must be thoroughly rinsed with water
within that three day limit, or else it becomes forbidden.
(2) The Rabbis prohibited making preparations on Shabbos, for after
Shabbos. In our Halacha above, the meat being rinsed is not going to be
eaten on Shabbos, and therefore, it is clear that the rinsing is being done
so as to keep it kosher for use after Shabbos. Although it is usually
prohibited to ask a Gentile to perform a forbidden act on Shabbos for a
Jew, in this case, since a loss is involved (i.e. the meat will become
non-kosher), one may ask a Gentile to perform the task.
The Mishna Berura (321: 21) brings the opinion of the Eliyah Rabbah and
Nodah BeYehuda that if it is impossible to find a Gentile to do it, a Jew
may rinse the meat himself; in that case, if the meat is in a bowl, its
preferable for the Jew to rinse his hands over the meat in the bowl, so its
not as obvious that the intent is to rinse the meat.
