# Trouble with dinner **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962 "2006-08-02T00:57:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962/1 "2006-08-02T00:57:42Z")
I’ve had some pretty bad trouble with dinner two nights running. Last night, I fried up some blintzes, right from the box. I managed to burn the outsides and keep the insides partially frozen. Tonight I reheated some fish in the microwave. I left the lid on the plastic container too loose, and the fish exploded. There were fish flecks and slivers all over the inside of the microwave. I need a refresher on cooking blintzes and reheating fish. Anybody have any pointers? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962/2 "2006-08-02T04:04:31Z")
Both cases are of serious overheating, or to be more blunt, impatience 🙂 Either thaw the blintzes first (leave in the microwave in the morning for that night’s dinner) or have the oven on lower and longer - you can gun it up at the end if you like more crispness in the cases. If you don’t have time for that, well, you don’t have time for frozen blintzes. The fish you just had on too long and/or too high, most likely. Unlike with power tools, more power is not the answer to every cooking problem! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962/3 "2006-08-02T13:44:10Z")
Patience! You could fry up a frozen blintz but you would have to keep the heat really low while it thaws, and then turn up to crisp the outside. This works OK with frozen perogies too. What settings did you use for that fish?! ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962/4 "2006-08-02T22:59:15Z")
I ran the fish for 4 minutes at 70%, and stopped the microwave after 3:30. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962/5 "2006-08-03T02:59:08Z")
[QUOTE=Scuba\_Ben] I ran the fish for 4 minutes at 70%, and stopped the microwave after 3:30. [/QUOTE] Right. I’d do fish for between 1 and 2 minutes depending on the power of the oven and how much fish there was; at 70% I’d say 3 minutes tops. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962/6 "2006-08-03T03:36:50Z")
Did the instructions for the blintzes really say to fry them when they were still frozen? Generally, food that’s burnt on the outside and cold on the inside comes from having the heat too high. It takes time for heat to penetrate food, and the temperature in a skillet can easily get high enough to burn the outer surface of the food before the inside has warmed up. If I had to cook frozen blintzes I would try to defrost them before frying them. You can do this in a microwave or conventional oven. I would fry the blintzes only after they were warm - the purpose of frying at this point is to brown the food and add some butter flavor. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962/7 "2006-08-03T14:36:46Z")
[QUOTE=Scuba\_Ben] I ran the fish for 4 minutes at 70%, and stopped the microwave after 3:30. [/QUOTE] Oh yeah, less than 2 minutes to reheat something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962/8 "2006-08-04T23:49:01Z")
[QUOTE=Jeff Lichtman] Did the instructions for the blintzes really say to fry them when they were still frozen? [/QUOTE] Yep. They say to fry while frozen over medium heat. Next time I’ll stick 'em in the oven. (FWIW, I do all my frying these days in sunflower oil, not butter.) As for the microwave, I think it’s more powerful than the one I used to have. So next time I’ll try the fish at 2:00 and 70%; tonight I’ll try chicken at 3:00 and 70%. (The chicken hasn’t blown up on me yet.) ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-dinner/366962/9 "2006-08-05T01:36:44Z")
That’s quite an accomplishment, Ben. To have chicken never blow up on you. 😃