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Forum -> Household Management -> Kosher Kitchen
Does microwaving frozen schnitzel make it soggy?



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amother
Cyan


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 9:54 am
My special needs child is not in a frum gan and therefore I send him lunch from home every day. Since they eat a hot fleishig meal in his gan, I send him fleishigs from home too and I double wrap it so the staff can warm it up in the microwave at lunchtime. To make things easier for me, whenever I make fleishigs for our family for lunch, I divide the leftovers into individual portions and freeze them that way. This way, every morning I pull out a portion for him of either schnitzel, chicken, meatballs, hamburgers, or meatloaf, add a side dish, and he's good to go.

I've been noticing that he doesn't usually eat the schnitzel I send. Or maybe he eats a little bit but definitely leaves over most of it. When he's home for lunch and I make schnitzel, he eats it beautifully. Today he was home and he finished the entire portion. I was wondering, could it be that leaving it in the fridge in gan all morning to defrost and then microwaving it at lunchtime makes it soggy and that's why he doesn't eat it? Is there a better way to do it? Should I take it out of the freezer the night before to defrost in the fridge overnight or will that not make a difference?
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amother
Fuchsia


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 9:57 am
Yes it does make it soggy, better to reheat in the oven or a pan.

But there are lots of reasons he may not want to eat. My kids never ate in school as young kids, they were too stressed out by the overstimulating environment. We eat a solid breakfast at home and a big lunch when they get back.
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 10:07 am
Thanks. He eats everything else I send him, just not the schnitzel.
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amother
Tangerine


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 10:15 am
I found the best way to microwave frozen schnitzel is to keep it frozen the whole time and then I put in microwave on auto defrost mode.

The schnitzel has to be frozen when it is put into the microwave otherwise it is soggy.
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 10:22 am
amother wrote:
I found the best way to microwave frozen schnitzel is to keep it frozen the whole time and then I put in microwave on auto defrost mode.

The schnitzel has to be frozen when it is put into the microwave otherwise it is soggy.


In gan they put it in the fridge until lunchtime and then they reheat it, so that's probably making it soggy. If I would microwave it at home straight from the freezer and send it hot, then they would put it in the fridge until lunchtime and microwave it just to warm it up for him, would that help?
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figgy




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 10:24 am
Yes, it can make the breading soggy
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amother
Tangerine


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 10:35 am
Why can't u microwave it at home for him and let them keep it out at room temperature?

But it's for sure better if you defrost it and they just reheat it for thirty seconds and no more.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 10:48 am
Don't microwave it. Send it fresh and have them keep it at room temperature and serve it to him that way.
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 10:55 am
amother wrote:
Why can't u microwave it at home for him and let them keep it out at room temperature?

But it's for sure better if you defrost it and they just reheat it for thirty seconds and no more.


He gets picked up at 7:30 and they don't eat lunch until 1:30. I'm not so comfortable with it staying out for that long, especially because he usually has hot potatoes, rice, or pasta in the same container.
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 10:55 am
ra_mom wrote:
Don't microwave it. Send it fresh and have them keep it at room temperature and serve it to him that way.


I can't make him fresh food every day. My life is too hectic for that.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 11:00 am
amother wrote:
I can't make him fresh food every day. My life is too hectic for that.

Sorry, I didn't mean fresh from that morning :oops
I meant from the fridge, not from the freezer.
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 11:49 am
ra_mom wrote:
Sorry, I didn't mean fresh from that morning :oops
I meant from the fridge, not from the freezer.


That doesn't work every day either. I usually freeze a bunch at a time. There's a limit to how long schnitzel can stay in the fridge before it goes bad.
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 12:08 pm
then after overnight defrost in fridge, quickly reheat in frying pan in the morning to re-crunch the outer layer

have him eat it at room temp ...

microwaved food is either soggy, cardboardy, or simply not tasty
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kalsee




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 12:11 pm
Put it in the fridge the night before, and ask them to take it out of the fridge an hour or so before lunch.
Just defrosted, and eaten at room temperature should be fine.
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 5:45 pm
Thanks to all of you for your advice. I don't want to tell them to give it to him at room temperature since there are other meals that he prefers warmed up (like meatballs with pasta) and I don't want to drive them crazy with different instructions each day. Instead, I think I'll quickly throw the frozen schnitzel into a frying pan in the morning and then send it. Hopefully that will make it less soggy.
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youngishbear




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 05 2016, 6:00 pm
TBH I doubt it's the sogginess. IME microwaved shnitzel sometimes becomes a piece of rubber that is simply difficult to chew.

Before adding another seven steps to a hectic morning routine, I would try sending separate containers labeled clearly "room temp" for the shnitzel and "microwave" for the pasta/rice, to check whether that works for him. I think if it's labeled it's a reasonable accomodation to ask for.
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Wed, Jul 06 2016, 3:08 pm
youngishbear wrote:
TBH I doubt it's the sogginess. IME microwaved shnitzel sometimes becomes a piece of rubber that is simply difficult to chew.

Before adding another seven steps to a hectic morning routine, I would try sending separate containers labeled clearly "room temp" for the shnitzel and "microwave" for the pasta/rice, to check whether that works for him. I think if it's labeled it's a reasonable accomodation to ask for.


You know, I wonder if you're right. There have been times that I rewarmed schnitzel at home (not frozen) and it came out rubbery.

I don't want to drive the staff crazy though with multiple instructions. Nobody there is frum and it's not always the same person warming it up, so I really try to make sure the instructions are the same from day to day. I don't think I can rely on them to take one container out an hour before lunchtime while heating up the other one. Maybe I should just stop sending him schnitzel for lunch?
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Thu, Jul 07 2016, 10:06 am
So I did an experiment today. On Tuesday, we had schnitzel and mashed potatoes for lunch. Instead of freezing all the leftover schnitzel, as soon as we were done eating, I put one piece of schnitzel and a serving of mashed potatoes into his container for today - I figured 2 days in the fridge should be fine. He just came home from gan, and lo and behold, every bite is gone. So it definitely has something to do with it being frozen beforehand that makes it unappealing to him.
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