A dishwasher is a wonderful machine that saves water and energy – and saves you from chores. You just chuck your dirty dishes and soap in there, press some buttons, and it washes and dries everything for you. It turns out it can also make a tasty dinner. People have been cooking fish in dishwashers for years. A recipe from the 1980s tells you how to do it: just wrap the salmon extra tight in aluminum foil, then run the dishwasher like normal – yes, including the soap and dirty dishes! The hot water (around 140 degrees F) cooks the fish through the foil over a couple hours. You can also toss lobster in a jar with butter. That must be good “clean” eating.
Wee ones: Which pile has more things to wash: 1 fork, or 3 plates?
Little kids: You do a taste test between oven fish and dishwasher fish. If 8 people try the fish, and 3 of them like the dishwasher fish more, which fish wins the taste test? Bonus: If you put your fish in the dishwasher at 6:15 pm and the dishwasher runs for 2 hours, will the fish be ready for dinner by 8:00 pm?
Big kids: Dishwashers don’t get hot enough to cook chicken – that needs to cook at 165 degrees F to be safe to eat. How much hotter is 165-degree chicken than 140-degree fish? Bonus: If you put your fish in the dishwasher at 5:33 pm to run for 2 hours 15 minutes, and the potatoes need to bake for 55 minutes in the oven, when should the potatoes start baking to finish at the same time as the dishwasher fish?
Answers:
Wee ones: 3 plates.
Little kids: The oven fish, because 5 people liked it more, and 5 is greater than 3. Bonus: Not quite! The dishwasher will stop running at 8:15 pm.
Big kids: 25 degrees hotter. Bonus: You should put the potatoes in at 6:53 pm, because the fish will finish at 7:48.

As Staff Writer, Derek strives to bring you exciting Bedtime Math content and keep commas in their rightful place. Previously he helped manage a film studio in the Philadelphia area. Derek holds a B.A. in Communication- Media Production from Villanova University.