Who wants to waste the yummy, cheesy, crispy, meaty leftover? Nobody right? A large sized 20-inch pizza can be your breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days but the real problem is how to make it taste like “fresh from the oven” even at day 2 and day 3.
You’ll find different opinions about leftovers, some say cold leftover is the best thing ever and no doubt it tastes great whether cold, warm or blazing hot. However, some of us like it warm to make the cheese flowing and stretching with the taste of original flavor.
The main question here is how to reheat it? Is microwave good enough? Or you should pop it in the oven? What is the best time range for getting the fresh crispy bites again?
Don’t worry, we are going to answer all your questions here and you will never have to worry about eating stale pizza again.
Contents
How to reheat pizza in the microwave
Reheating anything using a microwave is the quickest and most convenient method. Throwing pizza in the microwave directly is not exactly the best method for reheating it as whatever comes out is a rubbery mess but its pizza isn’t it? So it’s tasty.
What if you can get a fresh, cheesy and crispy leftover just using the microwave? Basically reheating in the microwave causes the cheese to get rubbery and the dough gets moist and soggy. If you put a paper towel underneath the leftover, it will absorb all the extra moisture and will prevent the dough from getting soggy.
To keep the cheese fresh, the trick is to put some water in a glass along with the leftover in the microwave. This prevents the cheese from getting rubbery and sticky.
How long to reheat pizza in the microwave?
Reheating leftover on 100 percent power is the biggest mistake we all make. This not only makes the cheese dry and rubbery but also ruins the taste. The trick is to set your microwave on 50 percent power and put in the leftovers for one minute along with the water and paper towels.
How to reheat pizza in the oven
If you want left over to be as crunchy, as meaty, as cheesy and as fresh as day 1, the oven is your best choice. Since oven gives the most stable and uniform heating, it heats up your leftover in the best way possible. Warming up your leftovers in the oven can never go wrong no matter what kind of leftovers.
The trick is to preheat your oven and wrap your leftover in a foil. Make sure you punch a few holes with a toothpick or a skewer to get rid of the steam. If you don’t do this, it might end up being soggy.
- You may also like: Best Toast Oven (Guide, Reviews, and compare)
How long to reheat pizza in the oven?
Along with the reheating methodology, the time and temperature of your oven also play an important role. The temperature should not be very high neither should it be very low. Moreover, overheating or overcooking your leftover might result in a rubbery and stiff pizza, which you will not enjoy as much as a properly heated up leftover.
To get the best of your leftover by reheating it in an oven, make sure your oven is pre-heated for approximately 20 minutes. Keep the temperature at 350 degrees for the pre-heating as well as for reheating the leftover. Once the oven is preheated put your leftover in it for 5 minutes. You will get the best-reheated leftover with oozing cheese and taste even better than day 1.
Reheating on the grill
Reheating your leftover pizza in grill can be a winner for you if you want your pepperoni and dough crisp and your cheese perfectly melted. Grilled pies and pizzas are very famous and are always on point if you know the proper way of reheating your pizza on a grill.
The key to reheating pizza on a grill, just like reheating in an oven, is to pre-heat the grill a few minutes before reheating your leftover. You get grill marks on your pizza but it amplifies the taste which is even better.
How long to reheat on a grill?
Grilling your leftover pizza does not require any kind of foil, toothpick, paper towels or water glasses. It is the easiest and most convenient way in terms of getting a fresh and tasty leftover. All you have to do is set your grill on a medium-high heat and let it heat up for about 10 minutes.
Once the grill is preheated, you can just put your pizza on it for about 6 minutes, or until your crust starts looking crispy. If you want, you can also add a few drops of oil on the grill.
Reheating in a skillet
Some people consider reheating leftover in a skillet as the best way to reheat your leftover. They say that the pizza is heated like it is fresh out of the oven. The crust is crispy and the cheese is bubbly.
Most restaurants also consider skillet as the best way of heating a leftover, the reason being its wood oven like atmosphere. It gives uniform heating throughout. The Roberta’s Pizza in Brooklyn gives the following pamphlet with their pizza.
How long to reheat in a skillet?
Reheating pizza in a skillet does not require a long time nor does it require a lot of effort. All you have to do is pre-heat the skillet over a low medium heat and put the pizza in it with two drops of water. Cover the skillet with a transparent hood and keep an eye on the leftover. Once the cheese starts bubbling, you are good to go. This usually takes about 6-8 minutes.
How to store pizza
Even though this article is about reheating leftover pizza but what most people don’t understand is that storing the leftovers is how you can assure you will get the best taste and sustain the freshness. Most of us have a habit of putting the complete box of leftover in the refrigerator and let it sit there for as long as we want.
This is an acceptable method of storing your leftovers but it is not the best way and you might lose its freshness as well as the aroma of original flavors due to the other foods being stored with it. To ensure the ultimate freshness, there are a few basic things you need. These are:
- Pizza (of course)
- Paper towels
- Cling film
- Plate/Tupperware
Line the plate or Tupperware with a paper towel, place a pizza piece over it and repeat till you are out of leftovers. Once you are done, wrap the complete thing in cling film, there is no doubt that this method works and keeps your leftovers fresh and preserves the original taste.
Best way to reheat pizza
Reheating leftovers never gets old, whether you are a teenager or an old person, you go out and bring back leftovers especially if its pizza. Just one serving and one meal of the day is never enough. You always crave for more.
From what we discussed in the article, the best way to reheat your leftover is reheating using a skillet. The reason being its uniform heating. In a microwave, you never get the fresh taste and no matter how much hacks you try, the cheese always gets rubbery. In the oven, there is a chance you might burn you pizza and also it’s a long process.
Who would like to wait for half an hour before devouring the leftovers?
In a grill, the base gets really crispy which is a turn off for many people. Skillet is the best as it gives an oven-like atmosphere to the leftover and the cheese, the base, the topping everything is as fresh as new.
Conclusion
Keeping in mind all the techniques discussed above, we see there is no single way of reheating your leftover pizza as there is any single way of serving and eating it. Whether you are eating a pie, deep dish or a normal pizza, reheating it in a proper way can give you the same experience as enjoying it fresh.