Eating leftover pizza can be frustrating. From being the most glorious food on its fresh-from-the-oven state, it quickly becomes the dullest and most lifeless food on the planet. Fortunately, there are ways to retrieve its quality and have a superb eating experience as if it was just delivered on your doorsteps. This scoop will tell you how to reheat pizza in two ways – the oven method and the skillet method.
How Is The Oven Method Done?
Reheating pizza using the oven is the most ideal way if you want to have it the way it was when freshly baked – piping hot, wonderfully crispy, and delectably gooey. The following are step-by-step procedure on how it’s done:
- Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Others would attempt a higher temperature than this which is also fine but watch over it carefully to prevent it getting burnt.
- Place the slices on a baking pan lined with aluminium foil. Alternatively, you may simply place a sheet of foil on the oven tray and toss in the pizza directly if you prefer your crust crispier.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until your desired doneness is achieved.
In the absence of a gas oven, you can also use an oven toaster following the same steps. Since most oven toasters do not have display thermometers, you need to make a rough estimate on whether or not your pizza slices can be popped inside it already. If it can be avoided, do not use a microwave oven for reheating or risk the crust getting tough and the flavours lost.
How Is The Skillet Method Done?
If you only have a few slices to warm, the oven method can be too tedious. Especially if you’re running late for a morning errand, waiting for an oven to preheat is not your go-to means. Luckily, you have another option. Check out the following step-by-step procedure on how to reheat pizza using a skillet on a stovetop:
- Heat a skillet on medium heat.
- Once hot, place the cold pizza slices directly on the pan and heat directly for a couple of minutes.
- Add a few drops of water on the pan making sure that none gets on the pizza. This will make sure your slices won’t dry up.
- Cover the pan and allow them to cook some more.
- You know it’s done when you see the toppings of your pizza are heated up well and are out of their chilled state. You will also notice that the cheese has slightly melted.
What Happens When Pizza Is Reheated?
Fundamentally, the goal of reheating pizza is to get rid of the hard-to-chew texture and make it palatable as new again. We discussed above the ways on how to reheat pizza and with each method, results may vary. The most identical to a just-delivered-perfectly-crispy slice is one warmed in the oven. The even distribution of heat allows all sides to be baked without letting too much flavours escape. In contrast, the skillet option may be friendly for someone who does not have the luxury of time, but there appears to have varying opinions on the result. Some like it – even saying it’s better than the original – but others claim it becomes a little flat with the introduction of water while being cooked.
What Are The Effects Of Eating Reheated Pizza?
The second best part of eating pizza is the leftovers. The thought of buying a large box even if you’re alone eating is just tempting because that means you don’t have to worry about your next couple of meals. But, there are growing concerns about the danger of eating reheated food.
So, what is really the effect of reheating pizza and is it safe for you? The answer really is that in general, there are no repercussions on this unless proper storage is followed. Say you partied hard last night and everybody passed out. You left all your pizza slices sitting on the table for hours. Will you save yourself from having an upset stomach when you reheat it? Not guaranteed. Regardless of what is on your pizza – cheese, meat, vegetables – if it’s been left out there for more than 2 hours, you need to think twice about munching on the leftovers. Generally, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) declares temperatures between 40 °F to 140 °F as danger zones wherein bacteria start to multiply rapidly so we want to steer clear of this.
How do you avoid this? Simple. Stock your leftover pizza on the fridge and it will save you pounds of food wastes and toilet trips later. Typically, they will last about 4 days while chilled but it depends on the pizza toppings. The store personnel will most probably know more about this so better ask them the storage procedure. When you strictly adhere to this, you won’t be questioning the magic reheating does to a pizza.
Should You Reheat Pizza?
In some households, after a festive family movie night, these leftover pizzas will just be kept away on kitchen countertops arguing that chilling only ruins the crust and solidifies the grease. But with this, you are setting off a food safety bomb. All the more reason you need to reheat your pizza. Unless future scientific researches prove otherwise, it does not pose any threat to your life. Bottom line, the leftovers stay on the fridge until it’s time for them to get warmed and enter into someone else’s bellies.
The choice between a hot or cold pizza has long been a heated topic of debates. I wouldn’t judge a bunch of people who would sneak a slice or two of cold pizza straight from the fridge. They claim the flavours sharpen when it spends the night over perfectly chilled. But why would you risk getting a broken tooth biting off that rubbery crust? Besides, if the loss of flavours is what causing your anxiety, there are numerous ways of recreating your pizza when you reheat it. Try tossing a pump of tomato sauce or a few ounces of shredded cheese or whatever ingredient you have on your cupboard to jazz it up. It might even taste a lot better than the original.
In conclusion, should we reheat pizza? The answer: Why not?
Hope your answer about reheating pizza has been answered. Here are more post about reheating food:
