Everybody has their own tried and tested ways of reheating their favourite takeaway indulgence – pizza.
Although the best plan is to eat it straightaway, on the day, if there’s just too much and you want to keep some until the next day, what’s the best way to keep and reheat your pizza? If it goes wrong, you can end up with a rubbery mess with the pizza dough gone soggy while the cheese and toppings dry out. Ugghh! So what do you do?
So assuming you want to reheat it and enjoy that hot pizza goodness, and not just eat it cold straight from the box or the fridge the next morning, what do you do? In many cases, it is practically impossible to get the same hot, gooey melt in the mouth results by heating, but these suggestions might get you close to those results.
If you oil your reheating equipment, that oil will just transfer into the pizza base making it even more soggy.
Good results can be achieved by keeping the pizza in the fridge overnight and reheating briefly in an oven. Make sure the oven is preheated to about 350 degrees fahrenheit or 180 degrees centigrade.
You will want to place the pizza on a baking tray or even better a pizza stone. But remember to keep this in the oven while it is preheating, so that the thing you are setting your pizza on is already hot. This will help to keep the base dry and crispy.
Keep an eye on the pizza while it is in the oven. For thin pizzas, maybe 8 – 10 minutes might be enough to get it reheated and to get the cheese nice and melted. Watch for the small bubbles around the cheese.
For thicker pizzas, maybe 10 – 15 minutes would be better. But again, keep a close eye on the pizza and remove as soon as it looks ready.
Some people even suggest putting the pizza in the freezer overnight, instead of the fridge.
The oven is a dry heat, so while your pizza is in there, it will be drying out, which is why the times mentioned are low. But you can help retain some of the moisture and juicyness by covering the pizza loosely with foil or another baking tray. However, if you are covering the pizza, make sure not to form a tight seal as any moisture released may steam the pizza, which is fine for the topping for disasterous for the base.
Instead of an oven, you could try a pizza stone, skillet or frying pan heated on the stove. You can use another pan to place on top to keep the heat in.
Another suggestion mentioned frequently is using a toaster over to reheat pizza. Make sure to preheat the toaster oven and cook as per instructions for a standard oven.
As for reheating pizza in a microwave, I suggest you don’t do it. Sure it will heat it up, but it will always be soggy and soft. Not very nice.