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Leftover pizza is one of my greatest joys in life.
Everyone in my house has a different method of reheating their slices.
My husband turns on the oven, my son loves a chewy microwaved mess of melty cheese.
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My daughter and I dont bother with any shenaniganswe like it cold.
But I was curious, what does a pizza expert recommend?
Leftover pizza is a separate joy from the product youre served at a restaurant.
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You’re getting two lives out of a pizza, two different experiences, he explains.
Proper Pizza Storage
The best reheated pizza starts with storage.
Reheating pizza thats just a few hours old actually produces aworseproduct than eating it at room temperature.
Storing it in the box leaves it too susceptible to wonky moisture levels and refrigerator smells.
Instead, wrap it in foil.
Youll preserve the flavors of your pizza and also save yourself a bunch of fridge space.
Place your slices on a piece of foil.
Bring the foil up and around the slices without fully closing it up.
This helps protect the cheese from melting off of the pizza before its warmed through.
Halfway through, open up the top of the foil.
Bake until its just warmed throughyou arent going for a screaming hot slice.
Mangieri explains that most mozzarella does not respond well to being reheated so thoroughly.
It breaks and becomes greasy, lacking the texture and pullback of freshly melted cheese.
That way you avoid reheating it and cooling it unnecessarily and cooking that poor slicethreetimes.
Instead, bring extras home at room temperature.
Reheat it for the first and only time when youre ready for it.
The Takeaway
Leftover pizza is a separate experience than fresh pizzeria pizza.
For best results, preheat your oven as hot as it will get.
Partially wrap refrigerator cold slices in foil.
Place in the oven to warm, opening up the foil halfway through.
Cook only until the slice is warmed through, not screaming hot.
