The gift that is leftover pizza comes raises some serious questions: to reheat or not to reheat? There are many pizza connoisseurs who swear by cold pizza. "You can never get it back to its former glory," they say, "so why even try?" But not everyone agrees with that philosophy, which brings us to a whole other discussion: What is the best way to reheat pizza?
We recently wrote a piece about how to reheat leftovers, and it led us to Gawker's article on warming leftover pizza in a skillet. While we are full supporters of the skillet method, we noticed that not everyone was -- and they sure were vocal about it. The commenters on Gawker shared some interesting methods for reheating pizza and we've picked out their best (and most ridiculous) pieces of advice for you. Here are 18 different ways to reheat leftover pizza. Do with this info what you will.
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1
There's the felon's way.
Flickr: Ryan V Lower
"When I want to reheat pizza late at night, I simply break into Grimaldis, light the coals, carefully adjust the radiant flame opposite the coal fire, wait for the oven to head up to 900, and boom, that's how you do it." gingi999.
2
The fattest way possible.
Flickr: keri.
"Also consider: A tiny pat of butter. High heat until butter is melted. Slap pizza on, then turn to low/med heat. Be sure to shake it every 30 seconds or so, so that it doesn't stick to the pan. Covering is also not a bad idea, for much better meltage on the cheese. Result? Buttery, crisp crust....liquidy-melted cheese on top. This is actually a good approach for frozen pizzas as well, as an alternate to microwaving (*puke*) or waiting to preheat the oven. Only drawback is cleaning the pan/skillet afterwards (if you're lazy like me)." - sigma982
3
The sarcastic way.
Flickr: SZOT MICROBREWERY
"NO, I KEEP A PIZZA STONE AT A TEMPERATURE OF 400 C IN EVERY ROOM OF MY HOUSE THATS THA WAY 2 DO IT" -Rhacodactylus.
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4
The DUH way.
Flickr: Wolf Rock
"For god's sake, this is simple. A pizza is cooked in a pizza oven, not a pizza skillet. So to reheat pizza, you attempt to replicate a pizza oven.Place a baking sheet in your oven, blasting the heat as high as your oven will go. Once the baking sheet is hot, place the pizza on it. The bottom will be crispified by the hot baking sheet. The top will be bubblified by the heat of the oven. Why would you ever think that a skillet, which involves the heat coming from only one direction, would be better?" - Fuzzy Dunlop.
5
The pot head's way.
Flickr: Adam Gerard
"If you're a really smart stoner you will microwave it first then skillet to get the crust crunchie." - steereserve211
6
The uber practical way.
Flickr: yuhei hanaoka
"I swear it makes even the crappiest pizza taste like brick oven. It's so good, I even do this with new pizza. However, I throw it on a gas grill outside. No clean up." - Mr. Crabbs.
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7
The super involved way.
Flickr: Adam Gerard
"I microwave my pizza and then stick it upside down under the grill/broiler to crisp the base, and the toppings do not fall off. Day old pizza is pretty cohesive, and will maintain its integrity under even the most aggressive reheating efforts. Studies show. And by that I mean studies I myself have conducted." -SUSPECT__IS__HATLESS.
8
The classic way.
Flickr: Michelle Dyer
"The humble toaster oven also does a damn fine job. Lovely crust, bubbly cheese." - FeloniousDrunk.
9
The hipster way.
Flickr: {exaviah}
"ARTISANAL charcoal from Brooklyn, or GTFO!" -- HypnoToad
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10
The pyro way.
Flickr: Will Cheyney
"Unless a blowtorch is involved, it's just not bareknuckle enough for me." - krameremark
11
The "if you don't know, now you know" way.
Flickr: Isabel Cutler
"A couple months ago the guy I was dating was getting ready to reheat pizza on a skillet. I laughed at him and he ended it up heating it up in the oven. Little did I know, but apparently he did, he dumped me shortly after." - CreamDeCrop
12
The THIS IS SERIOUS way.
Flickr: jim crossley
"Pre-'warm' iron skillet. Not too hot, or the bottom gets blackened. Place pizza in skillet. Put a lid on, but not air tight... just a crack. This helps create a convection type oven atmosphere, WHILE....get this...crisping the bottom as well. Done. You may eat now." - Tony Noriega
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13
The questionable way.
Flickr: Kai Chan Vong
"You're overlooking the most obvious flaw: now you have a skillet to wash. (And even worse, a skillet should be handwashed)Pizza on a plate in a microwave, dribbled with some water to keep the crust from getting funky." - IDoNotLikeTheConeOfShame
14
The sciency way.
Flickr: Joe Hall
"Uh, there has been real research done on why pizzas (to-go) are bad. It's steam. No one realizes that those perfs in the box top should be used the minute you leave the restaurant. There is actually a pizza box company in India which has engineered a box that has a honeycomb top which lets steam escape while keeping heat in. Putting pieces in the skillet removes the moisture from the crust but does little to heat the cheese until the crust is dried out. Some moisture is good. Next time bring your pizza home and lift the lid slightly and place it in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Cheese stays gooey, crust loses excess moisture and regains crispness. It will taste almost exactly as it would have in the restaurant." - foodphotographer
15
The extremist's way.
Flickr: ZAGAT BUZZ
"Pizza stone??! I have a pizza oven every 10 feet in my home." - cheerful_exgirlfriend.
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16
The a**hole way.
Flickr: Alpha
"I prefer my pizza reheated on a bed of banana leaves and palm fronds over lump hardwood charcoal." - HypnoToad
17
The "I'm so clever" way.
Flickr: Stephanie
"I like to reheat pizza to 98-99 degrees. In my belly." - TedSez
18
And, the existentialist way.
Flickr: Brittany Inskeep
"I don't understand the concept of 'leftover pizza.'" - twinsmommy
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