Whereas I am an enormous fan of chilly pizza, I oftentimes discover myself wistfully eager to relive the glory of the recent pie. Figuring out that it is unattainable to roll the clock backward on a pizza—which begins its decline virtually instantly after popping out of the oven—I’ve by no means given a lot thought to finding out whether or not there was a really perfect method to go about reheating chilly pizza. I’ve simply assumed that the most effective you can do was throw it right into a sizzling oven till it is heated by, and resign your self to the truth that the crust on a reheated slice by no means approaches the feel of a freshly-baked one. Whereas the oven can restore to a slice a few of the crispness and pliability it had when recent, it does so on the expense of a lot of the moisture it contained. A reheated slice, irrespective of how tasty, is inevitably crisper, drier, and firmer than it had been initially, since some share of the water it contained has been pushed off within the course of. Now for many who can afford to splurge on steam-injection options, the Balmuda toaster can work wonders in reviving stale pizza — however there are different strategies.
Griddle Me This: The Advantages of Griddling Pizza
However I’ve just lately discovered a greater methodology, one which minimizes this moisture loss as a lot as potential. I stumbled upon completely accidentally, when sooner or later I might determined I did not need to waste the time to fireside up my total oven to reheat a number of measly slices. Missing a toaster oven—the usual weapon of alternative for reheating pizza slices—I made a decision to strive heating up my slices on the (little-used) griddle I’ve on my range, inserting them beneath the chrome steel cowl that’s meant to cover it away when not in use.
Doing so, I believed, would warmth the slices much more shortly and effectively than the oven, and the quilt would create a shallow oven-like house, permitting them to be heated by fully and never merely from under. However I used to be so hungry on the time, I made a decision I could not wait even lengthy sufficient for the griddle to warmth up. As an alternative, I simply threw the slices onto the chilly griddle, lined it, and turned it on. Because the slices could be sitting so near the gasoline burner itself, I didn’t need to scorch or overcook them, so I set the griddle to its lowest temperature (200°F).
“Whereas these slices have been nonetheless not fairly nearly as good as that they had been when recent—they remained a contact extra crisp and barely drier—that they had a far more energizing texture than I had skilled ever earlier than in a reheated slice.”
About thirty minutes later, what emerged from beneath the quilt was a puff of steam, together with my slices, now fully remodeled. As an alternative of the stiff, barely warped slices that they had been when chilly, they have been flat as soon as once more, and the cheese on them was gooey and shiny. And with one chew, I knew I used to be onto one thing. Whereas these slices have been nonetheless not fairly nearly as good as that they had been when recent—they remained a contact extra crisp and barely drier—that they had a far more energizing texture than I had skilled ever earlier than in a reheated slice. The crust was tender within the inside and crisp on the underside, the cheese totally melted, and the toppings supple and sizzling.
The subsequent few instances I had leftover pizza with which to experiment, I performed round with the tactic to verify I understood the approach. I knew that the moisture- and heat-trapping cowl was important, however wasn’t certain concerning the heating methodology itself. I attempted inserting the slices onto a preheated griddle, however that solely served to over-crisp and dry out the slices, leaving them stiff as planks. As did beginning out with a chilly griddle set to the next temperature. In the long run, I decided that the three important parts of the tactic have been ranging from chilly, protecting the griddle, and heating the slices at a temperature under the boiling level of water (212°F).
Retrogradation
To make sense of why this methodology labored so properly, it is essential to grasp what occurs to the crust as soon as a slice of pizza begins its inevitable post-bake decline. It does not merely flip stiff as a result of it is chilly, it really stales, similar to a loaf of bread does over time.
Staling, or retrogradation, is the method by which the starches within the bread launch the water they include into the encompassing areas and agency up*. As long as the water launched by the starches stays within the surrounding gluten, the staling course of could be partially reversed by reheating the bread above 140°F, the temperature at which wheat starches soak up water and gelatinize (e.g., change into tender and pliable). Because of this toasting {a partially} stale slice of bread can restore softness to its inside.
But when the water launched by the starches escapes from the bread, both by gradual evaporation, or quickly, when it’s heated above the boiling level (212°F), the starches will not have water to reabsorb, and all hope is misplaced.
“You need to warmth it to above the gelatinization level, however under the purpose that the moisture might be pushed off.”
So what this implies is that to get the very best reheated pizza slice, you need to warmth it to above the gelatinization level, however under the purpose that the moisture might be pushed off. A slice of pizza positioned right into a sizzling oven acts like a slice of bread in a toaster: the outside (together with the cheese and toppings) quickly heats up, loses water, and hardens. Solely the very inside of the slice retains sufficient water to re-gelatinize. When as a substitute heated gently on a lined griddle, the slice is slowly and uniformly introduced as much as the gelatinization level, and solely a small quantity of water is misplaced to evaporation, largely on the one place you really need it to occur: the underside crust. Reheating the slice in a small, enclosed house additional helps to attenuate the quantity of water that’s misplaced in the course of the course of, and the trapped moisture—which escaped within the puff of steam that I noticed after I eliminated the griddle cowl—really helps to melt the cheese and toppings.
So does this imply you might be S.O.L. if you do not have a griddle on which to reheat your pizza? Fortunately, no. The tactic works simply as properly in a lined skillet, ideally one which has a tight-fitting lid and is as shallow as potential, to attenuate the quantity of water that’s misplaced as steam. The one limitation to the skillet methodology is which you can solely reheat at most two or three slices at one time.
*Retrogradation occurs most quickly at temperatures simply above freezing, which is why you might be higher off leaving leftover pizza in your countertop and ending it off earlier than it has an opportunity to spoil, fairly than refrigerating it.