Cold pizza? Or hot/warm pizza? The Ars battle begins...

[MichaelC]

Ok, it's not really a battle.

But, I see this all the time, and it just came up again in the What did you eat last night thread. Leftover pizza, do you eat it cold? Or do you take the time to properly heat it up? Or do you just shove it in the microwave?

I personally am not a fan of cold pizza. I like leftover pizza, but I grab the cast iron (it doesn't have to be cast iron) get it warming up on a medium heat. Add just a little olive oil, then put a couple slice in and cover it with a lid. A few minutes later, the bottom is warmed up, maybe soft, maybe a little crisp. A lot depends on heat and how much time you left it. The top is warm, even hot and the cheese melty. Doesn't have to be fully melted. But if I want that, I would remove it from the stove top and put it under the broiler to finish it and get it melted and the pepperoni sizzling a little.

So good.

But cold? no, nor for me. I just don't like it that way. Taste and texture is not appealing to me.

 

[nquinnell]

Warm pizza. Used to be 50/50 hot/cold, but since I got an air fryer, warm and crispy all the way!

 

[rtrefz]

I'll have to try your reheating method. I typically eat leftover pizza cold because the microwave doesn't work well with pizza.

 

[un]

I put it in our toaster oven on the air fryer mode and get nice crispy pizza slices with melty cheese. Cold or soggy pizza is gross.

 

[whoisit]

The true test of a pizza is if the leftovers can be eaten cold as breakfast.

 

[Oddabe19]

Hot fresh, cold the next day. Unless I'm feeling ambitious.

By that ambition:
1. Heat pan up
2. Drop pizza in with lid on
3. After a few mins, add a tablespoon or so of water and relid
4. Once water evaporates, delid and leave on another minute or two
5. Enjoy crispy pizza with melty cheese.

 

[Telwar]

I am, thus far, the only barbarian who microwaves his cold pizza. I know, I'm a monster.

 

[sword_9mm]

I'll eat it cold if I'm bringing it to work.

At home I warm it. The wife likes the skillet method. I'm perfectly fine hucking it in the microwave.

 

[Da Xiang]

I am, thus far, the only barbarian who microwaves his cold pizza. I know, I'm a monster.

hot, cold, nuked—it's all good! Hot fresh from the oven; cold—leftovers for breakfast; nuked—leftovers for afternoon snack or dinner.

 

[UserIDAlreadyInUse]

I am, thus far, the only barbarian who microwaves his cold pizza. I know, I'm a monster.

 

[whoisit]

 

[JasterMereel]

Cold pizza and hot coffee is a very incredible weekend breakfast.

 

[GMBigKev]

Depends if I'm lazy and / or hungry

 

[invertedpanda]

I despise reheated pizza.

If it's leftover, it shall be consumed cold, like the leftovers from a Lion's feast is consumed by the vultures that descend on it.

Additionally: Cold pizza has greater structural integrity, meaning it's great for eating while working.

 

[GaitherBill]

Depends on a lot of things.

Some pizza doesn't heat well and is only good cold afterwards.

Some pizza reheats fine so I'll heat it up in the toaster oven.

 

[SuperDave]

I am, thus far, the only barbarian who microwaves his cold pizza. I know, I'm a monster.

No, you're not.

 

[HiroTheProtagonist]

Depends on too many factors. Some pizza responds well to reheating, some works better cold, sometimes I'm too hungry to wait for a pan/air fryer to warm up, other times I'll put in effort that screams "just order another pizza you twit".

That said, one of my guiltiest pleasures has been using two slices of pizza as bread for a sandwich. 9/10 everyone should try it once.

 

[invertedpanda]

That said, one of my guiltiest pleasures has been using two slices of pizza as bread for a sandwich. 9/10 everyone should try it once.

Pizza rolls topped with chili.

A fucking heartburning, artery-clogging, ass-enflaming yet delicious bit of shame that I will never eat again because I could not look my doctor in the eyes if I had.

 

[fitten]

Hot is preferred but I also eat leftover pizza either room temperature or warmed in a microwave.

 

[whoisit]

Pizza rolls topped with chili.

A fucking heartburning, artery-clogging, ass-enflaming yet delicious bit of shame that I will never eat again because I could not look my doctor in the eyes if I had.

So,...how long did it take to repaint the walls?

 

[Doomlord_uk]

Cold pizza? Ugh. Now, as for heating it up... that's rarely worked for me, especially if there was sauce on it (which I often put on). So once pizza's been left over, it hits the bin. Very rare in my life to leave any pizza though

 

[Q]

If you were doing your job last night, there would be no leftover pizza

But I'd be happy with anything other than microwaved

 

[Hound of Cullen]

I'll reheat. Although I usually make or order my pizzas so there aren't leftovers, because it is usually better fresh.

Also, like everything else, there's a song about cold pizza:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R7iWsOilQs

 

[FranzJoseph]

Yer all total barbarians! Leftover pizza?!? What's that abomination? Eat it fresh from the oven as Ceres and Vesta intended!!!

Seriously, nope. We don't eat pizza at home that much, and with a nice pizzeria within a walking distance, if we fancy one as opposed to cooking a dinner it's just easier to grab one for two on the way back home and still have it nearly hot by the time we arrive.

And in the rare emergency cases of eating a frozen one by myself (it's never as good as a fresh one, but I am not that keen on cooking a fancy dinner just for myself if WfH late), I just break off a half and put it in the oven. No leftovers that way either. Who eats a whole pizza for dinner by themselves anyway? That's just way too much evening food for me.

Leftover pizza just sounds totally gross to me, whether reheated or cold, sorry!

 

[Thorvard]

I can do either but 9/10 I'm just grabbing a slice from the box and devouring it.

I will say this, deep dish pizzas or ones that aren't super thin hold up better to eating cold. Lots of places around here have a desire to be as thin as possible and I'm generally not a fan of that but that's a whole other thread conversation

 

[whoisit]

View: https://youtu.be/pzXIpp59eoU?si=_LYFID1hG0kSSMcK

 

[sword_9mm]

That's not pizza. That's just a mess in a bread bowl.

 

[UserIDAlreadyInUse]

What they're doing in that video must break Canadian decency laws.

 

[Jeff J]

Freshly baked pizza is good.
Pizza that has been sitting out and has cooled to room temperature is good.
Pizza straight from the refrigerator is good.
Pizza reheated in a skillet is good, but refrigerated pizza is good enough that cleaning the skillet is usually not worth the effort for me.
Pizza reheated in an air fryer is good, but refrigerated pizza is good enough that cleaning the air fryer is usually not worth the effort for me.
Pizza reheated in a microwave is ok, but not as good as refrigerated pizza.
Pizza that has been refrigerated and then sat out and allowed to warm to room temperature is bad.

 

[UserIDAlreadyInUse]

This thread is reminding me of the borderline-NSFW photos @Yagisama posts of his pizza, and now I'm really, really craving some of that and getting increasingly jealous of his wife that she gets that sort of thing on the regular.

 

[dferrantino]

Reheated, in the oven (air fryer or toaster oven would work but I don't usually have them in the kitchen). Put it in while the oven is preheating, take it out 5 minutes after it's hit temp. Perfection.

Domino's/PJ's/Pizza Hut, which are not pizza but are their own different class of food, are fine in the microwave.

Cold's fine for either, but not preferred.

 

[whoisit]

View attachment 130410

What they're doing in that video must break Canadian decency laws.

It didn't involve maple syrup, a hockey mask, and Molson.

 

[UserIDAlreadyInUse]

It didn't involve maple syrup, a hockey mask, and Molson.

Look, what goes on in the kitchen between consenting diners behind closed curtains is no other country's business...

 

[JasterMereel]

Leftover pizza reheated in an air fryer is actually pretty good. Not as good as fresh pizza, but way better than microwaved pizza.

 

[crombie]

I am about 60/40 on cold vs reheated. There are times I want the pizza hot and crispy so I cut it to fit the air fryer, crank that up to 400F and let it run for about 10 minutes. That usually gives me a nice crispy and hot piece of pizza!

Then again... since we no longer buy large or extra large pizzas and it is usually a medium each or a big slice - we don't tend to have leftovers!

 

[Coriolanus]

Some say pizza should be as hot as fire
Some say as cold as ice
Based on the ones I had in the air fryer
I hold with those who favor fire
But if I wanted another slice
Even though I had just ate
For convenience's sake, ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

 

[Coriolanus]

Man, it's hard to get the cadence down.

 

[FranzJoseph]

About the only times I ever had cold or leftover pizza was at some cheap conferences or when stuck at an off‑prem work waiting for some random hoe contractor to arrive a few hours with the random bad delivery place the only option. And both of it sucked.

I mean, you are ordering a pizza? Why not just have it delivered thin, crispy, fresh and still pretty hot? And if that's not the option due to whatever, just make some fucking sandwiches! ;-)

 

[Yagisama]

Cold pizza? Or hot/warm pizza?

My own personal answer is, both.

And that's not some non-answer. It's actually both. Though there are some caveats.

When I make pizza at home for dinner. I eat 2/3 of it and save the rest. Late at night when the hour of pizza approaches, I return and eat the pizza cold. At this time the pizza sometimes is more fantastic than it was out of the oven. This implies I stretched the dough myself, shred mozzarella myself, and used salami for at least one of the toppings. My pizza holy trinity being salami, mushrooms, and olives.

The cold pizza works as a breakfast as well. But and here's the big but, if I take the same cold pizza and make a lunch out of it, it's not nearly as good. Which alludes to the fact that a big factor is "peccadillo pizza." The fobidden pizza if you will. Absconding into the night with cold pizza.

That said, some pizzas are better at being eaten cold. When heating I hardly ever use a microwave, but rather a oven or toaster oven. If I don't want to wait a long time, I do use a microwave a bit but end with the oven.

PS I have toyed with the idea of baking a pizza and/or ordering a takeout pizza and then putting it in the refrigerator right away to get 100% cold pizza. But that's part of the advanced lab queue.

 

[Cranioclast]

For the most part, I reheat it (just did for lunch today, in fact). A lot of pizza is better reheated the next day, I think.

I tend to just use the steel that it was baked on, but if that's been put away, I will use a cast iron skillet, as well. Leave it under the broiler for 5 minutes (the steel/skillet, not the pizza) and then the turn off the heat and throw in the slices. I've got a toaster oven that will hold a 9-inch skillet if I don't want to use the oven for some reason.

I do have a couple types of pizza that I prefer cold, but they are not typical. I make a couple that get topped with cold shredded lettuce or other greens that obviously don't reheat well. I've also got regulars with different cheeses (smoked cheddar, muenster) that are good cold.

There's something about cooked mozzarella that I just don't like once it's been cooled back down to refrigerator temperatures. Room temperature is fine, though.