Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with reheat

Atsa soggy pizza!

happy scrappy — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:57:15 -0800

What's the best way to reheat a pizza? My husband made a delicious pizza last night, and we want to eat the leftovers tonight. The crust was homemade (traditional yeast-based crust, which came out just a little tough but not bad), sauce was canned, toppings were mozzarella, feta, sliced tomatoes and mushrooms. It was cooked in a pizza pan -- we don't have a pizza stone.

My normal method of reheating pizza is to wrap it in foil and put it in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes. However, I'm concerned that the sliced tomatoes will make it soggy if I use this method. Would it be all right if I just opened the foil a little to let steam escape? Any other tried-and-true methods I might try?

This question is a bit time-sensitive -- I need an answer within the next 5 hours. Thanks in advance!

Safe to eat leftovers left out for a while?

criticman — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 08:52:07 -0800

XMAS DINNER: Is it safe to eat these leftovers? I had dinner with my parents yesterday, around 5PM. After dinner, my mom packed several containers of food for me and put it in the fridge. I left for home around 7:30PM. I got home around 8PM and set the food on the counter, went about bringing in luggage, put a load of laundry on, etc. Long story short, at 10:30PM I saw that I had left out the food (it was no longer cool to touch, room temp - house was 68 degrees F). I immediately put it in the fridge.

So, is it still safe to eat? Everything was sealed (each item separately) very well. The items are as follows:
-turkey (1/2 breast, one big chunk)
-mashed potatoes
-dressing/stuffing (made and cooked outside of the bird)
-gravy
-cooked, sliced carrots

Now, I know almost everyone will have an opinion on this, but I am looking for facts...evidence to support your opinions. I will reheat every item before eating (if deemed safe to eat) and if a reference suggests a particular heating method, temp, time, I will follow.

Please let me know, so I can either enjoy the leftovers without food poisoning...or sadly, throw them out.

Don't want the nice chicken to go to waste

stewiethegreat — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 12:03:00 -0800

Should I eat this cooked chicken in my fridge? 6-7 days old, and in a zip-loc. Last Sunday or Monday (I really don't remember), my lovely girlfriend brought back three extremely tasty chicken breasts she got as take-out from a French restaurant. We ate one, and put the other two in a one gallon zip-loc freezer bag in the fridge.

Then we went to Chicago for Thanksgiving.

I'm back in SF now, and she's in Portugal for the week, and I don't feel like cooking from scratch or going out to get something today, if I can avoid it. Yes, it's bachelor time for me.

The chicken is covered in olives, some small, soft, dark things resembling peppercorns (yes, they were there when we ate it the first time), and I remember tasting some cranberry as well. The sauce seems to have congealed a little bit on to the meat, but doesn't smell gross. I just opened it now for the first time since we put it in there.

Please advise? If it's good, I'll stick it in the oven to reheat.

Reheating Roast Potatoes?

Joh — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 11:19:03 -0800

Travelling with roast potatoes - reheat or part-cook? I am eating thanksgiving at a friend's house this afternoon, and we decided to split the cooking between three of us. I am taking roast potatoes, roast parsnips, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. Roast potatoes/parsnips are best straight out of the oven, IMO, while crispy. What would yield the best results - completely cooking them at my house, then reheating them in the oven at her house, or part-cooking them at my house, then finishing them off at her house? I am wondering if reheated roasties will be too crispy, or if something weird will happen if I part-cook, cool, then finish cooking them.

Any experience mefites? Thanks!

How to reheat pasta alfredo?

thinman — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 18:17:30 -0800

Is there a decent way to reheat pasta with alfredo sauce? Every time I try to reheat pasta in alfredo sauce, it turns into an oily mess. I've tried the microwave. I've tried warming it slowly on the stove top. It never turns out remotely creamy. Does someone know a secret trick for doing this?