The 5 Best Ways To Reheat Leftover Pizza

With the help of two 'za experts, Scott Wiener of Scott's Pizza Tours and Adam Kuban, former pizza blogger and owner of pop-up bar pizzeria, Margot's Pizza, we've compiled the five best ways to reheat pizza, ranked in ascending order of effectiveness, meaning how closely they mimic that "straight out of the oven" taste and texture. 

Microwaving pizza should only be used as a last resort. After all, it's very easy to render the slice inedible. The secret to microwaving pizza is to place your pizza plate over a mug or cup of water. That way, the water will begin to evaporate, adding humidity to your pizza, and preventing the crust from getting rubbery. Also, place a paper towel between the slice and plate to absorb some of the moisture. It's worth a try, although Scott Wiener simply says, "just step away from the microwave."

By far the most popular and traditional method of heating up pizza, there are a couple of tips to sticking a slice in the toaster. This is the best method if you're only warming a slice. Make sure your oven is pre-heated. Don't turn up the toaster too high, and toast on medium for three to four minutes, depending on the thickness of the pizza, or until the cheese starts to melt. 

To reheat pizza, one of the best methods is to recreate the original circumstances of pizza inception. Makes sense, right? This is the best method for heating up a whole pie, or a large chunk of pizza. Slide your pizza onto a pizza stone and turn the temperature up high to at least 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove your piping hot pie a few minutes later. Bonus: this method adds some much-desired char to your crust.

Bet you never thought about using your outdoor grill for reheating pizza! The trick here, according to Scott Wiener, is "low and slow." He says, "Use a super low heat, and indirect heat if you can." However, other leftover pizza experts swear by throwing the slice directly on the grill grates for a few minutes. 

Pizza fans, we have a winner. Both of our pizza experts contended that heating up a pizza slice stovetop was the finest method for retaining ultimate pizza freshness, texture, and flavor. "Place the slices in a shallow skillet, and cover," says Adam Kuban, who got the idea from a post on his former blog, Slice. "Heat it on low. You don't want to heat it above 212 degrees Fahrenheit because you don't want to drive out the water in the crust — that's the surest way to dry out the crust and render it stiff and cardboard-like." The pizza's ready when you hear the sizzle, says Scott Wiener.