Do not reheat eggs. Repeat: DO NOT REHEAT THEM.
January 21, 2014 1:13 PM   Subscribe

 
I've reheated eggs before, and it hasn't killed me.

Or are these tips for people who care about things like texture and flavor?
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:17 PM on January 21, 2014 [8 favorites]


Reheating eggs leads to dragons.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:19 PM on January 21, 2014 [37 favorites]


A shell of its former self? Microwave-reheated pizza is revolting. Toaster oven reheated pizza is quite good, as far as I'm concerned.

My one exception for eggs is that gently reheating a quiche in the oven seems to work just fine, but I guess that's sort of just putting it in the "pie" category instead of the "eggs" category.
posted by Sequence at 1:19 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


no mention of chinese takeout?

heat up your wok, drop a little sesame oil in there, stir-fry it up. it doesn't even matter what dish you're reheating. it somehow tastes better re-fried.
posted by ninjew at 1:20 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


So glad they didn't refer to these as "hacks."
posted by bondcliff at 1:21 PM on January 21, 2014 [32 favorites]


Oh, nonsense. I routinely make large batches of scrambled eggs with stuff in them and stick individual servings in the fridge. Reheats just fine.
posted by valkyryn at 1:22 PM on January 21, 2014 [7 favorites]


Fish is easy to reheat. Shred it into a curry sauce and simmer until hot.

Also, breads and muffins? Wet your hand and moisten the outside before putting in foil. Perfect.

This woman pretends like food is a fragile piece of ephemeral artwork that shouldn't even be looked at too long. She obviously eats a different class of food than I.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:24 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


I reheat pizza in my belly. Mmmmm, cold pizza for breakfast.
posted by perhapses at 1:24 PM on January 21, 2014 [49 favorites]


Yeah, these are generally sensible, but someone who's fine with cold pasta but bothers to reheat pie is kind of suspicious.
posted by neroli at 1:27 PM on January 21, 2014 [19 favorites]


i look forward to the next day of cold pizza. it's a win win of yumminess and zero effort.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 1:27 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


So glad they didn't refer to these as "hacks."

On the other hand, they jump directly into my pet peave, which is the "you're doing it wrong" trope.

Pro tip: If you want me to actually read what you have written about your technique preferences, claiming that other techniques that successfully lead to similar results you don't personally prefer are inherently "wrong" is... wrong.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:28 PM on January 21, 2014 [10 favorites]


Fish is easy to reheat.

1. Insert into breakroom microwave
2. Put on HIGH for 30 minutes.
3. Leave break room to go to the bathroom, get distracted, forget about fish.
4. Enjoy the aroma of burnt fish all day long.
posted by bondcliff at 1:29 PM on January 21, 2014 [69 favorites]


Curious about fried foods. Generally I prefer eating things cold to reheating.
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:31 PM on January 21, 2014


BONDCLIFF WORKS IN MY OFFICE!!!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:31 PM on January 21, 2014 [7 favorites]


1. Insert into breakroom microwave
2. Put on HIGH for 30 minutes.
3. Leave break room to go to the bathroom, get distracted, forget about fish.
4. Enjoy the aroma of burnt fish all day long.


5. Unknowingly suffer the silent wrath of your coworkers.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:33 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Day old cold roast chicken has an entirely different flavor than hot roast chicken I will fight you on this.
posted by The Whelk at 1:34 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


No need. As long as you're providing the chicken.
posted by valkyryn at 1:34 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


Day old cold roast chicken has an entirely different flavor than hot roast chicken I will fight you on this.

Yes. The the mayonnaise and bread really enhance it.
posted by bondcliff at 1:35 PM on January 21, 2014 [15 favorites]


Well, I can't speak for eggs in any other form, but when I was a teenager my mum once left a couple of eggs in a pot of water to boil, then left the room and forgot about them. I found the aftermath a couple of hours later; apparently the pan had boiled dry and the eggs had exploded. The entire kitchen was splattered with little bits of egg. It's not quite the same situation as a frittata, but still.
posted by AllShoesNoSocks at 1:35 PM on January 21, 2014 [6 favorites]


Eh, I make giant crustless quiches/fritattas to eat for the week and they get about a minute in the microwave and they never turn into dragons. I wouldn't risk it with fried or poached, of course.

I only recently learned the thing about reheating pizza in a skillet (which I would only do if I was planning to put a fried egg over it, which is not as good on cold pizza) and it is far preferable to my former oven-based method.

Fried foods should be reheated in the oven, uncovered and ideally raised on a grate for best possible airflow. It will never be as good as straight out of the fryer, of course, but it will be edible.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:36 PM on January 21, 2014


My own advice: almost all leftovers are good mixed into (fresh) scrambled eggs and eaten with toast.
posted by neroli at 1:36 PM on January 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Day old cold roast chicken has an entirely different flavor than hot roast chicken

It's called the warmed over effect (which I learned here). If you prefer scholarly articles to Wikipedia, here you go.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:37 PM on January 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Reheating coffee is barbaric.
posted by Lutoslawski at 1:38 PM on January 21, 2014 [11 favorites]


My sister makes a pot of coffee, then immediately turns off the machine, to keep from burning the coffee before she can finish it all. Instead, she warms each cup in the microwave, as needed. I've never had much luck with that. I drink the first half pot hot, about 2 large mugs full, then switch it off before it really loses the fresh taste, and drink the rest of it iced.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:47 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


None of this is applicable to my "make food in advance, nuke it in the office kitchen microwave for lunch" lifestyle. The most effort I go to when reheating food is to put a damp paper towel over anything I don't want to get unpleasantly dry or crispy.

As to reheating pizza, I only microwave it for a few seconds so it's room temperature as opposed to icy.
posted by yasaman at 1:47 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


211 Food Warming Hacks: Save Time By Reheating Food You Already Have Instead Of Preparing New Food
posted by turbid dahlia at 1:48 PM on January 21, 2014 [9 favorites]


Despite the otherwise good culinary advice, there is really nowhere near enough discussion of food safety.
Rice
You can either heat rice dishes on your stove top or in the microwave. If you're going with the former, put rice in a saucepan and add a splash of water. Heat over medium-high until the rice starts to sizzle. Stir to incorporate and warm the rice for about a minute, then cover pot and let steam off the heat for 5 minutes, until fluffy. If you're using a microwave, put rice into a microwavable bowl, add a splash of water, then heat covered with plastic wrap (not touching the rice) until heated through, about 3 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Be super careful about rice leftovers, somehow we've succeeded at communicating the dangers of meat well past the point of making people cautious to paranoid, but dangers that get more people sick like rice are largely unknown. There are Bacillus cereus spores found naturally in rice that can survive cooking and suddenly comeback to life when rehydrated around the free sugars of cooked starch that can give you deep regrets. When saving rice, don't let it stay in the danger zone between hot and cold for more than a couple of hours - including the time it takes to cool down in your fridge.
Stews and Soups
It takes a little patience, but you should reheat soups and stews slowly in a pot over medium heat. Letting it rip on high will cause lots of liquid to evaporate, making you lose part of your precious lunch (or dinner or snack or whatever).
When saving soups and stews don't leave it out warm on the counter where things will grow and, like everything else, be sure to save it in portions no larger than two inches on at least one side to allow it to cool down fast enough.

Ten ways to prevent food poisoning
posted by Blasdelb at 1:50 PM on January 21, 2014 [15 favorites]


That list was just me saying "eat it cold" fifteen times.
posted by Cyrano at 1:52 PM on January 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Subject reported that the reheated eggs were the most delicious meal that they had ever consumed, and was satiated after half a serving. However, there is again no way of ensuring that the product does not come in contact with dead bodies.
posted by indubitable at 1:55 PM on January 21, 2014 [6 favorites]


211 Food Warming Hacks: Save Time By Reheating Food You Already Have Instead Of Preparing New Food

One weird trick to eat things you made prior --- grocery stores hate her!!!!!
posted by threeants at 1:56 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


Cold pizza is definitely the best. If you insist on reheating it though, what's wrong with throwing it in the oven for a few minutes? That's not even an option?
posted by naju at 1:56 PM on January 21, 2014


I'd rather eat rare meat cold than turn it into leather by reheating it.

Most of the rest on that list I either don't heat up at all, or just warm up in the microwave (or toaster oven for crispy things) and it tastes good to me. Maybe I'm not picky enough.
posted by randomnity at 1:57 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Consumer-priced CVap (Controlled Vapor Technology) is coming to a kitchen near you. And it reheats better than anything else I've seen. For now, sous vide equipment is getting cheaper and cheaper, but frankly it's a bit annoying to have to vacuum seal stuff you want to re-heat unless you are doing large batches.
posted by melissam at 1:58 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


Reheating pizza at home

If you're reheating pizza at home, or waiting for professional help to arrive, the following advice will help prevent further heat loss.

- Move the pizza indoors or somewhere warm as soon as possible.
- Once the pizza is in a warm environment, carefully remove any wet clothing and dry the pizza.
- Wrap the pizza in blankets, towels, coats (whatever you have available), protecting the cheese and toppings first.
- Your own body heat can help warm a pizza. Gently hugging pizza can help warm pizza up.
- Encourage the pizza to shiver if it's capable of doing so.
- If possible, give the pizza warm drinks (not alcohol) or high-energy foods, such as chocolate, to help warm the pizza up.
- Once the pizza's body temperature has increased, keep it warm and dry.
- It's important to handle cold pizza gently and carefully.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:58 PM on January 21, 2014 [58 favorites]


It's probably a good idea not to leave most cooked foods sitting around at room temperature before eating, rice and others.

Be super careful about rice leftovers, somehow we've succeeded at communicating the dangers of meat well past the point of making people cautious to paranoid, but dangers that get more people sick like rice are largely unknown.

Likely this is because a lot of those pathogens are deadly. Your own link says the effects of the rice bacteria or whatever are pretty mild. If you can't scare the hell out of people with something, it can't make the news, or press releases or government pamphlets. I thought everyone knew that.
posted by IvoShandor at 1:58 PM on January 21, 2014


oh god yeah who reheats coffee

and omg microwave pizza when you bite into it and it's both icy AND hot AND gloppy all at once it is TERROR
posted by ninjew at 1:59 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


Put on HIGH for 30 minutes.

Several years ago in a distracted moment I managed to set a microwave to 12 minutes instead of 12 seconds while reheating a popularly-branded toaster pastry. I was moving out of an apartment at the time, which is why I was both distracted and eating fast, crappy food. The current residents of that apartment probably still sense a whiff of that acrid, burnt sugar smell during hot, humid weather.
posted by gimonca at 2:03 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Reheating pizza at home

Let it go. Let it go.
posted by ogooglebar at 2:04 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Pizza comes out of the microwave fine if 1) you don't overdo it and 2) you put a shot glass of water next to it. The pizza, I mean, not the microwave.

It won't be crispy like pan-reheated pizza, but it's a lot more manageable before coffee is available.
posted by darksasami at 2:04 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


When I was little I once reheated a Wendy's cheeseburger but didn't know to take the foil wrapper off


It burned a hole in my burger
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 2:05 PM on January 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Fish is easy to reheat.

The microwave in the lounge in grad school had a big "No heating fish or cabbage in the microwave" sign. Apparently there had been problems.
posted by octothorpe at 2:05 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


I read the coffee one in a Steve Brule voice. "Wanna reheat your cup of coffee? Just put it in the microwave, dummy! For your health!"
posted by naju at 2:07 PM on January 21, 2014 [9 favorites]


Reheated potatoes. Oh god, the horrible childhood memories.

As to the other suggestions, I've been heating muffins in the oven for about thirty years and never thought to cover them with foil. Does it make that much of a difference?
posted by Kevin Street at 2:08 PM on January 21, 2014


I love leftovers. I think it stems from when my parents would go out to eat with friends every weekend and my mother would never finish her meal and I would eat it for lunch the next day. To me the food was invariably better the next day. The spices and combined flavors would meld to the point they could never get to when they were hot out of the kitchen. I've floated the idea to friend of starting a green business called "Leftovers" where I would pick up food leftover from restaurants around town and repackage it as take out meals. It's never received well. I guess I just have to resign myself to the fact that I'm in a very small minority that enjoys food this way.
posted by any major dude at 2:09 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


I intentionally make enough for lots of leftovers when I cook, because who wants to spend an hour cooking two nights in a row when you can spend an hour one night and five minutes the next? Leftovers are awesome. The slight decline in even heating is so worth it. Also what the heck do people eat for lunch at work if not last night's leftovers?
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:12 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Let it go. Let it go.

I could have saved it. I COULD HAVE SAVED IT!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:12 PM on January 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


It's probably a good idea not to leave most cooked foods sitting around at room temperature before eating, rice and others.

One would think this, but I have decades of evidence based on picnics involving extended family nibbling on various grilled, baked, and boiled foods that have then been left at room temperature or warmer (picnics) for many hours and it doesn't seem to have hurt either said relatives' appetites or their ability to proliferate the family tree alarmingly.
posted by aught at 2:13 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


What's a "leftover" ???
posted by Thorzdad at 2:14 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]



5. Unknowingly suffer the silent wrath of your coworkers.


more like "5. get shanked in the service elevator vestibule" if i have anything to say about it
posted by elizardbits at 2:15 PM on January 21, 2014 [16 favorites]


Cold pizza is definitely the best. If you insist on reheating it though, what's wrong with throwing it in the oven for a few minutes? That's not even an option?

I am a skillet convert. With the covered skillet method, the cheese remains soft and gooey, while the bottom crisps up. The oven tends to dry the cheese out, and sometimes the crust as well.
posted by Diablevert at 2:15 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


How to heheat almost anything, even eggs (but not pizza):
Cut, dice, or tear into bite-sized bits
Heat gently with a little oil, and perhaps salt, pepper, or other handy seasonings in a medium saucepan.
Pour in two cups of water and add ramen noodles according to directions on package.

This has served me well since I was in college 3 decades ago.
posted by TedW at 2:15 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


You know, I dont even necessarily dislike a slideshow, unless it refreshs the page between every time, and restarts at the top so you have to scroll down again to read the captions.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:16 PM on January 21, 2014 [13 favorites]


The microwave in the lounge in grad school had a big "No heating fish or cabbage in the microwave" sign.

I won't tell you details about the incident at a not-for-profit where I worked many years ago when one of the staffers reheated his leftover fish in the toaster oven everyone else made bagels in every morning.
posted by aught at 2:16 PM on January 21, 2014


Let it go. Let it go.
I could have saved it. I COULD HAVE SAVED IT!


REHEAT
A film by Michael Mann
Coming soon
posted by 0 answers at 2:17 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Hack #48: A good hack is to store your food in the back pocket of your Moleskine notebook. Habitually removing the Moleskine and pretending to write something important in it, then slipping it back into your pocket, will cause friction enough to warm your food.

Hack #103: Avoid storing spaghetti in your "gear bag". I was blogging from CES recently, and I can't tell you how many times I tried to eat my iPhone charger by mistake!
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:18 PM on January 21, 2014 [6 favorites]


unless it refreshs the page between every time

Hey, did you grow up in Fishs Eddy?
posted by aught at 2:18 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Pizza: Why would anyone want to reheat pizza? Cold pizza is the best pizza.

Rice: Put rice in pot. Make rice warm. Done.

Steak Or Chicken: These are both delicious at room temp.

Pasta: Just make the right amount of pasta in the first place.

Pie: Microwave until warm. Done.

Pancakes: wot

Coffee or Tea: did you know that a serving of coffee or tea costs like 19 cents and is mostly water?

Stews and Soups: See "Rice", above.

Roasted Potatoes: Add dab of oil or small pat of butter to skillet. Add potatoes. Fry until warm.

Eggs: ?

Risotto: See also "Rice", also "Pie" if in a pinch.

Veggies: Leftover veggies + leftover rice + skillet + oil = fried rice

Muffins and Bread: Um toast duh

Fish: lol
posted by Sara C. at 2:20 PM on January 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


REHEAT
A film by Michael Mann
Coming soon


"A guy told me one time, 'Don't let yourself get attached to anything that you can't reheat in 30 seconds flat if you feel the munchies around the corner.' Now, if you're on me and you gotta snack when I gotta snack, how do you expect to keep...that lasagne?"
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:23 PM on January 21, 2014 [8 favorites]


I like cold pancakes toasted crispy in the regular slotted toaster. Or just cold, really. I dunno why.

now i am really craving a cold pancake jam sammich
posted by elizardbits at 2:23 PM on January 21, 2014


REHEAT
A film by Michael Mann
Coming soon


Is this a sequel to Foodfight?
posted by Kevin Street at 2:25 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Cold Pizza for Breakfast, perhapses.

I also like pizza reheated in a skillet with a fried egg on top. But there's no song about that.
posted by bunderful at 2:25 PM on January 21, 2014


REHEAT
A film by Michael Mann
Coming soon


I'm angry. I'm very angry, Ralph. You know, you can eat my wife's pizza if she wants you to. You can lounge around here on her sofa, in her ex-husband's dead-tech, post-modernistic bullshit house if you want to. But you do not get to use my fucking microwave!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:26 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


What's a "leftover" ???

How Left indicates that he/she is done speaking?
posted by IvoShandor at 2:27 PM on January 21, 2014


Several years ago in a distracted moment I managed to set a microwave to 12 minutes instead of 12 seconds while reheating a popularly-branded toaster pastry.

You can say Pop Tart here, it's ok.
posted by bondcliff at 2:32 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


life hack ice cream scoops can also b used 2 scoop frozen yogurt..or even shebert!!
posted by threeants at 2:32 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


REHEAT
A film by Michael Mann
coming soon


And I bought into that sharing. Because I love you. I love you fat, bald, money, no money, driving a bus - I don't care. But you have got to be present like a normal guy, some of the time. That's sharing. This is not sharing, this is left overs.

Oh, I see, what I should do is, er, come home and say "Hi honey! Guess what? I walked into this house today, where this junkie asshole just fried his pizza in a microwave, because it was crying too loud. So let me share that with you. Come on, let's share that, and in sharing it, we'll somehow, er, cathartically dispel all that heinous shit". Right?
posted by ogooglebar at 2:34 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


what's wrong with throwing it in the oven for a few minutes? That's not even an option?

a) At work, the only appliance we have is a microwave that people have exploded food in once too often.
b) Cold pizza is best pizza.

I bring leftovers for lunch most days and they just go in a resealable plastic container and then sit on my desk until noon. That way they're not cold when I'm eating, but room temperature. I will eat most things in this manner.
posted by backseatpilot at 2:34 PM on January 21, 2014


But... this doesn't explain how to reheat popcorn, or oranges

or relationships
posted by oulipian at 2:38 PM on January 21, 2014 [7 favorites]


Reheat... oranges? Why were they heated in the first place... menopause?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:40 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


REHEAT
A film by Michael Mann
coming soon


"Once it escalated into a lot of wasted freezer space after they nuked the first two pizza pockets, they didn't hesitate, popped in pocket number three because: what difference does it make? Why leave a single pizza pocket?"
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:40 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


oulipian: But... this doesn't explain how to reheat ... relationships

That's a question for Ask Metafilter.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:40 PM on January 21, 2014


But... this doesn't explain how to reheat popcorn, or oranges

or relationships

or Memphis Soul Stew
posted by ogooglebar at 2:42 PM on January 21, 2014


I prefer the F/X approach where you just set up an aerosol flamethrower and leave it pointed at some cans of beans. When the beans explode, they'll take out the bad guy who is chasing you through the supermarket at which time you can jump on them and devour their reheated flesh in your chewing chewing chewing maw with the red red blood red red blood so warm and salty and the crying finally stops
posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:43 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


My sister makes a pot of coffee, then immediately turns off the machine, to keep from burning the coffee before she can finish it all. Instead, she warms each cup in the microwave, as needed.

I do this. Except I pour the entire pot into a thermal carafe, and skip the 'warm each cup' step. BONUS: The coffee pot, basket and lid can go right into the dishwasher for added OCD goodness.
posted by mikelieman at 2:44 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


REHEAT
A film by Michael Mann
coming soon


You don't eat with me, you eat among the remains of dead meals. You sift through the detritus, you read the Should I Eat It AskMes, you search for signs of passing, for the scent of decay, and then you heat them up. Eat them. That's the only thing you're committed to. The rest is the mess you dump as you pass through.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:46 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Some of you people need to learn about single-cup coffeemakers.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:49 PM on January 21, 2014


4. Enjoy the aroma of burnt fish all day long.

This is tangentially related to the way you tell a new person or temp has been hired: the acrid smell of burnt microwave popcorn. Every office job I've worked at, this has been a primary indicator a new employee has arrived.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:50 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


"Because she's got a GREAT SKILLET! And you got your leftover Papa John's...ALL THE WAY IN IT! Ha! Ferocious, aren't I? When I think of skillets, a seasoned skillet, something comes out of me."
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:51 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


There's more caffeine in my tears than I can get out of a single-cup coffee maker. And I only cry at weddings.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:51 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


or relationships

Same as the others. Skillet, cover.
posted by naju at 2:53 PM on January 21, 2014


When I think of skillets, a seasoned skillet, something comes out of me.

Is it... gas?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:53 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Pancakes are great in the toaster. Not as good as fresh, of course, but pretty damn good on a weekday when the other options are cereal or toast.
posted by sfred at 3:24 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Do you have two slices of leftover pizza? Make a sandwich with the crust on the outside. Cast iron skillet. Heat it like a grilled cheese sandwich until the crust is crispy and the cheese is hot and gooey.

You are welcome. Don't forget the Sriracha.
posted by Splunge at 3:26 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


I make waffles in my mid-50s Sunbeam waffle-iron using Betty Crocker's period-appropriate recipe. And when Betty says fresh bacon drippings are good in the waffle batter, I listen.

Leftover waffles get frozen. Five minutes or so in the toaster oven restores them: crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Damn.
posted by malthusan at 3:49 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


the acrid smell of burnt microwave popcorn

ANY microwave popcorn. I don't care how careful you are not to burn it, if you make it here where I work I will get up and walk out and not come back until tomorrow. And I have management dispensation to do so. When I get home I'll lie on the bed and quiver for two hours until my migraine goes away.

Microwave popcorn is EVIL. Nerve gas evil. Fish is even worse, in the sense that the smell lingers for DAYS.
posted by Fnarf at 3:52 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


So fish stuffed with popcorn would be right out, then?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:53 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


REHEAT
A film by Michael Mann
coming soon


SCENE: Exterior, farmyard

HEAT and REHEAT are sitting on a fence

HEAT burns up

FADE

Caption: Who's left?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:54 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


The smell of cooked fish in any form is usually enough to make me start retching, so microwaved fish would be enough to make me just never go back to work ever.
posted by The Whelk at 3:55 PM on January 21, 2014


10 minutes at 350 on a pizza stone and it is better than it was fresh.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 3:56 PM on January 21, 2014


Some of you people need to learn about single-cup coffeemakers.

I know all about them. If the choice is between making one big batch, and making a half dozen cups a day, include me out!
posted by mikelieman at 4:02 PM on January 21, 2014


I microwave pizza, but only for 30 seconds or so. Hot microwaved pizza is limp and terrible, but sometimes fridge-temperature pizza is too dry and too cold.

YMMV. Being in Canada, the pizza we get around here is usually shitty pan pizza, so your delicious NY slice may react differently.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 4:03 PM on January 21, 2014


Cold pizza, microwave-reheated pizza, and toaster-oven-reheated pizza are three different things, and are all three acceptable depending on the mood and the amount of time able to be allotted to the reheating of pizza.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:08 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


I have never understood, and will never understand, people's love of cold pizza.

I have to assume it's better because you started with shite pizza and the coldness covers up the terrible flavors in it.
posted by flaterik at 4:10 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


In Italy pizza is traditionally served at room temperature.
posted by The Whelk at 4:12 PM on January 21, 2014


Is your refrigerator is room temperature you are doing something horribly wrong
posted by flaterik at 4:16 PM on January 21, 2014


I've always wondered if there's a way to correctly re-heat french fries. Not that I want to, but all of my attempts in the past always resulted in something soggy or tough.
posted by crapmatic at 4:18 PM on January 21, 2014


In Italy pizza is traditionally served at room temperature.

No.
posted by Sara C. at 4:19 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


I have never understood, and will never understand, people's love of cold pizza.

I have to assume it's better because you started with shite pizza and the coldness covers up the terrible flavors in it.


I love cold pizza, but in such a different way than hot pizza that I really consider it a different dish.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:23 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


The quality of cold pizza depends (I think) more on the quality and toppings than anything else. Most meats are fine in this context; many veggies are terrible. And if the pizza was bad to begin with, it will be revolting cold.

A number of other foods are just fine cold. Pie is good cold, of course. Waffles are good cold. But I have to say that cold turkey

has got me

on the run.
posted by koeselitz at 4:25 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


No

I have an entire branch of the family that will fight you on this.

And some of them are from Venice so you know they're bastards.

None of the halfway decent pizza I got in Italy was served hot. Hot was more cheapo American style places.
posted by The Whelk at 4:27 PM on January 21, 2014


What would Italians know about pizza?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:29 PM on January 21, 2014 [6 favorites]


Tortillas - the frittata-like egg pie, not the flat bread - always seemed to served at room temperature in Spain. All these cafés would have a tortilla sitting on the counter under one of those glass covers, and they'd lift it and get you a piece if you ordered one. Never liked that stuff, I have to confess.
posted by koeselitz at 4:30 PM on January 21, 2014


/troll
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:30 PM on January 21, 2014


I don't know if it's this martian death flu with which I'm laid low or what but this thread is like 190% more dada than usual.
posted by winna at 4:38 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Actually, "room temperature" means "cellar temperature", which can be quite cool in Italy's northern climate. the pizza is pumped up to the customer via a hand-operated "pizza engine" using a specialized handle that requires a skillful touch to avoid excessive foaming.
posted by Fnarf at 4:38 PM on January 21, 2014 [9 favorites]


This is my cup of fur
posted by The Whelk at 4:39 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


I don't know if it's this martian death flu with which I'm laid low or what but this thread is like 190% more dada than usual.

ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:40 PM on January 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


This is my cup of fur

Freshly shaven? Or leftovers?
posted by this is a thing at 4:40 PM on January 21, 2014


I thought Oppenheim was a surrealist, not a Dadaist.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 4:44 PM on January 21, 2014


Are we talking "not hot" as in "not mouth-burningly napalmeriffic"? If that's what we're talking about, then, yeah, pizza as served in Italy is not hot.

But if we are talking "not hot" as in room temperature, then, no, pizza in Italy is served hot.

I have been to the restaurant in Naples where pizza was invented. Our pizzas were served hot.

But pizza in Italy definitely doesn't have that "burn your face off" heat that New York slices have.
posted by Sara C. at 4:47 PM on January 21, 2014


The entire point of cooking rice at all is so that you'll have leftover rice with which to make glorious fried rice.
posted by islander at 4:53 PM on January 21, 2014 [4 favorites]




There are two kinds of pizza in Italy. There is the kind you can get at a regular sit-down restaurant, with the thin crust, which is what is served hot. And then there is the kind you can buy from the counter, by the pound, which is more like focaccia bread with stuff on it. That is room temperature, but you can get it heated if you want. There was a place down the street from where I lived in Rome that had potato pizza -- the focaccia kind. It was the best.
posted by fancyoats at 5:15 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Cold pizza is just nasty. It's the texture of the cold, once-melted cheese that makes me cringe the most. Even rubbery microwaved pizza is better.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:17 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


yes the kind the counter, basically focaccia, thats' what Ray and Ramon said was Pizza.

Fancy sit down places for pizza was something else and slightly suspect.
posted by The Whelk at 5:18 PM on January 21, 2014


it's important to remember the right way to reheat grapes is in the microwave, cut in half with just a little bit of skin left connecting the two halves, with the cut surface facing up
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:21 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Yeah, but they're from Venice, so what do they know about Pizza?
posted by Sara C. at 5:23 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Well I gues Napoli has to have SOMETHING it can be proud of

( regional Italian conflict intensifies)
posted by The Whelk at 5:27 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Which one had pepperoni? Neither? Then who fuckin' cares, it ain't pizza!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:30 PM on January 21, 2014


I won't tell you details about the incident at a not-for-profit where I worked many years ago when one of the staffers reheated his leftover fish in the toaster oven everyone else made bagels in every morning.

If you get a half-centimeter-thick slab of hard salami from the deli for antipasto, but at midnight in the course of an Ambien stupor end up cooking it in the pop-up toaster on the "nuclear char" setting and eating it straight, it's really delish. But you should probably throw the toaster out afterwards.
posted by XMLicious at 5:31 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


You can say Pop Tart here, it's ok.

You can. I can't.
posted by gimonca at 5:37 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


I've been eating left over rice for decades, and never been sick. These spores cannot be common. We leave our leftover rice to cool down in the rice cooker, and keep it in the fridge to reheat one portion at a time. (I'd say for days, but it only lasts 1-2 days usually. We really like rice.)
posted by jb at 5:39 PM on January 21, 2014


sorry - what I mean is that either these spores are relatively uncommon, or relatively have a relatively weak poison.
posted by jb at 5:40 PM on January 21, 2014


Careful microwaving will work fine for most of these things. Except pizza, which goes in the oven for a few minutes.
posted by DarkForest at 5:43 PM on January 21, 2014


Yeah jb, I was about to chime in wondering about who eats leftover rice but then realized that I make jambalaya all the time and I've never gotten sick from the leftovers, despite being fairly lazy about stuffing the leftovers into the fridge at the end of the night. It seems overstated.
posted by indubitable at 5:51 PM on January 21, 2014


I just had left over and reheated risotto - lovely stuff. I'll report back if I die.
posted by jb at 5:58 PM on January 21, 2014


I'm a recent convert to reheating pizza in a pan, and it really is surprising how it can even improve some pizzas. That said, it's interesting how certain flavours remain strong even when cold, and it definitely makes cold pizza more than just "not hot" pizza. I wouldn't call cold pizza and microwave pizza better or worse though, they're just different options — I also occasionally toast, fry, or microwave my sandwiches when I fancy it.

(I too eat a tonne of leftover rice, but hadn't heard of the risk before, so thanks for that Blasdelb. We don't tend to leave it out for long anyway, but it's useful to be aware.)
posted by lucidium at 5:59 PM on January 21, 2014


Rice, I don't get it. I mean I'll eat it, and if you're having Indian food, it's a really nice excuse to have the various sauces with, but If I go to any other Asian place I usually order the noodles. I like drunken noodles, just because I don't drink doesn't mean I need to hold my noodles to the same standard. Reheated rice? That suggests you had rice to cook in the first place.
posted by evilDoug at 6:11 PM on January 21, 2014


"Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something." - Mitch Hedberg
posted by bondcliff at 6:15 PM on January 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


I will happily reheat pizza in a microwave. But only pizza that started its life as mediocre pizza and only when I'm drunk/hungover. I know it's kind of terrible but I find something kind of weirdly comforting about microwaved pizza.

I don't rely on the microwave too much, but for day-old (or two day-old) leftovers of curries or soups? Microwave. Everything else takes a nice trip on the stove or in the oven. (All in all, not a bad list, but then I'm a vegetarian who rarely eats eggs, so ...)
posted by darksong at 6:27 PM on January 21, 2014


Sucky slideshow is sucky. Life's too short.

Let's cut to the chase. You don't want to bother with pre-heating your oven and then waiting for the bake/reheat time. You haven't got time for that shit, amirite?

So you're gonna use the microwave. Be honest.

Virtually any food is fine via the microwave, except for two things. One, bread is tricky because it will zap all the moisture out of the bread, and after a minute or two after it cools, suddenly you're eating a brick. Protip: wrap the bread in a damp paper towel--I usually get my hand wet and flick water on it--and then zap. Bread retains its moisture. Mostly.

The other thing that is difficult, nay impossible, to adequately reheat is French fries. Impossible, that is, unless you want to bust out the Fry Daddy. Don't bother with the microwave; results are gross. Best way is fry in a frypan on high heat for a few minutes.
posted by zardoz at 6:30 PM on January 21, 2014


Thanks, people. Now I have to go eat dinner again.

Good to know there's cold, leftover kugel in the fridge (think Jewish mac-and-cheese). I'll have it with some strawberry-fig jam.

::::looks around; shinnies away to the fridge:::::
posted by datawrangler at 6:36 PM on January 21, 2014


I think you can get away with certain fish (salmon worked OK for me) if you shred it up, sub it into a crab cake recipe, and fry it in a pan.
posted by Gymnopedist at 6:41 PM on January 21, 2014


Sticky rice with olive oil and sriracha is one of my most important food groups. Parmesan cheese is optional, but rounds out the protein when eating it as a main as opposed to a side.
posted by jb at 6:50 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


To reheat meat, cut it into small pieces or shred it, make a pot of ramen and add the meat right at the end after the water has boiled and the noodles are soaking in the hot broth.

To reheat fish, cut it into small pieces or shred it, make a pot of ramen and add the fish right at the end after the water has boiled and the noodles are soaking in the hot broth.

To reheat vegetables, cut it into small pieces or shred it, make a pot of ramen and add the veg right at the end after the water has boiled and the noodles are soaking in the hot broth.

Also, a couple cans of tomatoes, a tablespoon of garam masala, and a dash of cream (add at the end) can make a curry base very easily if allowed to simmer on low for an hour or so.
posted by kzin602 at 7:13 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


It's Raining Florence Henderson: "So fish stuffed with popcorn would be right out, then?"

And I'm guessing that my fish popcorn squid salmon curry is right out?
posted by Splunge at 7:39 PM on January 21, 2014


Nd now, the big question:

How do you pronounce the sauce called Sriracha?
posted by Splunge at 7:40 PM on January 21, 2014


How do you pronounce the sauce called Sriracha?

I pronounce it Delicious to the Utmost.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:43 PM on January 21, 2014


I say "sri-RA-cha". My friend pronounces it "cock sauce".
posted by jb at 7:50 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


/tə.'bæs.kou/
posted by this is a thing at 7:54 PM on January 21, 2014


Pour in two cups of water and add ramen noodles according to directions on package

What a twist ending...
posted by smidgen at 8:12 PM on January 21, 2014


How do you pronounce the sauce called Sriracha?

If you're Emeril Lagasse, you pronounce it "sir-ah-chee," and you make me squirm.
posted by mudpuppie at 8:16 PM on January 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


my favorite pizza thing was going to Sardinia and finding out that EVERYWHERE there has french fry pizza

why have we not copied that yet
posted by threeants at 9:20 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


We kinda have.
posted by this is a thing at 9:34 PM on January 21, 2014


bondcliff: "So glad they didn't refer to these as "hacks.""

But I think we can agree it's breadcraft =)
posted by pwnguin at 10:19 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Several years ago in a distracted moment I managed to set a microwave to 12 minutes instead of 12 seconds while reheating a popularly-branded toaster pastry.

After 24 minutes, the delicious greasy butter which makes your microwave popcorn palatable will escape in the form of "magic smoke".
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:38 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


My mother was raised in the depression; every thing was eaten and not a thing went out the door; however, it was "poisonous" to reheat eggs and gravy....turns out that her mother always burned the eggs and gravy and to avoid being wasteful she created the poisonous story. It was years before I figured this out...many egg dishes and gravy went to the garbage till then. When my husband convinced me otherwise, I waited the first time to see if I would die....it was hilarious after awhile when I realized that dear old mom had conned me but good.
posted by OhSusannah at 1:40 AM on January 22, 2014


in my corner of Italia-Francophonia we have Socca, a Ligurian precursor to pizza. It is eaten hot. As in, you order it, they pour the mix onto a flaming hot flat pan, and two minutes later you are eating it with a bit of flavor from the burning oils on the skin of your fingers. You do NOT eat it with a fork, unless you do not mind the giggles of dozens of natives and your server cursing at you in Niçois.

Likewise you do not reheat socca because you eat all of it.

Focaccia is eaten at ambient temperature, yep. Pizzas usually are too, though ones with cheese are often served hot. Another popular dish is steak tartare, which is raw meat mixed with raw egg. Delicious when the sauce is just right. (That recipe is a bit more modern; it's better with a garlic-onion-Dijon mustard-vinegar-chili mix.)

Fish takes second place to pizzas with stinky cheeses in lunch rooms here.
posted by fraula at 1:42 AM on January 22, 2014 [2 favorites]


In honour of this thread, I wrapped a muffin in foil before heating it in the stove. It really was moist.
posted by Kevin Street at 1:43 AM on January 22, 2014


My sister makes a pot of coffee, then immediately turns off the machine, to keep from burning the coffee before she can finish it all. Instead, she warms each cup in the microwave, as needed. I've never had much luck with that.

French press, tea cozy. One makes better coffee, the other keeps it warm.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:20 AM on January 22, 2014


The stinky cheeses are definitely something, on heat or reheat. Here we have empanadas that use some kinds of blue cheeses, and while delicious, they should be consumed inside a disposable freight container if you don't want your whole home stinking for days.
posted by Iosephus at 8:56 AM on January 22, 2014


I have an entire branch of the family that will fight you on this.

Because Venetians don't have ovens on gondolas?
posted by Mr. Yuck at 9:03 AM on January 22, 2014


It is eaten hot. As in, you order it, they pour the mix onto a flaming hot flat pan, and two minutes later you are eating it with a bit of flavor from the burning oils on the skin of your fingers. You do NOT eat it with a fork, unless you do not mind the giggles of dozens of natives and your server cursing at you in Niçois.

I think this is the important part.

In Italy food is served at the temperature it is. It should be "hot", because it's freshly made and still warm from the oven. If you eat pizza at a really off time or get the last bit of the big tavola calda style foccaccia pizzas before the next batch comes out, it will be room temp because, well, that's what temperature it is right now.

Meanwhile in New York, slices of pizza sit on the counter all day and are heated up to order, so you end up with napalm cheese. Said cheese burnination renders all other pizza-eating a "cold" experience, since if it doesn't sear your tastebuds off it isn't really hot pizza.

Also, I'll say that New Yorkers are really obsessed with their pizza heat. You can tell someone is a real New Yorker when they close the box between slices to "keep it hot". Seriously people that's not "hot", that's "nuclear". Let it cool off a little. Please, the roof of my mouth begs you.

One of the few things I really like about LA pizza is that someone has to drive it to you, which means it arrives at the ideal "still pretty warm" temperature.
posted by Sara C. at 9:26 AM on January 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


Gotta love Socca, the texture is incredible, it's become a regular for us ever since my wife discovered it.

I wish I could love steak tartare, but my heart belongs to the dish called kitfo.
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:28 AM on January 22, 2014


How do you pronounce the sauce called Sriracha?

Apparently, with the first syllable in a rising tone like you are asking a question see-raa-chaa.
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:45 AM on January 22, 2014


Rice, I don't get it. I mean I'll eat it, and if you're having Indian food, it's a really nice excuse to have the various sauces with, but If I go to any other Asian place I usually order the noodles.. Reheated rice? That suggests you had rice to cook in the first place.

You poor soul.
posted by kaspen at 9:46 AM on January 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


I've got to tip my hat to the fine folks at Bon Appetit, who have taken the already annoying online slideshow format and made it even more irritating. (Warning: Slideshow) doesn't begin to describe it.
posted by Flexagon at 12:12 PM on January 22, 2014


Reheated rice with ketchup. Yummy!
posted by Splunge at 12:23 PM on January 22, 2014


We really need two terms, here. Reheating is a thing. Doing some form of cookery that involves dishwashing and possibly additional ingredients is another.

I rub my frying pan with salt and that counts as washing and going to that much trouble means I was doing more than reheating. Also, no frying pan at work or in any hotel room I've had.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 1:01 PM on January 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


Yeah, I feel like this is one of those articles designed to make people feel bad.

For the most part, simply heating up the food in question or opting to eat it at room temperature is perfectly acceptable.

But people read this, and they start to feel like they're reheating their food WRONG. Hm, maybe they should buy the gadget in the ad on the next page to feel like they're Doing It Right. Nevermind if the gadget on the next page has anything at all to do with reheating leftovers. (But it probably does!)
posted by Sara C. at 1:23 PM on January 22, 2014


And if you could afford the gadget on the next page in the first place, you could probably also afford to buy your lunches somewhere and not have to resort to leftovers.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:32 PM on January 22, 2014


Reheated rice with ketchup. Yummy!

You are breaking one of the lost commandments and now your kitchen needs a mighty exorcist.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 2:34 PM on January 22, 2014 [3 favorites]


BREAKING: There is a new way to reheat pizza!!!!!
posted by neroli at 2:27 PM on January 23, 2014 [4 favorites]


A waffle iron? Do you people not own the regular sort of iron that is used for re-heating pizza?

⁕ Straightens tie beneath sauce-and-cheese-encrusted collar ⁕
posted by XMLicious at 4:14 PM on January 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


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