Pizza goes in the fridge. It's not just bread; lots of high moisture goodies for bacteria to eat.
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Plain bread doesn't have sufficient water activity to support bacterial growth.
Focaccia is generally bread with oils/fats (oils aren't water so they don't contribute to water activity).
Sweetened pastries have more water in them, but have most of the water bound to sugar molecules so that there's not enough water activity to support bacterial growth.
But pizza has a water-based sauce on the crust, and often has moist toppings. That's why some pizzas become soggy over time. That's enough water activity to support microbial growth, including some microbes that cause illness. So pizza should be refrigerated.
Well yes ofc. If the bread has anything more than flour oil water salt sugar preservatives leaveners it goes in the fridge.
Any flavouring means fridge. Although its so hot and humid here we even refrigerate our bread in the summer months
I do think its different because the toppings are still fairly wet, unlike foccacia. So yeah, I put it in the fridge.
Life hack if you don't like cold pizza: heating up in a pan gives your crust a little crispyness back. It'll never be the same as fresh pizza, but at least not as soggy as from the microwave.
MICROWAVE?!?!!! Who puts Pizza in a microwave? That's probably the worst way possible to heat it up. It'd rather eat it cold.
Put it in an oven (or yes, a pan).
I fucking love microwaved pizza, if I could could pizza with a crust that chewy from the start I would.
Oven or pan takes minutes. Microwave takes seconds.
Eating it cold is even faster and still better than microwaving it into a mush.
Toaster oven. It's not the same but it's a different treat, even crispier
Putting it directly on the over rack at 350 usually works fine for me.
(Not owning a microwave teaches you patience…)
Hell yeah
I'm assuming the US isn't on the list since we measure our pizza in pounds.
You're telling me there's a metric for food eaten by a country (in this case frozen pizza) and USA doesn't even make the LIST???
BUT ITALY DOES???? GOD DAMMIT ITALY! YOU HAVE FRESH AUTHENTIC ITALIAN PIZZA LITERALLY EVERYWHERE!!! EVERY LOCAL PIZZERIA IS AUTHENTIC ITALIAN PIZZA FOR YOU!!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING????
Thank you for leaning into the account name roleplay now and then :P
Yes, pizza goes in the fridge if I didn't eat all of it in time. I have a food manager safety certificate somewhere so I probably should know exactly what foods need to go in there, but look. My brain is mush. A lot goes in there to protect us.
Don't buy food from me??
I put pizza in the fridge.
Hell, I put bread in the fridge, but that's because I don't eat it quick enough.
If we are talking about after the initial round of consumption, then yes. Leftover food goes in the refrigerator. That’s what refrigerators are for. You don’t leave perishable food sitting out, especially not in a lukewarm oven in the danger zone.
I'm not sure why anyone would leave pizza out instead of in the fridge.
Cold pizza is one of my favorite foods. Apparently, cold temperatures can cause certain flavors to intensify. Whatever the reason, it always tastes better the next morning.
The reason why you can (not especially safely) eat takeout pizza that's been sitting out overnight is because it's usually loaded with salt. Salt is a preservative, and limits growth of the nasties.
I put it in the fridge because cold pizza for breakfast is one of my favorite things.
I really think it depends on the flavour of pizza.
If I just leave it the ants will get it
However focaccia and other bread treats get left on the bench a day or two and no one sees an issue.
I'd put something in the fridge regardless, just because whatever fridge life it has, that'll extend it.
I put pizza in the freezer, and put it in the oven again before I eat it.
I like using my airfryer oven machine thing on a combo to reheat pizza. Helps maintain a crunch i just can't get from the oven without burning the crust a bit
Yes. Then eat cold. Mmmm
Plain or veggie pizza can be left out without too much danger.
Leaving meat pizza out (except maybe pepperoni) is just asking for a bad time.
Can confirm. Left a chx calzone I'm my trunk overnight. Slept in the car really fucked up. Woke up hungry and ate the night old chicken. I spent a lot of time on the toilet that day.... Surprisingly few people seem to be aware of the "danger zone" of food, after 2 hours out even rice will grow harmful bacteria and such. Better safe than sorry if u don't know if it can sit out, don't let it sit out. Your gut will thank you later!
I ate some pizza one time that had been left out at work, and I didnt realize it was leftover from the morning crew. Sentenced to 1 week of my life on the toilet.
Leftover anything will last longer in the fridge, but I've been known to leave pizza on the counter and pick at it for a few days.
And you’ve never gotten the shits from that?
Yeah preservation wise fridge for sure, but left out overnight or a day, provided its not 35 degrees seems fine in my mind
True if it was 35 in your house it would actually be better left out, unless you have your fridge set lower than that.
Unit of measure confusion is sometimes good comedy?
No, I was mocking that person because they assumed everyone uses celsius.
Celsius is the best temperature for everyday use, it marries up to to Si units which are universal
really hot outside
only 35 degrees
Yeah sure, whatever you say
35 isn't particularly hot, it's just below body temperature meaning you can still lose heat easily enough.
There's no point arguing with Fahrenheit uses because you're almost all American and have no interest in adopting a better option when you're all to busy destroying your country
I put it back in the oven after it's cooled down (the oven) and have it the next day for breakfast.
Yes, in a sealed plastic container so it doesn't dry out (never in the original box). Then I reheat it using the stovetop method:

When done correctly, it tastes better than the night before when it was fresh.
BTW, most breads left in the fridge will warm back up just fine in the toaster oven/air fryer, or microwave if you don't want it crispy. (Or just leave it out to get back to room temp.) Again, the secret is to store it in a well-sealed container to retain moisture.
Step 0: Butter the bottom of the slice. 🤤
If you do this, make sure you're monitoring the temperature of the pan carefully, cause it'll burn a lot easier (use an induction cooktop if you have one to better control temps). Through my own experiments I've found that the pizza heats more evenly if you pour melted butter on the top of the crust instead and leave the bottom unbuttered.
I find that also helps to let the pizza get up to room temperature first, either by defrosting in the microwave for a minute or letting it sit out for about ten.
When done correctly, it tastes better than the night before when it was fresh.
I'm sorry but any pizza that tastes better reheated, no matter how good the reheat technique, was not very good pizza to begin with. I think you've had some very sad pizzas in your life mate.
Edited to add, wow I did not realize this would be a hot take. Y'all seriously had some sad pizzas.
If you're dining out getting it hot and fresh from the oven, I'd tend to agree with you
But if you're getting delivery or takeout, which at least in the US, probably accounts for most pizza consumption, odds are that when you eat your pizza it's probably been sitting in a box for at least a few minutes, maybe up to an hour or so, soaking up its own steam and juices, and maybe going cold
Which, of course, would change the texture and probably not for the better.
No matter the quality of the pizza, it almost always tastes better the next day after the ingredients have had time to settle in and get to know each other a bit. Same goes for a lot of different foods, which is part of why I love leftovers so much. Like I said, you just have to know how to store and reheat them properly.
For example, do you know about the microwaving technique of using twice the time at half the power? Results in more even heating, practically eliminating hot spots. (If you're patient, you can get better results with a third of the power and 3x the time.) And don't even get me started on the wonders of pressure coolers and electric smokers...
i find it still palateable after 24 hours out, but i never go past that, usually overnight at the most. my partner will let it sit for longer if i dont intervene
the flavor and texture degrade quite a bit even just overnight. if you put it in the fridge right away (in something airtight) flavor and texture stay much more intact. For me i will give it up to 5 days in the fridge before throwing it out.
if i have way too much pizza i freeze slices in airtight bags. a bit of a hassle to reheat, but it comes out almost as good as fresh
I don't understand "too much pizza" how can you possibly have to much. Seriously though frozen pizza put back into my air-frier oven thing comes out good as the day it was bought
too much to eat before it goes bad. i max out at pizza twice a day personally. if i have more than a two pies worth i need to start freezing
I freeze it. Takes 1-2 minutes to reheat.
Where else am I gonna store the leftovers?
Forget the fridge, why do you keep food on a bench? Don't you have tables?
7 tables to be precise, but they're for different things.
The kitchen bench seems a great a place as any
I suspect the confusion might be do to regional language differences? Where I'm from, a "bench" is something usually used for sitting.
Might be a language thing by "bench" do you mean the counter top?
Nah I mean bench, but it is interchangeable in my native language,
That's what I meant most places a "bench" is something you sit on. That's why folks were confused.
… wy would you put it any where else but fridge ❔️
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