Ditch the Microwave and Explore Better Methods to Reheat Your Leftover Meals

A reliable microwave is not with out goal: softening butter, defrosting a slice of frozen bread that is destined for the toaster or shortly reheating tea that is gone chilly. However in my kitchen, the makes use of are few and much between. Earlier than I get too excessive on my horse, let me make it clear that I adore shortcuts. Look no additional than the stack of meal kit packing containers folded neatly in my recycling bin for proof. However kitchen effectivity cannot come on the expense of style and texture.

The microwave earned its place as a kitchen staple largely on speed-heating and cooking, however the outcomes — typically chewy, overdone or inconsistently heated — go away a lot to be desired. There are higher methods to reheat virtually any kind of meals and most of them take the identical quantity of effort and time because the microwave. 

In case you like your wings crispy, your meat tender and your noodles with bounce, take into account sparing your subsequent prepared meal or plate of final night’s dinner from being nuked to dying and check out these superior methods to reheat each kind of leftovers. 

For extra on microwaves, we discovered why pasta sauce always explodes in the microwave and outlined the five things you should never put inside one.

Microwaves are unhealthy at reheating most meals. There, I stated it

The microwave is the equipment mostly employed to reheat leftovers, however I would additionally contend that it is the worst. Other than meals like soup, plain rice or mashed potatoes, something that comes out of the microwave is nearly definitely going to have a level of rubberiness that it did not have when it went in.

“But it surely’s a lot sooner!” you say. Is it although? A lot of the strategies outlined beneath take lower than two or three minutes. Plus, microwaves are vulnerable to messy explosions. If you need to clear your microwave after reheating meals, it is positively not a time-saver. 

The air fryer cooks virtually as quick as a microwave and, for my part, a lot better. Including an air fryer to your kitchen might really feel like an upfront price, however these budget-friendly superconvection ovens are one of the best, first step in direction of higher leftovers. Plus, they’re going to save money on your energy bill over time. 

Meals kind: Noodles, pasta and rice dishes

Greatest technique: Nonstick skillet

This wide-ranging class of traditional takeout cuisines consists of Italian pasta dishes, Indian curries with rice, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean noodles and Chinese language stir-fries. Actually we’re speaking about any dish that includes a starch comparable to rice or noodles with diced greens, meat or plant-based protein and a sauce. The one factor all of them have in frequent is that they are finest reheated in a nonstick skillet or wok. 

When you can in all probability get away with nuking easy fried rice, a microwave tends to overcook pasta and noodles and can possible flip your rooster, shrimp or sliced beef into rubber. As a substitute, simply throw the entire thing in a nonstick skillet on medium warmth. Toss intermittently and in a couple of minutes, you will have one thing practically pretty much as good as when it first confirmed up at your desk or door the evening earlier than. And nonstick pans sometimes take all of 15 seconds to rinse clear. 

For rice dishes, take into account a stainless-steel, carbon-steel or cast-iron skillet to get crispy rice.

Meals kind: Pizza and flatbread

Greatest technique: Air fryer

There are a handful of causes I like my air fryer, however none extra notable than for reheating leftovers. Microwaves completely destroy pizza, so let’s cross that one off. Even toaster ovens take far too lengthy, in my expertise, and find yourself drying the pizza out by the point it is heated by.

The fast blast of an air fryer’s superconvection will reheat your pizza to crispy perfection in about two minutes at 400 levels F, relying on how giant and thick it’s. You should definitely use the basket or grate or else the recent, flat backside of the air fryer basket might burn the underside of your slice. 

I personally will not warmth leftover pizza another method, and I recommend you do not both. And if you did not have sufficient causes to spring for one, air fryers use way less energy than a big oven.

Meals kind: Fried rooster, french fries and different fried meals

Greatest technique: Air fryer

Leftover fried meals have traditionally been one of the tough to carry again to life. Enter the air fryer, which may revive fried rooster, fried dumplings, mozzarella sticks and even french fries like nothing else within the kitchen. Much like pizza, it will take just a few minutes to warmth by and you need to have a crispy outer shell identical to when the fried meals was initially cooked. 

For thicker items of rooster, use a decrease temperature round 325 to 350 levels F for 3 minutes or so to make sure you do not burn the skin earlier than the middle has time to heat by.

Aspect word: Past reheating fried rooster, air fryer additionally makes scrumptious “fried” rooster and different meals with far much less oil than conventional strategies.

Meals kind: Steak, pork chops, burgers and grilled rooster

Greatest technique: Forged-iron skillet

Cuts of meat, together with steak and pork chops, are one other meals that may be robust to resuscitate. Worry not, as a result of there’s a method. Whereas reheating grilled steak or fish in an air fryer or oven is not unimaginable, you are prone to dry the meat out. As a substitute, I recommend re-searing it shortly in a coated sizzling cast-iron skillet for no a couple of minute on either side. The new floor of the skillet ought to give life again to the crust. Holding it coated will assist heat it by earlier than the pan warmth has time to overcook it. For delicate fish, you would possibly need to use a nonstick skillet to maintain the flesh from sticking or falling aside.

Honest warning: Some of these reheated meals won’t ever be fairly pretty much as good as whenever you first pulled them from the grill, pan or plancha, however this technique ought to go away them extra than edible. 

Meals kind: Braised, roasted or slow-cooked meat

Greatest technique: Coated skillet with cooking liquid broth

Braised dishes comparable to rooster in wine sauce or brief ribs needs to be reheated in a method that mimics how they had been cooked. Simply warmth them gently for a couple of minutes in a coated nonstick or chrome steel pan with an oz or two of water or rooster inventory. The new liquid will heat and revive the braised or slow-roasted meat, giving it again its juicy tenderness.