Kate, we had Papa Murphy's last night. They are really good and you sure can't beat their prices!

I've never tried freezing the leftovers, however. Tim usually eats it cold for breakfast or heats up a leftover piece the next day or two for lunch or dinner.

Let us know how freezing worked for you.

Linda

Cold, breakfast.

That's what we are having tomorrow night, Papa Murphy's.

I am not a pizza person. But hubby and little man eat pizza whenever I am not at home or when I am too tired to cook. Of course they can never finish the whole pizza. Hubby always just warps the wedges in plastic plus tinfoil, away into the freeze the leftovers go. I have helped heat up the frozen pizza for their lunch and the pizza seemed to be fine. The two boys never complained about reheated pizza so I guess the taste's all right, too.

Al

Kate:
I freeze Pizza Slices a lot . Wrap separate in Plastic and into a Zip Lock.
Dampen slightly, before I pop them into the Toaster Oven.

Take a snack out of the freezer whenever. They toast up just like new.
Lou

Reheated is okay with me. Someone gave a tip about reheating...a non-stick skillet on the stove top makes the crust nice and crispy. Previously, I would reheat it, wrapped in foil, in the toaster oven, opening the foil at the top to let it crisp up a little, before taking it out of the oven Stove top is best, in my opinion.

jude

Isn't "leftover pizza" an oxymoron?

Well yay! First I am so glad I'm not the only one keen on Papa Murphy's. I was worried that with so many very able cooks here that might be an appalling question:) Whew!

Okay so it sounds like I have some good options for saving it next time and re heating. I am so glad. As some of you pointed out normally leftover pizza is kind of a non issue. But I had major dental work on Friday and was able to eat most of one slice and that was it. Because I love pizza so much I just could not waste the rest of it.

Good I will be looking forward to pizza Friday night now. Thank you everyone.

Kate

The cheese might get a little grainy, but who cares? It's pizza!

Somewhere I read that hint about reheating pizza in the skillet. It does work, the pizza is crisp and just right.

I did this during my recent kitchen remodel. The results weren't brilliant, but even in the microwave (all I had) they weren't bad. This was with the local chain store, however, and I don't know if that fared better than a better quality pizza would. Mozzarella (and American Cheese) withstands the melting/cooling/reheating much better than lots of other cheeses. I think it's the rubberiness. :)

The thing to guard against is the crust getting tough. Cooling twists up starches and "stales" them. If you're doing a slow reheat I might go for soggier, and crisp up the crust at the last minute, or something like that, to help keep it from hardening up. Or you could microwave them to tepid and then just give them a spot of crisping in a frying pan or on a pizza stone. Or something like that.

Oh! And do one (small) portion each (about half a meal) at a time. It's the cooling that hardens the crust, so don't give the meal a chance to cool.

cold pizza....breakfast of champions.
Never tried to freeze it.

That's why I dampen the pizza first, before it is put into the Toaster oven.

It sort of rejuvenates it and the cheese.
I think the micro toughens bread products.
Lou

I put bread in the MW all the time--it only toughens it if it's in too long. If anything, the microwave makes things like pizza soggy.

Kate,
Could you post a picture of left-over pizza? I've never seen such a thing, didn't even know it existed. Left-over pizza, what a concept . . . .

I freeze leftover pizza ALL the time. I thought everybody did. If I am patient, it will go from the freezer into a 300 oven to reheat. Works perfectly, albeit, slowly. Usually I just pop it in the microwave. As someone else said, "it's pizza!".

There are very few leftovers that I like, and pizza isn't one of them. So leftover pizza gets tossed here, not froze. But Matthew likes leftover pizza. And when he lived at home still he would eat left over pizza the next day. I found the best way to reheat it is the same way it was baked - on a hot stone.

Ann

I won't even eat pizza while it's hot and fresh, but Elery likes it and Ashley loves the stuff. They'll both eat it cold out of the refrigerator, they don't bother warming it up. Cooper helps get rid of it too, hot or cold.

I've asked the "expert" in the house how she would prefer pizza warmed and after she stopped laughing about bothering to warm up leftover pizza, she says the oven is best, and the skillet is a close second but the microwave is a lot faster.

I've never frozen it because if it doesn't get eaten the first night it gets eaten the second day. If Ashley doesn't eat it, I feed it to the dog.

Annie

There is a very simple way:

Freeze you leftover slices. When you feel like have pizza again, take them out and shred some new mozzarella cheese on top and bake. I sometime add some sausage slices and muchroom. You don't need to thaw them.

Good as new!

dcarch

Dogs do love leftover pizza, don't they? Andy is getting very obnoxious wanting the crusts if I don't get them to him as soon as he thinks I should.

Teresa

Teresa, Cooper has never met a food he didn't like, except saltine crackers, he won't eat those. He'll eat sushi with wasabi and he'll eat Ann T's green tomatillo enchiladas and he'll eat pizza. Ellen's Irish Stew with the Guinness? Yup. Plain butternut squash, slices of apple, you name it, he'll eat it.

So, yeah, he'll eat pizza. He's like a garbage disposal! Or a foodie. Ann T said her Shelties were the same way, they just love food.

Annie

I'm thrilled I asked! I love hearing about everyone's personal take on pizza goodness:) Everytime I read this thread though I feel like I might not be able to wait until Friday night to free the leftovers from the freezer..,keep thinking about a nice hot slice and that makes me hungry.

Thank you everyone.

Kate

"I freeze leftover pizza ALL the time. I thought everybody did."

Uhm... yeah...

If I'm not careful, I get carried away and eat the box, too.

Kframe, just so you don't get the wrong idea and think I am one of those skinny minnies who barely finish a slice, I am talking leftovers from sheet pizzas and over zealous ordering.
Jo

wow -- throwing away leftover pizza seems pretty sinful. I reheat mine in my convection oven and lots of times it tastes better than when I picked it up.

Freezing pizza? That would never happen in my house. I order extra pizza just so I can have it cold the next day. The only way I can stand to reheat it is in a non-stick pan on medium low tented with a little foil. I can't do the oven or the microwave, it just doesn't seem right to me. Cold is the best though. A slice for breakfast, then a slice for lunch, continue until gone :->

Cold in the morning. Breakfast of champions. And nothing cures an hangover like cold sausage. Must have something to do with the fat absorbing all that extra alcohol.

Another "cold pizza is the breakfast of champions" thinker here :-) And like Joann, if there's still any leftover, why, I have to eat lunch :-)

We wrap leftover pizza in foil and then reheat in a hot oven (400 or more) to crisp it up. Tastes great.

Sue

We reheat in the oven set for convection on the pizza stone...good as new.

Throwing away leftover pizza that's less than a week old would be the equivilent of tossing last night's brownies around here. lol

DH loves leftover pizza.

/tricia

I freeze it all the time too and do as Lou does.

I should have said that we wrap it in foil to freeze then unwrap, defrost slightly, then reheat in a 400 oven to crisp.

It's perfect every time.
Sue

I can't imagine tossing out leftover pizza unless it tastes bad. Of course, I can't imagine freezing it either. Leftover pizza in this house gets eaten the next day for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Sometimes I buy 2 little Caesars or Dominoes pizza and put one in the freezer. The same price, maybe cheaper, than grocery store frozen pizza and so much better.