We’ve all had to deal with excesses in the amount of pizza we make or order, most especially on a wild Friday night party. Only to wake up to hunger on an early Saturday morning with the excesses staring at us.
But what is the perfect way to reheat the pizza to the best quality fit for the human taste buds, provided the only heating or cooking equipment available is an air fryer.
Air fryers are one of the most modern cooking equipment created for the main aim of reducing oil and fats in our meals during frying. It is an oven-like kitchen appliance used for heating and baking processes but with a difference in the location of heating elements.
The air fryer’s heating element is located at the top, it also comes along with a fan to properly dissipate heat throughout the medium. This provides you with a crisper meal.
How does an air fryer work?
Unlike microwaves that use radiation rays, air fryers operate with a fan that circulates hot air around the insides to produce a crispy layer in meals.
The air fryer aims to produce heat in the form of oil for products that would have been submerged in oil to cook.
Depending on the model or maker, air fryers’ heat temperature goes as far as 425°C. With air fryers, the need for cooking oil has reduced by over 70%.
Can you reheat pizza in an air fryer?
Yes, you can reheat your pizza in an air fryer.
Even though it is not the perfect home appliance for reheating pizza, it is still possible to do so.
This is because it is a piece of heating equipment whose main job is to dry which will, in turn, remove the sogginess in the leftover pizza.
How to reheat pizza in an air fryer?
There are two types of air fryers which include basket and oven air fryers.
Basket air fryers have one or multiple baskets to help in separating meals during frying while oven fryers do not possess any basket at all.
They are just put-in fryers. This two have different ways of reheating pizza.
How to reheat pizza in a basket air fryer?
Preheat the air fryer to a temperature of about 150-160°C.
Remove the pizza from the refrigerator and set it inside them quickly in the basket making sure there is enough space between the pizzas.
Cook for 4-6 minutes or depending on how large and thick the pizza crust is. Bring out and serve.
Note that the time of reheating depends on the placement of the baskets. If the baskets are higher, the cooking time is faster compared to the basket placed underneath.
How to reheat pizza in an oven fryer?
This is the same as the basket fryer. Put in the pizza and set to the same temperature of 150-160°C.
The difference between the basket and oven air fryers is the space that a specific number of pizzas can contain. The oven air fryer would contain almost twice the number of pizzas the basket can contain.
Lay in mind the nearer the shelves to the food of the appliance, the faster the heating process.
Tips on using your air fryer in heating your pizza.
- Lay the insides before reheating: It is advised to lay the inside of your air fryer with another aluminum foil or perforated parchment paper when cooking. This is because, during the reheating process, there is a high possibility of the cheese dripping into the floors, hence the reason for layering to prevent sticking and consistent washing.
- Remove the toppings for a better frying experience: If your pizza is thick-crusted for example a New York-style pizza, it is advised to remove the toppings at first when heating. This is to ensure it is properly heated for even crusting. Midway to heating, you can then open and carefully arrange the toppings. This method is guaranteed to provide you an evenly heated pizza.
- If your air fryer is small, cooking multiple slides one after the order is advised, rather than cramming them all together. 2-4 slides every 6-7 minutes depending on your crust type will produce a faster and well-cooked pizza.
- Cook similar crusts at once, put in all the thin-crust pizzas together or at once and the thick-crusted ones at once. If it’s large enough to contain more slides, make sure the thick-crusted pizzas stay at the top of the air fryer shelves closer to the heating fan and the thin-crusted ones beneath. The ones on top will cook almost at the same time as the ones beneath.
- Spread a little cooking oil, butter, or fat on top of the crust before cooking: Since air dryers, heat comes from a fan situated above, the heat above is going to be stronger than beneath. It is advisable to spread oil on the crust to avoid over-drying or burns.
- If the pizza starts browning in color, reduce the heat by 25-30°C to take it to the simmering level, take the temperature up again when it is time to put in new a new batch.
Is air-fried food safe for consumption?
Despite the subtle rumors concerning air fryers and their foods, WebMD confirms that air fryers are safe and the foods are healthy for consumption.
There’s no need to worry about cancer or tumor formation in an air fryer because it uses a high-speed heat fan to warm up foods rather than rays produced by the microwave. It is human-friendly. [27 Best Air Fryer Pizza Recipes]
Benefits of using an air dryer?
There are several benefits of eating air fried foods and they include;
- Lower Fat Consumption: Air fryers cut down the use of oil by 89 percent. This perfect for people and old-aged elders battling obesity and cholesterol issues.
- Perfect Weight Loss Appliance: Fewer oils mean less weight gain. Using air fryers is perfect for people who intend to lose weight, let friendly eaters, and for people who want to build good fat.
- Reduces Calorie Intake: A blog post from Health line shows that deep frying with polyunsaturated fats and oils leads to high-calorie intake which can cause complicated health issues. This is cut down by 50 percent in air dryers as the usage of oil is little.
- It reduces the risk of toxic formation of chemicals in food: Acrylamide is one of the toxic chemicals that is formed during frying. It is linked to being one of the major causes of cancer in average adult life. Air fryers destroy these chemicals during heating.
- They are Portable: One of the major benefits of air fryers is the small shape, size, and weight they possess. It is also cheaper for an average person to own. It is more possible for a student to have a air fryer than a microwave because of the space they occupy.
Is air-fried food the same as microwaved food?
These two equipment are both heating products, so it is safe to say they produce the same taste of food, if done properly, you will produce a golden brown, well baked, and hot product.
The only difference in taste is between deep-fried food and air-fried food. This is because there is taste in fat which is a major no factor in the air fryers.
Generally, it has been proven that deep-fried food tastes better than air-fried foods. This YouTube video shows the difference between air-fried and microwaved foods.
Demerits of using an air fryer?
Despite being considered healthy and perfect by people, Medical News today has also found out that air fryers have their subtle shade of dangers and they include;
- Formation of chemical compounds: Some research has proved that despite the killing of some harmful food compounds by the air fryer. It also surprisingly forms some minute dangerous chemical compounds which most of the time will not affect the human body significantly.
- Air fryers use small amounts of oil to produce a well-crisped meal. This is to show, that the minute oil is also capable of causing some harm to the body.
- Air frying does not guarantee a healthy diet: If you rely on air frying as a healthy diet cooking medium, well you are wrong as researchers price that it does not guarantee you such.
Bottom Line
Heating your pizza with an air fryer is okay and safe for your health. Get yourself an air fryer today to reduce the amount of oil you use and to also perfectly reheat your pizzas.
Just throw them and add a little amount of oil and get a beautiful brown, crispy pizza slide. Ensure you always clean your appliances or you may end up heating bacteria for your consumption.
Some people equate an air fryer to a conventional oven, like this video but who cares, as far as the end product is a crispy pizza.
Barbara is an enthusiastic food-exploring person that goes through different culinary experiences. She got inspired by creating a pizza blog post after she tasted one of the best-selling pizzas in Toledo.