In today’s article, we look at how to reheat pizza in the air fryer without ruining the crust! This guide is extremely easy and foolproof! You can have crisp-crusted and properly heated pizza that is as good as the day you bought it!
And, if by the end of this article you are craving a couple of homemade slices, take a look at my Authentic Pizza Cubana Recipe! It’s super easy and extremely versatile!
How Does An Air-Fryer Work?
Even though an air fryer isn’t all that new on the market many people still don’t understand how it really functions and what the benefits are of using it. Luckily, that’s why you have me. Check out this article about the 5 benefits of using an air fryer.
An air fryer is an extremely handy and versatile appliance to have around the house. And honestly, if food content wasn’t my life, I would most likely not even need my deep-fryer or microwave anymore! An air fryer can do it all!
Most of these appliances have similar settings. Mine (which is a slightly above entry-level model) has cooking settings for baking, air-frying, roasting, and dehydrating.
Now, what makes this appliance so popular is how it distributes heat.
This appliance has been specifically designed to produce intense heat within a very small cooking chamber. Furthermore, it has strong built-in fans which help circulate the hot air evenly throughout the chamber.
That is exactly why you can get crispy food without having to plunge them into a pot of fat!
Furthermore, this technology is why foods cook and reheat so quickly (as compared to using an oven or toaster oven). The chamber heats quickly and provides a stable temperature for the food to reheat.
Benefits Reheating Pizza In The Air Fryer
Now, if we only look at reheating pizza in an air fryer, there are a couple of benefits over other reheating methods.
The first is that it works quicker than, for example, the oven or pan reheating technique. It’s not as quick as a microwave, but then again, a microwave ruins any crunchy textures that a pizza slice had.
Next, the air-fryer also reheats the entire slice while maintaining the original textures. The crust stays crisp, and the toppings still get sizzling hot!
In an oven, again, it takes super long to heat. In a microwave, the entire slice becomes soggy, then dries out almost completely.
And, in a pan, only the crust gets crisp while the toppings remain virtually unheated.
So truly, to warm up pizza in an air fryer is the best method you can use if you have this appliance at home. And it’s hands-free too! Let’s take a look!
More Air Fryer Recipes
How to Reheat Pizza In The Air Fryer
The process is extremely simple. You don’t have to add parchment paper or a sheet of foil. You don’t need to lubricate the cooking chamber, and you don’t need to bring the slices to room temperature.
Simply place all the slices in a single layer in the air-frying chamber. The slices shouldn’t overlap. Otherwise, the melting cheese will make them stick to each other.
Set the heat to 350ºF (170ºC) and leave the slices to heat for 3-4 minutes. I like to heat thin-crusted pizza slices for 3 minutes. Thick crust (or pan-crust) pizza slices can go for 4 to 4 1/2 minutes. And stuffed-crust slices can go for 4 to 5 minutes.
When the cheese is bubbling on the top of the slice, the pizza can be removed from the chamber.
Tips And Tricks
You don’t have to preheat the air-fryer to reheat pizza in the air fryer. And PLEASE don’t turn the slices if your appliance says so. Obviously, the toppings will fall off.
If you have to set the air fryer on a specific cooking technique, use the baking setting. Alternatively, use the air-fryer setting. All the settings are more or less the same.
It’s the way the air is circulated that makes them work in different ways. Just don’t roast the pizza. The roast setting provides most of the heat from the top. This doesn’t allow the bottom (crust) to get crispy.
As I’ve mentioned, you don’t have to line the chamber with foil or parchment paper. The slices won’t stick because they are naturally anti-stick already. That also means that you don’t have to brush the base with oil. And the crust will get crispy without it!
Your average air-frying basket will be able to hold 2-3 slices of pizza. Maybe 4, depending on the size of the slices. While it may seem like a lengthy process, keep in mind that it only takes 3-4 minutes to reheat each batch.
Never remove the air fryer leftover pizza with your hands. It is much hotter than you think! Especially the melted cheese! Instead, use a spatula to lift the slices out. Leave them to cool for a couple of minutes before diving in!
How to Reheat Frozen Pizza In Air Fryer
If you are working with frozen leftover pizza, you can still reheat it in the air-fryer. There are some changes that you need to make to the process to maintain the crisp base and soft, tender toppings.
For starters, you need to reheat the air-fryer to 400ºF (200ºC) on the baking or air-frying setting.
Then, line the basket with perforated parchment paper sheets. Frozen pizza is more likely to stick to the basket than thawed slices. You can either make your own sheets at home or buy them online.
Place the frozen pizza slices inside the basket. Leave them to reheat for 7-8 minutes.
Again, thin slices of pizza will take less time to thaw and reheat than thick slices. And, of course, stuffed crust slices will take longer than the average time set out above.
I do not recommend thawing the slices before you reheat them It changes the consistency of the pizza dough too much and essentially ruins it.
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