News: Leftover Pizza Should Never Go in the Fridge [DEBATE]

Okay, check your Food Safety guidelines at the door, because things are about to get real subjective in here.

It's late at night, and you've just stuffed yourself to the gills with that large pizza that you ordered—for one. Yeah, maybe it was a little gluttonous on your part, but you've got a plan: refrigerate the leftover slices, then heat them up and enjoy them anew for lunch the next day. (Or don't... heat them up, that is.)

Leftover Pizza Should Never Go in the Fridge [DEBATE] — *Image by jeffreyw/Flickr*

But before you throw those slices in a plastic resealable bag (or, if you're lazy like me, just put the whole damn pizza box into the fridge)—you may be shocked to hear that the best way to enjoy your pie the next day is to forego this step altogether.

According to Adina Steinman of Epicurious, the best way to eat leftover pizza is to not refrigerate it at all. And don't just leave it out of the fridge: eat it at room temperature, without reheating.

Wait, what?

She claims that the crust stays crispy and the higher temperature keeps the grease from congealing—and that keeping it out saves the step of reheating your pizza. But what about your slices becoming a ripe harvesting ground for bacteria? Well, apparently her cousins never suffered any kind of food-borne illness from eating un-refrigerated pizza slices, although she stresses that this is anecdotal and to only give this shortcut a try "if you feel your own stomach is similarly iron-clad."

I won't lie—I've been desperate enough to eat room temperature pizza the next day, but it was only after a particularly reckless night out, and it wasn't pretty. I did lose some respect for myself... but hey, I didn't get sick, so I can't totally dismiss this idea.

Check out the original article here, and let us know in the comments whether you've given this 'tip' a try or if you think it's utterly disgusting.

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7 Comments

I always get a little queasy when my boyfriend leaves the pizza out overnight so I will not be sharing this article with him.

I Agree with you ! I definetly think that's gross to leave it out! And I ain't saying shit to my bf bc hell no lol just nope

I love counter pizza! I don't put it in the fridge! but it's only good up until breakfast the next day if it was cold at home that night. I wouldn't do it in the summer, especially with the fruit flies everywhere. :P

Don't leave it out! That's gross, especially if you live in the south where everything is warmer inside (at least at my house!)

Years ago I learned to put the cold, leftover pizza into a skillet with a tight lid. Put the heat on LOW LOW LOW and walk away for about 10 minutes. Do not vent the lid. The crust on the pizza will return to crispy wonderment and the top will be melty and delicious, just like it was when it was fresh - if not better.

I leave food out over night all the time... especially pizza and rice! It's not like it's just laying out in the open. It's no different then eating a couple of cookies out of a cookie jar. Hell, the cookies have been there way longer.

Do your cookies have meat in them?!

I'd say that if you feel like the meat on the pizza has totally eradicated all of the bacteria after cooking, then leave it out. If you're unsure, best to refrigerate. I'll let it sit overnight sometimes, but only when I forget to put it away. I'm too cheap to let it go to waste. For pizza without meat toppings, room temperature sounds a little better.

I thought this was super gross when I saw my friend do it when i was 14 but we ate it the next day and were fine. After that I always fridged it as normal but then when I moved in with my bf and his dad and we ordered pizza and didn't want his dad to know, we'd keep the box in our room overnight and we've eaten it after legit more than 24 hours later and it's never made me sick so I'm not as weird about it anymore. And I don't even have a strong stomach, I've got IBS and I'm sensitive to dairy. If this shit was dangerous I'd have puked by now.

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