Zach Brooks gives you links here to many of the places Ed mentions in the interview, but I'm more interested in what this diet snapshot reveals to the rest of the world about Ed's pizza practices. Get a loada this:
And last night for dinner I had the last two slices of that sad pizza. And does anyone do this? I don’t put the pizza in the fridge so it stays out. It heats faster, and it’s not like it’s gonna spoil. So I had two slices and a very small bowl of black-bean soup and raisins.
"That sad pizza" was from not from the previous night but from two nights before.
Ed has tried his trick in the office to a resounding, collective "Ew, gross" from the folks here. I don't think I have to remind anyone about those big, nasty six-legged marauders whose name needs no mentioning on a food-friendly site.
Ed sounds like one of those guys I hate to share an office with because there's competition. I've never had pizza out for 2 days but certainly a full day. I leave a lot of things out overnight and don't ever have off tastes nor gotten sick. I don't think food really spoils nearly as quick as most people seem to think it does. In the US people tend to put everything in the fridge and assume anything that's out for a bit or in the fridge too long is poison. I don't see anything wrong with that container in the back that's been there for 3 weeks either - if it doesn't smell spoiled and doesn't taste bad I eat it.
@christopher: It's not the spoilage I'm concerned about here. I don't think pizza will spoil outside the fridge overnight. It's the bugs. This is New York, after all. You can't just leave food out; it invites the cucarachas.
My girlfriend puts the leftover pizza boxes in the oven, overnight (the oven is not turned on, of course). This is almost worse than leavning it out on the counter, as it the pizza is now in a small, dark, hole. Creepy.
I say the fridge is the best way to roll, as not only are your slices safe from the creatures of the night, but then it will transform in to that unique delicasy that is "cold, leftover pizza".
I can see being concerned about the bugs, but my real concern would be our three cats. I'd worry about our dog, but she can't jump as high as the cats. Would you believe we had to but child proof latches on the bread drawer to keep one of the cats from eating our bagels?
I did this in college when the fridge was too full to house leftover pizza pies. I remember when Ed told me to leave fresh mozzarella out on the counter for a few days. I did it and survived! I have a long list of questionable choices (like eating leftovers that fell on parking lot asphalt) and would like to believe that this kind of behavior only makes your stomach more resilient and basically-- badass.
Beer goes in the fridge over night and the pizza stays in the box on the counter. Pull out a slice in the morning and pour your self a nice frosty one and catch up on some scores on ESPN. Life is good!
I wouldn't leave it out overnight, but if I know I want to eat the leftovers, I'll take the pizza out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature for an hour or two before reheating it. In my old office, I'd sometimes leave my pizza on the radiator so it stays warm and I could it throughout the day.
If your residence does not have vermin or pets, and you trust the source of the pizza, leaving it out overnight should be perfectly fine. I find this also holds true for batter fried chicken fingers and crab rangoon from Chinese take out.
@Adam--hilarious picture. We have a "bullet" trashcan for the kitchen and ended getting five mini-bullet cans for the rest of the house. They're just spring loaded enough to deter Ellie, our golden retriever, from digging out napkins, wrappers, paper plates, etc. I have found I have to be careful with the butter. Turned my back for just a sec and she gulped down a whole stick, wrapper and all. Ah, to be a dog.
I don't refrigerate leftover pizza. But, depending on the toppings, there's a time limit past which I will not eat it. If it's just cheese & pepperoni, I'll eat it for a couple of days (with proper reheating, however) but if it's got ground beef, well that's got a shorter shelf life.
I don't have roaches, thank god, but sometimes in the spring we get some ants but they've never found their way into the pizza box.
I also keep my butter out on the counter in all but the very hottest weather (and I only refrigerate it then because I don't want it to melt all over the counter.)
I think I have a healthy immune system, though, because I grew up before we knew raw chicken was a biohazard.
@RegrettableFoodie: I used to keep my butter out on the counter (in a butter dish) before moving to NYC. Now, I just think it's better safe than sorry. Although, I did get a Butter Bell, which is awesome—as long as you remember to change the water every 3 days.
A friend's boyfriend recently told my fiance and I that he always left pizza out for a couple of days, since it doesn't really spoil. We both went "ick!". A couple of hours, ok. I live in WY, so cockroaches aren't really an issue - altitude and coldness makes it unfriendly. I've never seen one in my life. But there are other bugs - especially about right now, when all the bugs feel the cold weather coming on. I don't like to leave food out overnight.
My MIL leaves food out for approx. 24 hours before refrigerating "in case someone wants to eat it." I don't understand this. If we want to eat it, we are all perfectly capable of opening the fridge, getting it out, and bringing it to our preferred temperature!!
She also forgets to put away frozen food, forgets groceries in her car overnight, etc. I think the reason we are alive is because she buys so much convenience food (Stouffers lasagna, etc.) which is full of preservatives.
With crappy delivery pizza I used to leave it out for days at a time (probably 4 or 5 max) and then would eat it without microwaving. Bad pizza tastes better this way (especially Little Caesars). Since moving to New York, I'm a bit more hesitant about leaving food out because of bugs.
Aside from creepy crawlers and a hungry cat, I don't think I could bring myself to eat the pizza after it's been left out overnight. It's encouraging to see that there are many who've gone down that road and lived to see the sun rise the next day, but...I'll take everybody's word for it.
I might not have the numbers right, but isn't the bacterial "danger zone" between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit? So you either want to eat it hot or cold, but not let it hit those in between temperatures. My co-worker always swears that the microwave will kill any bacteria in questionable food, but I think not.
It's true that Americans are more stringent (paranoid?) about refrigerating cheese products. Europeans are much more relaxed. I do put my pizza in the fridge, but I insist on reheating in the oven only. However, I would have no qualms about tightly sealing (baggie, saran wrap) a cheese pizza and leavng it out over night. No bug/cat issues. Plus, I've traveled with string cheese or cheddar sticks for days without any problem.
I grew up in a house that left pizza out overnight. It rarely got left out longer, but that's because usually everyone ate it. None of us got sick from it as far as I know. Now, though, I put it in the fridge, mainly so people aren't afraid to eat at my house.
Well, none of the traditional pizza ingredients (bread, cheese, tomatoes, pepperoni) go off in under a couple days unrefrigerated, so I don't see the problem. Also, having been heated to high temperatures and kept relatively covered, it's not likely to be too contaminated.
Probably depends on how many grubby hands are touching the leftover parts. It's sterile, of course, when it comes out of the oven. It's how much exposure to ambient or contacted bugs you'd worry about. Someone at my job did something similar and lives to be mocked for it because of the agony that ensued.
I don't do it anymore (my husband is kind of a stickler for food safety), but in college, I don't think I ever put leftover pizza in the fridge, and I'd eat on it for a couple of days, no problem. Re: the bugs - I think it depends on where you live. I don't know that I'd do it in a house or apartment that had existing bug issues, but I went to college in a pretty arid area, and it really wasn't a problem there. And I didn't die, or even get sick. The crust did eventually go stale, though. ;-)
Overnight? Certainly. Two night? Not likely, but then again pizza doesn't last that long in my house. Whatever doesn't get eaten the next day gets wrapped and frozen.
I'll leave it out overnight, but not 2 nights. I live in the country & if I toss out any uneaten pizza my porch is overrun with varmints trying get it out of my garbage can
Maybe 1 night - and covered - but not 2. Pizza doesn't last that long for me anyway. If it's there by the end of the next day, it goes in the fridge. But I don't have a roach/ant problem and no pets to jump on counters.
Thing is, you're really unlikely to get sick, but I guess the 'danger zone' and all that stuff is an insurance policy because maybe 1% of the time it will have a nasty bacteria on it and it will make you really sick. I dont think I'd risk it.
I wouldn't leave tomato sauce out overnight. I wouldn't leave cooked veggies out. I wouldn't leave sausage out. I don't even leave cheese out. Bread products must at least be wrapped well to prevent getting hard and stale and if it's really hot and humid, that goes in the fridge. I might leave pepperoni out (seriously though, I wouldn't), so nope. Not a chance. I wrap up what's left and it goes in the fridge or freezer. As soon as we're finished eating. Why chance getting sick? Is it a game of risk? No thanks. Not worth the potential consequences and what's the point anyway? You don't want to take the 40 seconds it takes to wrap and store properly? I really and truly do not get it.
@PerkyMac--I agree. I once lost an amazing amount of weight due to a food poisoning diet. No matter how much weight I've put on I would never want a repeat of that.
In England, although I routinely refrigerated my own butter and eggs, I ate the food prepared with unrefrigerated eggs and butter of my friends and lived to tell the tale.
I've eaten pizza left out for one night in college when I lived in a single dorm with no refrigerator. But I may be weird--I always LIKED cold pizza. It's like a different 'substance' in and of itself. I think the cheese tastes better when it 'sets' in the cold. Why not just stick the cardboard box in the 'fridge, even on top of things?
seriously? two days? i'd never let pizza last that long. if it can't be finished in one sitting, it either was pretty terrible pizza to begin with and therefore not worth holding on to, or in rare occasions will be reheated as early as possible the next day and consumed in its entirety. honestly, i cannot remember the last time i had leftover pizza.
i actually don't refrigerate pizza either, when i reheat pizza that's been kept at room temperature, the cheese remelts a lot closer to how it would on fresh pizza. as for critters, i use a zip-lock bag squeezed almost air tight and then put it back in the box. maybe it's just in my head, but i could swear my method is much better than the fridge.
We quit ordering "fast food pizza" as I call it. We buy from the realyl good local pizza shops, and it is rare the pizza lasts more than an hour, let alone overnight.
On those rare occasions a slice or two is left over, I stack and wrap in aluminium foil. Then place the slices in the fridge. That way all I have to do the next day, is preheat the oven, unfold the foil, unstack the slices, and warm them up.
I don't like cold pizza, and the microwave ruins most everything.
Yup, I'd eat it. Room temp ranks right after "piping hot" on my preferred pizza temperature spectrum. I like how it gets chewy after a night on the counter top.
BF and I have different ideas, though. So his portion of the leftover pizza goes in the fridge, covered tightly in plastic wrap. Never foil.
@ PerkyMac - I hope you mean that you wrap and put away once everything's cooled properly and you're done eating. Condensation that forms from sealing off warm/hot food and putting it in the fridge actually increases bacteria production (since bacteria love moist places)... food safety dictates that foods to be placed in the fridge should be cooled completely before being put away.
I leave it on the counter for days. Three days is my max, and it still tasted ok, and I never suffered any ill effects. I'm single and live in a small apartment, so one large pizza can last me at least a few meals. That said, I have also fished an opened container of dipping sauce from a friend's garbage.
Well I'm happy to see that I'm not the only person that likes to leave leftover pizza out. I usually leave the pizza out until bedtime and then put it away before going to sleep. I mostly do that because my mom was one of the people that think if something is left out for more than an hour then it is bad so I start thinking about that at bed time. I really do like pizza a lot better at room temperature though than cold, so I will probably leave it out overnight now after seeing so many "success" stories :P
I find that leftover pizza picks up a cardboard taste if left in the box. I put my slices in baggies and refrigerate. When ready to eat, I zap in microwave for a minute or two to soften and moisten it up, then put it in a very hot oven to crisp. I find this method works much better than just microwaving (no crispness) or just oven (too hard and dried out).
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49 Comments:
Ed sounds like one of those guys I hate to share an office with because there's competition. I've never had pizza out for 2 days but certainly a full day. I leave a lot of things out overnight and don't ever have off tastes nor gotten sick. I don't think food really spoils nearly as quick as most people seem to think it does. In the US people tend to put everything in the fridge and assume anything that's out for a bit or in the fridge too long is poison. I don't see anything wrong with that container in the back that's been there for 3 weeks either - if it doesn't smell spoiled and doesn't taste bad I eat it.
christopher at 11:41AM on 11/14/08
@christopher: It's not the spoilage I'm concerned about here. I don't think pizza will spoil outside the fridge overnight. It's the bugs. This is New York, after all. You can't just leave food out; it invites the cucarachas.
Adam Kuban at 11:45AM on 11/14/08
My girlfriend puts the leftover pizza boxes in the oven, overnight (the oven is not turned on, of course). This is almost worse than leavning it out on the counter, as it the pizza is now in a small, dark, hole. Creepy.
I say the fridge is the best way to roll, as not only are your slices safe from the creatures of the night, but then it will transform in to that unique delicasy that is "cold, leftover pizza".
JudgeFudge at 11:55AM on 11/14/08
My college roommate once left pizza out overnight, had some in the morning, and promptly spent a majority of the day in the bathroom.
I think it CAN spoil and that's why I refrigerate. And the bugs.
lawofmurphy at 11:55AM on 11/14/08
I can see being concerned about the bugs, but my real concern would be our three cats. I'd worry about our dog, but she can't jump as high as the cats. Would you believe we had to but child proof latches on the bread drawer to keep one of the cats from eating our bagels?
dhorst at 11:57AM on 11/14/08
I did this in college when the fridge was too full to house leftover pizza pies. I remember when Ed told me to leave fresh mozzarella out on the counter for a few days. I did it and survived! I have a long list of questionable choices (like eating leftovers that fell on parking lot asphalt) and would like to believe that this kind of behavior only makes your stomach more resilient and basically-- badass.
Jenn Sit at 11:58AM on 11/14/08
Beer goes in the fridge over night and the pizza stays in the box on the counter. Pull out a slice in the morning and pour your self a nice frosty one and catch up on some scores on ESPN. Life is good!
bmfesq at 11:59AM on 11/14/08
pizza don't spoil? what kind of a world do we live in? where can i get some fairy dust and unicorns? i'm confused.
And Ed's apartment must not have mice... or roaches... b/c that shit is bananas.
foodinmouth at 12:04PM on 11/14/08
@dhorst: Forget cats. I'd think Ed would also be concerned about his dog, BRASS.
Adam Kuban at 12:05PM on 11/14/08
I wouldn't leave it out overnight, but if I know I want to eat the leftovers, I'll take the pizza out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature for an hour or two before reheating it. In my old office, I'd sometimes leave my pizza on the radiator so it stays warm and I could it throughout the day.
josh! at 12:10PM on 11/14/08
I notice he said he had "two slices and a very small bowl of black bean soup AND RAISINS." Uh, buddy....those weren't RAISINS....
juliebugsmama at 12:11PM on 11/14/08
If your residence does not have vermin or pets, and you trust the source of the pizza, leaving it out overnight should be perfectly fine. I find this also holds true for batter fried chicken fingers and crab rangoon from Chinese take out.
Amandarama at 12:12PM on 11/14/08
@Adam--hilarious picture. We have a "bullet" trashcan for the kitchen and ended getting five mini-bullet cans for the rest of the house. They're just spring loaded enough to deter Ellie, our golden retriever, from digging out napkins, wrappers, paper plates, etc. I have found I have to be careful with the butter. Turned my back for just a sec and she gulped down a whole stick, wrapper and all. Ah, to be a dog.
dhorst at 12:17PM on 11/14/08
I have to say I do the same thing Ed does. However I just make sure I heat it up plenty good in the oven before i eat it. Or some day's cold.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? .. or kills ya
bobfole at 12:45PM on 11/14/08
I don't refrigerate leftover pizza. But, depending on the toppings, there's a time limit past which I will not eat it. If it's just cheese & pepperoni, I'll eat it for a couple of days (with proper reheating, however) but if it's got ground beef, well that's got a shorter shelf life.
I don't have roaches, thank god, but sometimes in the spring we get some ants but they've never found their way into the pizza box.
I also keep my butter out on the counter in all but the very hottest weather (and I only refrigerate it then because I don't want it to melt all over the counter.)
I think I have a healthy immune system, though, because I grew up before we knew raw chicken was a biohazard.
RegrettableFoodie at 12:45PM on 11/14/08
@RegrettableFoodie: I used to keep my butter out on the counter (in a butter dish) before moving to NYC. Now, I just think it's better safe than sorry. Although, I did get a Butter Bell, which is awesome—as long as you remember to change the water every 3 days.
Adam Kuban at 12:49PM on 11/14/08
A friend's boyfriend recently told my fiance and I that he always left pizza out for a couple of days, since it doesn't really spoil. We both went "ick!". A couple of hours, ok. I live in WY, so cockroaches aren't really an issue - altitude and coldness makes it unfriendly. I've never seen one in my life. But there are other bugs - especially about right now, when all the bugs feel the cold weather coming on. I don't like to leave food out overnight.
lo82070 at 12:58PM on 11/14/08
I'd be more concerned about it drying out than spoiling.
sloppy at 1:04PM on 11/14/08
My MIL leaves food out for approx. 24 hours before refrigerating "in case someone wants to eat it." I don't understand this. If we want to eat it, we are all perfectly capable of opening the fridge, getting it out, and bringing it to our preferred temperature!!
She also forgets to put away frozen food, forgets groceries in her car overnight, etc. I think the reason we are alive is because she buys so much convenience food (Stouffers lasagna, etc.) which is full of preservatives.
akk328 at 1:09PM on 11/14/08
With crappy delivery pizza I used to leave it out for days at a time (probably 4 or 5 max) and then would eat it without microwaving. Bad pizza tastes better this way (especially Little Caesars). Since moving to New York, I'm a bit more hesitant about leaving food out because of bugs.
blim8183 at 1:10PM on 11/14/08
Aside from creepy crawlers and a hungry cat, I don't think I could bring myself to eat the pizza after it's been left out overnight. It's encouraging to see that there are many who've gone down that road and lived to see the sun rise the next day, but...I'll take everybody's word for it.
holdthemayo at 1:24PM on 11/14/08
I might not have the numbers right, but isn't the bacterial "danger zone" between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit? So you either want to eat it hot or cold, but not let it hit those in between temperatures. My co-worker always swears that the microwave will kill any bacteria in questionable food, but I think not.
LizNYC at 1:38PM on 11/14/08
It's true that Americans are more stringent (paranoid?) about refrigerating cheese products. Europeans are much more relaxed. I do put my pizza in the fridge, but I insist on reheating in the oven only. However, I would have no qualms about tightly sealing (baggie, saran wrap) a cheese pizza and leavng it out over night. No bug/cat issues. Plus, I've traveled with string cheese or cheddar sticks for days without any problem.
kwhit at 1:42PM on 11/14/08
I grew up in a house that left pizza out overnight. It rarely got left out longer, but that's because usually everyone ate it. None of us got sick from it as far as I know. Now, though, I put it in the fridge, mainly so people aren't afraid to eat at my house.
rochellefeil at 1:49PM on 11/14/08
Well, none of the traditional pizza ingredients (bread, cheese, tomatoes, pepperoni) go off in under a couple days unrefrigerated, so I don't see the problem. Also, having been heated to high temperatures and kept relatively covered, it's not likely to be too contaminated.
ham_snadwich at 2:10PM on 11/14/08
I've done this after a night of heavy drinking (forgot to put it in the fridge) and the pizza tastes damned good the next morning.
redfish at 2:14PM on 11/14/08
I do this all the time and live to tell about it.
ScottWiener at 2:49PM on 11/14/08
Probably depends on how many grubby hands are touching the leftover parts. It's sterile, of course, when it comes out of the oven. It's how much exposure to ambient or contacted bugs you'd worry about. Someone at my job did something similar and lives to be mocked for it because of the agony that ensued.
DJ Dedd at 4:24PM on 11/14/08
I don't do it anymore (my husband is kind of a stickler for food safety), but in college, I don't think I ever put leftover pizza in the fridge, and I'd eat on it for a couple of days, no problem. Re: the bugs - I think it depends on where you live. I don't know that I'd do it in a house or apartment that had existing bug issues, but I went to college in a pretty arid area, and it really wasn't a problem there. And I didn't die, or even get sick. The crust did eventually go stale, though. ;-)
omglawdork at 4:26PM on 11/14/08
Overnight? Certainly. Two night? Not likely, but then again pizza doesn't last that long in my house. Whatever doesn't get eaten the next day gets wrapped and frozen.
Also, my NYC apt has no bugs.
missbhavens at 4:36PM on 11/14/08
I'll leave it out overnight, but not 2 nights. I live in the country & if I toss out any uneaten pizza my porch is overrun with varmints trying get it out of my garbage can
staceylynn at 5:24PM on 11/14/08
Maybe 1 night - and covered - but not 2. Pizza doesn't last that long for me anyway. If it's there by the end of the next day, it goes in the fridge. But I don't have a roach/ant problem and no pets to jump on counters.
omarac at 5:34PM on 11/14/08
i never put my pizza in the frige,sad whene u have two reheat
3luna at 6:34PM on 11/14/08
Whatever you do, don't leave it the cardboard box, or it will taste like cardboard. Pizza should never be kept overnight in a cardboard box.
nhh2727 at 7:07PM on 11/14/08
Thing is, you're really unlikely to get sick, but I guess the 'danger zone' and all that stuff is an insurance policy because maybe 1% of the time it will have a nasty bacteria on it and it will make you really sick. I dont think I'd risk it.
jennywenny at 7:11PM on 11/14/08
I wouldn't leave tomato sauce out overnight. I wouldn't leave cooked veggies out. I wouldn't leave sausage out. I don't even leave cheese out. Bread products must at least be wrapped well to prevent getting hard and stale and if it's really hot and humid, that goes in the fridge. I might leave pepperoni out (seriously though, I wouldn't), so nope. Not a chance. I wrap up what's left and it goes in the fridge or freezer. As soon as we're finished eating. Why chance getting sick? Is it a game of risk? No thanks. Not worth the potential consequences and what's the point anyway? You don't want to take the 40 seconds it takes to wrap and store properly? I really and truly do not get it.
PerkyMac at 7:26PM on 11/14/08
@PerkyMac--I agree. I once lost an amazing amount of weight due to a food poisoning diet. No matter how much weight I've put on I would never want a repeat of that.
dhorst at 7:41PM on 11/14/08
In England, although I routinely refrigerated my own butter and eggs, I ate the food prepared with unrefrigerated eggs and butter of my friends and lived to tell the tale.
I've eaten pizza left out for one night in college when I lived in a single dorm with no refrigerator. But I may be weird--I always LIKED cold pizza. It's like a different 'substance' in and of itself. I think the cheese tastes better when it 'sets' in the cold. Why not just stick the cardboard box in the 'fridge, even on top of things?
HeartofGlass at 8:44PM on 11/14/08
seriously? two days? i'd never let pizza last that long. if it can't be finished in one sitting, it either was pretty terrible pizza to begin with and therefore not worth holding on to, or in rare occasions will be reheated as early as possible the next day and consumed in its entirety. honestly, i cannot remember the last time i had leftover pizza.
egadman at 2:24AM on 11/15/08
i actually don't refrigerate pizza either, when i reheat pizza that's been kept at room temperature, the cheese remelts a lot closer to how it would on fresh pizza. as for critters, i use a zip-lock bag squeezed almost air tight and then put it back in the box. maybe it's just in my head, but i could swear my method is much better than the fridge.
zachoroni at 4:36PM on 11/15/08
We quit ordering "fast food pizza" as I call it. We buy from the realyl good local pizza shops, and it is rare the pizza lasts more than an hour, let alone overnight.
On those rare occasions a slice or two is left over, I stack and wrap in aluminium foil. Then place the slices in the fridge. That way all I have to do the next day, is preheat the oven, unfold the foil, unstack the slices, and warm them up.
I don't like cold pizza, and the microwave ruins most everything.
Raiders757 at 2:10AM on 11/16/08
Is it me or do the blogs about less than great pizza seem to get the most play? Like this and that Raamen post.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 11:21AM on 11/16/08
What kind of person still has pizza leftover the 2nd day? :)
rockandroller at 10:46AM on 11/17/08
Yup, I'd eat it. Room temp ranks right after "piping hot" on my preferred pizza temperature spectrum. I like how it gets chewy after a night on the counter top.
BF and I have different ideas, though. So his portion of the leftover pizza goes in the fridge, covered tightly in plastic wrap. Never foil.
Kerosena at 11:46AM on 11/17/08
@ PerkyMac - I hope you mean that you wrap and put away once everything's cooled properly and you're done eating. Condensation that forms from sealing off warm/hot food and putting it in the fridge actually increases bacteria production (since bacteria love moist places)... food safety dictates that foods to be placed in the fridge should be cooled completely before being put away.
feistyfoodie at 11:51AM on 11/17/08
I leave it on the counter for days. Three days is my max, and it still tasted ok, and I never suffered any ill effects. I'm single and live in a small apartment, so one large pizza can last me at least a few meals. That said, I have also fished an opened container of dipping sauce from a friend's garbage.
Keight at 5:30PM on 11/17/08
Well I'm happy to see that I'm not the only person that likes to leave leftover pizza out. I usually leave the pizza out until bedtime and then put it away before going to sleep. I mostly do that because my mom was one of the people that think if something is left out for more than an hour then it is bad so I start thinking about that at bed time. I really do like pizza a lot better at room temperature though than cold, so I will probably leave it out overnight now after seeing so many "success" stories :P
elangomatt at 1:49AM on 11/18/08
I find that leftover pizza picks up a cardboard taste if left in the box. I put my slices in baggies and refrigerate. When ready to eat, I zap in microwave for a minute or two to soften and moisten it up, then put it in a very hot oven to crisp. I find this method works much better than just microwaving (no crispness) or just oven (too hard and dried out).
liv2eet at 5:11AM on 11/18/08
Never had leftover pizza... It is usually all gone before the night is done.
I would have to refrigerate it my self if I did have left overs.
JeffM at 12:16PM on 11/18/08