The method makes microwaved food taste so much better (Stock Image) (Image: Getty)
Knowing that you’ve got leftovers in the fridge when there’s nothing else in is a great comfort – especially when the dinner you had last night was absolutely delicious. Or, if you’re purposely meal prepping to be a little healthier and want to reheat something, you’ll turn to the microwave.
But there’s something a little bit annoying about how lacklustre leftovers can come out. Your once crispy and tasty enchiladas feel like they’ve seen better days and are now soggy. The chicken that was once cooked to perfection has gone rubbery. It’s not ideal.
Andy, who posts on YouTube shorts as @andy_cooks shared that there is a way to reheat your food to a higher standard – and all you need to do is add one free thing to it.
He joked that everyone’s fridges are “secretly trying to sabotage” your meal prep ideas, explaining that: “Even covered food is going to dry out inside your fridge”.
Andy said a fridge is like an “annoying dehumidifier,” and that’s why “the next day your pasta tastes like salty cardboard”. He reassured people that it’s nothing to do with “your cooking,” and everything to do with the fridge.
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To rectify it, he gave “a little trick”. Andy said: “Splash a little bit of water on your food first before you cover it and pop it in your microwave”.
Then you just need to heat it up as you normally would, but the moisture will ensure that nothing dries out and has a vile texture, leading it to taste disgusting.
But what if you don’t have a microwave? Don’t worry. You can still heat your leftovers in the pan if it’s the sort of meal you can do that with, such as a curry. All you need to do is ensure that you pop some water in the pan, too, so it tastes good.
Make sure you add more than you would than in the microwave though, to ensure best results.
“There you go! No more dry, stale leftovers,” Andy ended his video by saying.
The chef did say that this wouldn’t work for pizza, saying that it tastes “weird” when it’s refrigerated and then warmed back through.
In the comments, some people suggested ways to reheat pizza to make it taste really good. One person wrote: “Someone showed me that a sandwich press is really good at reheating leftover pizza. As long as the roof isn’t resting directly on it”.
Another added: “Pan-fried leftover pizza is the best. Faster than dealing with the air fryer, too”.
To go above and beyond, a woman penned: “I also do a damp paper towel over leftover bowl in the microwave to keep moisture in! It works for me and it’s definitely better than nothing”.
Meanwhile, another YouTube user shared: “I wet a paper towel and put it over my food when warming it up in the microwave. Highly recommended, especially for a steak, so the inner bit doesn’t get zapped. It steams the food up nicely”.
