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Let's say I'm using a 100% white bread flour 70% hydration dough (with or without oil) for pizza to be baked in a home oven; how should I change the formula, or how can I tweak the recipe for a reheatable pie instead of one to be eaten fresh out of the oven? The aim is to avoid dried out crust, fat separation from the cheese, and burnt bits.

Ayman Elmasry
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    By "reheatable", do you mean you want to half-bake the pizza and complete the baking later, or that you want to cook it normally and have the leftovers be microwaveable, or..? – Sneftel Oct 03 '19 at 07:55
  • I was thinking along the lines of fully cooked with toppings then reheated in an oven. – Ayman Elmasry Oct 03 '19 at 10:56
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    Can you clarify what properties it is you think make a dough more successfully reheatable? – Spagirl Oct 03 '19 at 11:43
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    I often reheat all types of pizza in a low oven for 5-10 minutes, provided it's within the next couple of days. Have you tried just using your current recipe? I'd be tempted to take it out on the earlier side of done, just so you don't end up burning any part of it and also thick bases reheat better in my experience – Gamora Oct 03 '19 at 13:35
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    @Bee that’s funny, I think thinner crust reheats better because you don’t dry out the toppings waiting for the thermal inertia of thick dough to be overcome! – Spagirl Oct 03 '19 at 17:42
  • I reckon Spagirl and Bee might like different toppings or different arrangements of their toppings - so Ayman will have to experiment to see which is better – Chris H Oct 03 '19 at 19:07
  • @Spagirl I don't want my crust to dry out and I don't want oily cheese (fat separation). For the former I'm guessing dough hydration would be key, for the latter I'm not really sure how it can be avoided. – Ayman Elmasry Oct 03 '19 at 19:49
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    I should add that this is not pan / granny / deep dish pizza, but rather a NY style one (just smaller due to oven size). – Ayman Elmasry Oct 03 '19 at 19:51
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    Can you please add your criteria for what makes "good reheated" pizza to the question? That would make it answerable. – FuzzyChef Oct 03 '19 at 21:35

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I don't think the dough formula is the issue. Instead, you might experiment with par-cooking your pizza. The first comment from @Sneftel has it right. Maybe start with a half-cooked pizza. Adjust from there. Any fully cooked, then reheated pizza will likely over cook, or incur the problems you are trying to avoid.

moscafj
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  • I guess that makes sense. One should either make a pizza to be eaten immedietly, or eaten later, but to be good for both is an overstretch (NPI). Maybe if I want a pie ready for oven but for later I can just parcook the crust, then add raw toppings and freeze for later. – Ayman Elmasry Apr 03 '20 at 13:07