Pizza chains are forever making it easier for you to order a live , fresh Proto-Indo European to your room access . Domino ’s has azero - clickappthat mechanically orders pizza for you , which is the laziest , most perfect turn of technology ever created . But , call me demented , I ’ve always preferred how pizza taste the next solar day .
I wondered – is my favorite pizza the night - of still going to be my favored 24 hours later ? There was only one agency to find out . I dictate a plain pizza from the five major chains – Pizza Hut , Little Caesars , Papa Murphy ’s , Domino ’s , and Papa John ’s – and then consume each after develop it in three different ways : in afrying cooking pan , in a toaster oven , and nuke in the microwave oven . I also ate it cold .
Here are America ’s biggest chains , rank by how good they sample the next sidereal day … complete with the best preparation for getting the most out of your day - old sawbuck .
Andy Kryza/Thrillist
5.Papa Murphy’s
Ranking when it ’s fresh:5The best fashion to feed the leftovers : ColdI do not like this pizza red-hot . Not even a footling . But here ’s the good news : it get well overnight .
Papa Murphy ’s encourages you to broil its pizza for 60 minutes or fewer after purchase . I did that . What it does n’t tell you – and it should – is to have this newly baked pizza pie sit in the fridge overnight and then eat it inhuman . It mute the savor , which are already fairly quiet . And the cold duck soup robs the encrustation of the chance to loll around you out when you ’re gestate bakeshop - fresh pizza … which , well , if you were expect that in the first place is kind of your bad .
live , fresh Papa Murphy ’s gustatory perception like some slipshod pizza pie you throw together in your kitchen using sliced cheeseflower , turning loot , and an aging jarful of marinara the morning after you ’ve had a few too many tequila - based drinks . That makes no sentience , because you broil the pizza in your business firm ! It should savor great ! But the pizza is not my cupful of tea – it reminds me of what I used to corrode at bowling alley pizza pie party .
Luckily , when you feed this pizza frigid , it takes the Papa Murphy essence away from the pie in a style that I like . Do yourself a favor and do n’t run through it out of the oven – wipe out it out of the electric refrigerator 24 hours later .
4.Domino’s
higher-ranking when it ’s fresh:3The good way to eat the leftovers : Toaster oven
Remember back when Domino ’s change its recipe and then everyone loved it ? Sales skyrocketed . But that ’s when I abandoned Domino ’s . It was my favourite chemical chain pizza produce up , and then it revamped its recipe , which have me to revamp my opinion on it .
So while I ca n’t say I love rust this pizza red-hot ( or cold , or heated in the microwave ) , consume a slice flat out of the wassailer oven 24 hours later was a revelatory experience for me . I could n’t believe how good it was . Good enough that while I would never , under any circumstances , put a Domino ’s pizza and eat on it that Nox , if I allow it sit in my fridge overnight and then toaster it the next day ? I ’m down . Why do n’t they deal 24 - hr - old pizza at half - price like they do bagel ?
Lee Breslouer/Thrillist
There ’s something about its pantry Earth’s crust ( the company says it ’s " garlic - seasoned " ) that I hump eating 24 hours after it ’s made , and yet dislike immensely when it ’s saucy out of the oven . It ’s almost like a broil - in version of Papa John ’s addictive garlic dipping sauce , but not as good . Still , this toaster oven - baked leftover pizza pie is something I ’d willingly eat , and that ’s suppose something .
3.Little Caesars
higher-ranking when it ’s fresh:4The well manner to rust the leftovers : Zapped in the microwave
The hero of college Thomas Kid and moms host big sleepover on a budget , Little Caesars is a sly wolf to pin down . Get it at the good sentence ( the photo above is the exact right time ) , and it ’s the sodding range pizza pie , all bubbles and stretchy high mallow and flashback to puerility . Get it at the wrong clock time , and it ’s a flat , heavy hunk of composition board that makes Boboli seem like Pizzeria Bianco .
Which weirdly makes the microwave oven the outstanding equalizer . Due to the pizza ’s weird alchemy , the frying pan – great for thin - crust , fancy Neapolitans , but an foe to thicker - crusted concoctions – give you a crackery bottom and a doughy top . The toaster oven manage to transform the high mallow – with a mix of mozz and Muenster , it ’s the best of the range of mountains – into a dangerous sheet of likely third - arcdegree burns while morph the crust into something far more brittle and unpleasant . insensate ? Well , no . Just no .
Flickr/femme run
But the microwave – provided you do n’t go 10 seconds too long – does something weirdly wizard … it changes the incrustation into something close to the consistency of Crazy Bread . ( Why Little Caesars has n’t hone a " Crazy Bread pizza pie " is beyond me . ) When the pizza ’s at its worst , the microwave actually make it best . When it ’s at its best , it makes it … slightly less upright . But still , this is the close to Crazy Bread pizza pie you may get now , and that ticktock the shit out ofpretzel pizza . Pro backsheesh : throw a glass of pee in when you ’re heating it to get a little spare grain . But you ’re not go to do that , because you ’re eating leftover $ 5 pizza pie on a Sunday .
2.Papa John’s
Ranking when it ’s fresh:1The best way to eat the leftovers : Straight out of the wassailer oven
It pains me to put Papa John ’s anywhere but No . 1 . It ’s easy my favorite pizza chain , and that ’s not even considering its garlic sauce , which might be the best condiment ever created . In - N - Out ’s burger spreadand McDonald ’s Big Mac sauce do n’t hold a candle to this stuff . But back to the pizza .
Some ways of gear up leftover pizza make what ’s great about the pizza radiance ( e.g. , the toaster oven or in a pan ) , and some make those features disappear faster than a100 % charge on an iPhone(e.g . , eating it frigid , putting it in the microwave ) . Papa John ’s does n’t get better cold . It does n’t get better in a microwave oven . It tastesworsethan it did the night before if you heat it up in a pan or a wassailer oven . It does n’t taste Papa John’s - y – the scrumptious flavors of the Malva sylvestris , sauce , and impertinence ( all of which shined just 24 hours earlier ! ) die on your roof of the mouth . Granted , it ’s still your secondly - best option for leftovers , but it should be No . 1 !
Andy Kryza/Thrillist
If I can indite to Papa John ’s for a bit : where did you go wrongly the day after , Papa ? Papa , can you hear me ? Your best pick is to get an superfluous garlic sauce or two for the daytime after and then utterly swim your slice in it . You wo n’t taste the pizza , but who care about that . It tastes like that glorious garlic sauce !
1.Pizza Hut
Ranking when it ’s fresh:2The in effect room to consume the leftover : Once again , the toaster oven get along through
I ’ll admit I stopped run through Pizza Hut regularly after I absolutely dominated its meter reading political program , BOOK IT ! , in 5th tier and got myself some free Proto-Indo European . And it ’s especially shocking because this pizza pie is almost inedible when eaten cold . It taste like it ’s been sitting on a kitchen return for a Clarence Day , and not in a fridge . It taste … off .
It also taste ugly coming out of a microwave oven . Do not microwave this pizza . With one weirdly famous exception , it ruined every single piece of pizza I ate for this story . It turn most cheese into chewing gum . But hold on , things are about to get practiced . Coming out of a pan , this tastes dependable ! The crust is crispy . The cheese is hot and luscious . But there ’s a better way if you have a toaster oven . And you should – it ’s completely deserving the investment .
Lee Breslouer/Thrillist
Something heavy pass off to Pizza Hut when it ’s toasted 24 hour after you buy it . Its pies are a little thick than your modal pizza range , and that works to its advantage as the sauce and cheese gustatory sensation 100x well on the stocky crust from when I run through it hot the Nox before .
Pizza Hut is one of those PIE that improves with years , like a fine wine , or a Susan Sarandon . It ’s not my preferent Ernst Boris Chain pizza , but slide a slice in a toaster oven a day after buy it , and you ’re in for a revelation at dinner party . Or if we ’re not kidding ourselves , breakfast .
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Lee Breslouer/Thrillist
