Garlic bread is insanely popular. In fact, it’s still growing in popularity all over the world. You can most commonly get it as a side dish when visiting restaurants, typically Italian ones. Anyone who cooks and eats garlic bread at home will be all too familiar with the pain of not being able to eat it all. Maybe you have to leave it for another time, only to come back to it cold and slightly stale. It puts a serious downer on your day. Thankfully there are ways to revive and reheat your garlic bread so that it is as good as new!
Table of Contents
- What is Garlic Bread?
- Is it Safe to Reheat Garlic Bread?
- Reheat Garlic Bread
- Why Does Garlic Bread go Stale?
- How to Keep Garlic Bread Fresher for Longer
- What is the Best Method to Reheat Garlic Bread?
What is Garlic Bread?
Like all great foods, garlic bread stems from Italian cuisine. It is a modification on the dish known as bruschetta. Bruschetta is a grilled bread that has been rubbed with garlic and is then topped off with meats, cheeses, or vegetables.
After realizing how good the garlic-rubbed bread was, the concept was taken a step further to solely focus on the garlic flavor. Garlic bread now is typically served on a baguette or ciabatta and is topped with garlic, olive oil, butter, and additional herbs such as chives, parsley, or oregano.
A loaf of these bread choices can be used with downward cuts. They do not slice the entirety of the bread and stuffed with minced garlic and butter before being topped with any additional herbs. Alternatively, the loaves of bread can be cut into slices that can be individually topped and garnished with the same ingredients. Both methods will have similar results in terms of quality but using an entire loaf at once is quicker for making batches of garlic bread.
For a more filling snack, garlic bread can be topped with a variety of cheeses to make it a more hearty meal. The cheeses used are mostly mozzarella, feta, or parmesan. Just because it is most commonly paired with pasta dishes does not mean that garlic bread isn’t an amazing dish on its own. It can make a light and easy breakfast as it is full of starch that will keep you energized for the day.
Some people also choose to modify their garlic bread to resemble that of a pizza. This is done by spreading a layer of tomato base over the garlic bread and then mozzarella cheese. It can be topped with more pizza toppings if chosen or can be eaten with just the tomato and cheese.
Is it Safe to Reheat Garlic Bread?
Reheating food can be a bit of a grey area depending on who you ask.
For the most part, a lot of food is perfectly fine to reheat. But there are still some items that should never be reheated.
Among the forbidden foods to reheat is a lot of rice dishes. This is because when rice is reheated, it can lead to food poisoning. Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus which survive even after the rice has been cooked.
While the heat from cooking will kill all the bacteria, once the rice gets back to room temperature, the spores will start to produce bacteria again which will lead to food poisoning. Once the rice has been cooked, it is best to not reheat it.
Garlic bread is perfectly fine to reheat although there is a chance it will dry out if you are not careful, there are methods to prevent this and also reverse it so there is no need to worry. Garlic bread can be reheated but this can only do so much if your bread goes stale before you try to reheat it.
Reheat Garlic Bread
If you have some garlic bread laying around that you need to reheat or you anticipate you are going to need to soon, then read ahead and learn the best methods for doing so.
Reheating Garlic Bread in the Oven
While using the oven is arguably one of the more inconvenient methods, it is also the one that will produce the best result. Oven-reheated bread is almost as good as it was when it was freshly baked.
To start off, you will want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a good temperature as it will warm it over a shorter period of time, which is going to make it resemble the texture the bread initially had.
After your oven is preheated, you will want to prepare your garlic bread by wrapping it in aluminum foil. This is to stop much moisture escaping during the process but will also help prevent the top of the bread from looking burnt. Another great step here is to splash a tablespoon of water over the garlic bread while it is inside the foil. This added moisture will help revive the bread and is crucial for making it come out as good as it once was.
While the time will depend on how big your loaf is, or your slices, the most common timing will be between 10-15 minutes. At the 10 minute mark, you will want to take it out and check it, if you are not satisfied then put it back and check every 2.5 minutes until it is done.
Reheating Garlic Bread in The Microwave
The microwave is a lot easier than using an entire oven. If you are heating smaller portions instead of entire loaves then using a microwave will have you ready in no time.
There are two methods that are used in the microwave. One of these is a bit unorthodox but has brilliant results so you have to trust the process. The first method is just placing your garlic bread slices on a microwave-safe plate. Then heat them on high power for 30 seconds at a time. After a minute or so, you should have perfectly heated garlic bread.
The main issue with that is, they may be quite dry. To fix this, the unorthodox method comes into play. Get a paper towel and wet it under the tap. Once it is fully saturated, wring it out until it is merely damp.
This damp paper towel should be placed over the plate. Make sure it falls over all the pieces of garlic bread. Or you can individually wrap them in damp paper towels to be more thorough.
This paper towel will keep them moist and will prevent them from being dehydrated while the microwave heats them up. The results are astonishing and the method also takes barely any time.
Reheating Garlic Bread in A Frying Pan
Unfortunately, this method will not work for entire loaves and is more suitable for heating slices exclusively.
The texture of the garlic bread using this method will be crunchier than most other methods. But who doesn’t like crunchy garlic bread?
You will want to heat up a suitable frying pan to medium-high heat. It is optional but you can choose to oil or lightly butter each side of the bread. This will help revive it and make it seem fresher.
Place the garlic bread flat down in the pan and heat it for 2-3 minutes on each side. There should not be any burning so make sure you rotate it enough to evenly heat each side equally.
While being a good method for reheating garlic bread, the main drawback is that it only works for slices. It also requires continuous attention. While this method is quicker than the oven, it also requires you to be a lot more attentive.
Why Does Garlic Bread go Stale?
Bread will always go stale eventually if you leave it for long enough. This is caused by the starch molecules hardening and crystallizing. After being baked, the starch molecules in bread have weakened attractions. This causes them to be more absorbent of water and moisture. After a while, the bread will start to go stale. The water in the starch will move to other parts of the bread, most commonly the crust. This lack of water causes the starch molecules to return to a dense and hard state known as crystallization.
As previously mentioned, no matter how well you reheat the garlic bread, it may still be a bit stale. This cannot be easily reversed to the full extent. But thankfully there are methods that let you rehydrate it a bit.
How to Keep Garlic Bread Fresher for Longer
If you know that the fresh garlic bread in front of you is going to end up being reheated in the near future, then you may be looking for ways to keep it as fresh as possible until then. The best way to do this is to prevent it from going stale too quickly.
If you can place your garlic bread in an airtight container then it will go stale at a reduced rate. It will subsequently be fresher when it comes to reheating it.
Alongside this, when you do reheat your garlic bread, before eating it you can always add more butter and more garlic to it. This way, the flavor is more vibrant and fresh. The butter will soak into the warm bread and moisturize it while the garlic will make it taste fresh.
What is the Best Method to Reheat Garlic Bread?
This is entirely dependent on your definition of ‘best’. If you are looking for a less time-consuming method without sacrificing too much quality then the microwave and wet paper towel method will work fine. If you are looking for the best possible result then using your oven is what will work best.
Check out more reheating articles on Cooks Dream:
FAQs on Reheating Garlic Bread
How do you revive stale garlic bread?
The best way to revive your garlic bread after it has gone stale is to reintroduce some moisture to it. Before heating it up, add a tablespoon of water. After it is heated up, spread some butter on it so that it will melt and absorb.
How to reheat garlic bread without an oven?
The best method to do this without an oven is to use a microwave or to put your garlic bread in an air fryer.
Can you reheat frozen garlic bread?
Reheating frozen garlic bread is fine as long as you allow it to thaw out first. This can be done by leaving it on the size or in the fridge overnight.
How do you reheat garlic bread without it getting hard?
The best way to stop your garlic bread from dehydrating when you heat it up is to introduce some additional moisture. This can be done by using a tablespoon of water or spreading some butter over the bread.
