# why cold pizza tastes good **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740 "2002-09-20T05:19:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/1 "2002-09-20T05:19:19Z")
Maybe I don’t have a scientific mind, maybe it’s the British dialect, but I’m having trouble following the explanation in this article. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/scotland/692122.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/scotland/692122.stm) Can anyone explain it in more obvious terms? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/2 "2002-09-20T05:38:36Z")
I didn’t bother to read the cite. Not only doesn’t _cold_ pizza taste good, neither does _hot_, or anything in between. In fact, in my opinion (and it’s not humble), pizza is the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on innocent public. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/3 "2002-09-20T05:39:38Z")
I didn’t bother to read the cite. Not only doesn’t _cold_ pizza taste good, neither does _hot_, or temperature in between. In fact, in my opinion (and it’s not humble), pizza is the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on an innocent and unsuspecting public. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/4 "2002-09-20T05:42:03Z")
The researcher contrasts fries with pizza, saying the fries get saturated with the oil when they sit, but the tomato sauce prevents the oils from the toppings (like cheese) from saturating the entire pizza. Therefore, the unsaturated pizza tastes good. I’ll have to observe this next time I have leftover pizza. But I usually reheat mine. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/5 "2002-09-20T06:10:22Z")
I don’t know, her theory sounds kind of half-baked to me (HA HA HA HA HA!!! Geddit? half-baked??). Anyway, I think that cold pizza tastes good because of all the cheese on it. Cheese tastes good cold; the coldness causes the flavours of the other ingredients to be muted somewhat, so the cheese predominates, so it tastes like cheese with some extra flavouring. ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/6 "2002-09-20T06:48:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Violet \* > \*\*The researcher contrasts fries with pizza, saying the fries get saturated with the oil when they sit, but the tomato sauce prevents the oils from the toppings (like cheese) from saturating the entire pizza. Therefore, the unsaturated pizza tastes good. I’ll have to observe this next time I have leftover pizza. But I usually reheat mine. \*\* So is the idea that fat/oil _doesn’t_ make the food taste good? I always thought that fat/oil adds taste too food (if not too much). Or is it just that in pizza and fries the crispness is more important than the fat? ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/7 "2002-09-20T07:07:17Z")
It also says that frecnh fries, or chips in UK-ese, are cooked in fat which congeals when they cool (saturated fat). The fat in cheese is apparently unsaturated, so the texture of the cheese doesn’t change. I don’t agree with that, but the rest of it about the sauce both holding it’s own water, preventing the crust from getting soggy, and keeping the fat from the cheese and toppings from making the crust soggy makes sense. But still, I don’t think that’s why cold pizza is better than cold fries (or ‘chips’). The sauce and toppings on pizza still have flavor when they’re cold, as (I assume) the curry that the article also cites. Fries, on the other hand, don’t have a very strong flavor even when they’re warm, and that with the change in consistency makes them unappetizing when cold to most people. Then there’s the **David Simmons** s of the world, who don’t like anything and want everyone to know it. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/8 "2002-09-20T12:09:11Z")
What **Wikkit** said. 😉 I appreciate his translations too. Of course I know that chips are fries, yet ‘cold fries’ and the mention of curry on a pizza had me recoiling a bit. Pizza is not the same dish around the world. Yet basically it’s tomatoes (usually refrigerated), cheese (always refrigerated \Mmm… fifty slices of American Cheese\) and bread (often refrigerated). And it’s been cooked already. It takes a good five minutes to heat up some slices. Go ahead, eat one now.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/9 "2002-09-20T12:20:46Z")
I don’t think they were suggesting that people put curry on pizza, only that cold curry is popular for what they believe to be similar reasons as cold pizza. I’ve said it before: Cold pizza is what pizza is **for**. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/10 "2002-09-20T12:23:02Z")
Anyway, cold fries/chips change consistency partly because the crisped outer layer of starch absorbs _water_, making them soggy or chewy like cardboard. [sub](and no, I have not tried chewing cardboard, I just used my imagination)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/11 "2002-09-20T13:20:19Z")
Look, in cold pizza, we have a good thing going. I whole-heartedly suggest we step _away_ from the pizza…slowly backoff… … and allow everyone who likes cold pizza to not concern themselves with congeled fats, floating water, etc, etc, etc. Now, I am open to something that might save us all a little time: Chemically, what beer is best for washing down cold pizza? See, that’s where valuable research dollars should be spent. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Izzardesque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a9adbd/32.png) [@Izzardesque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Izzardesque)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/12 "2002-09-20T14:39:22Z")
Cold pizza tastes so good because its junk food and you don’t have to go out to get it or wait for the delivery man! Not only is it junk food, its INSTANT junkfood! ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/13 "2002-09-20T15:27:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wikkit \* > \* > Then there’s the **David Simmons** s of the world, who don’t like anything … . \* Absolutely false. I like Mom, apple pie and ice cream. I also think that when you get away from boiled potatoes and round steak with white gravy you might as well be camping out. Pizza afficionados would have us eating _frou-frou_ things like _quiche_ or _crepes suzettes_ if they had their way. I notice **Wikkit** is from southeastern Iowa - probably Mount Pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![domesticatedjunglefowl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@domesticatedjunglefowl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domesticatedjunglefowl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/14 "2002-09-20T16:14:34Z")
cold pizza and cold fried chicken; Those are my two favouite foodstuffs. By the way, PBR is the beer that best compliments cold pizza. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/15 "2002-09-20T16:45:58Z")
Personally I believe pizza has four completely different stages, all very good, but fairly different. The original hot style right after it’s made, is dominated by the taste of the tomato sauce, and vegetables if any. The cheese has great texture, but adds taste as a harmony rather than a focus. Cold, it’s kind of like a cracker, bread and cheese dominate, and taste damn good together. Reheated in a microwave. It becomes such a beautiful migling of greases. The grease of the cheese, the grease of the meat topings and the grease of the olive oil it was cooked in just come out and saturate the bread. Possibly my favorite. Reheated in an oven. Kind of a mixture of the other three. Nice and greasy, but still cheesy and crackery with prominant tomato tase. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/16 "2002-09-20T17:29:54Z")
Who says cold french fries don’t taste good? I love them. ---
**Author:** ![PBear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@PBear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/17 "2002-09-20T18:47:46Z")
The article is a perfect example of why scientists shouldn’t write in English, for we then become able to tell they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. 1. No, the sauce does not ‘protect’ the crust from the cheese. Does the cheese ‘soak into’ the bread in a grilled cheese sandwich? In any event, sometimes oil can barrier water, but not the other way 'round. 2. As noted already, the reason cold fries and (British) chips are not palatable (to most people) is that water from the inside eventually softens the outside and (for most of us) fries are mostly about texture. OTOH, American chips (which have virtually no water left) work even though cold. 3. As noted already, the components of pizza are all things that ordinarily taste good cold. With the advantage that the cheese has been browned in baking and, so, is even more flavorful than usual. 4. As noted already, more or less, one eats cold pizza (usually) the next morning when rather hungry. Of course it tastes good (to most of us). 5. Regarding curry, “the oils and spices are continuing to tenderise the meat”? The woman is an idiot. In some curries, acid (from tomatoes, yogurt and/or lemon juice) might continue to tenderize, but oils don’t ever, nor do any spices of which I’m aware. ---
**Author:** ![Fishhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@Fishhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishhead)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/18 "2002-09-20T19:06:17Z")
Beat me to it **hazel-rah**. but cold fried fish is really great. Mmmm. try it some time. During my Peace Corps stint in Costa Rica, a guy opened a pizza restaurant in Turrialba. Unfortunately, he had no clue what a pizz was, and none of his offerings included tomato sauce or cheese. I brought up the idea of making pizza with those items and he thought the idea sounded disgusting. I took him to San Jose where you could actually get something approximating a pizza, and he did try it, but didn’t like it. He did put something a little more like a pizza on the menu and it sold only to gringos, which were rare at the time. He did have a fruit pizza with sour cream that was pretty good though, as a kind of dessert. Three years without pizza or pickles. That was tough. Fishhead ---
**Author:** ![knarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@knarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knarf)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/19 "2002-09-20T20:19:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philster \* > \*\*Chemically, what beer is best for washing down cold pizza? See, that’s where valuable research dollars should be spent. > > 🆒 \*\* Don’t worry, the research continues. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740/20 "2002-09-20T21:54:19Z")
wolfman had the right idea but I’ve decided to expand on the explanation. The tomato sauce has spices which interact favorably with the sausage, pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, onions, etc. When the pizza is fresh and hot, those different flavors taste great. When you reheat leftover pizza the next day, all of those flavors have a chance to mingle with each other and again taste great. Incidentally, I sop up the excess grease with a paper napkin. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cold-pizza-tastes-good/128740.md?page=2)