The Best Microwave Power Setting To Warm Up Bread So It Stays Fluffy

You come home famished at the end of a long day at work with a hankering to finish off last night's spaghetti and meatballs. After you warm up a bowl and fix a quick side salad, your mind immediately turns to those leftover garlic knots sitting on the countertop at room temperature. Yummy, you say to yourself. But then the woeful thought crosses your mind — how am I going to reheat them to their original goodness?

We've all been there. Re-cooking breadsticks, biscuits, or any other soft-baked appetizer as a side for your entrée can be tricky. A feat that (depending on your culinary skills and blood-alcohol content at the time) can feel as intricate and precarious as plucking a thorn out of a finger with a pair of tweezers. If you reheat them for too long, they become rock-hard crust cruds that taste like toasted bricks. Not long enough and they come out stale and crumbly on your taste buds. It's one of the many classic mistakes people make with leftovers.

But wipe the sweat off your brow and breathe easy. It's not quite open-heart surgery. You can breathe new life into your leftover croissants by simply nuking them. For a second go-round just as moist and crispy as the first, microwave those delicious dinner rolls slowly and methodically. We know, counterintuitive, right? The microwave is the last place you'd probably think to give your bread a good re-cook. But trust us, this technique works.

You might think the oven or air fryer would be better options to revive the freshness in your stale loaves. That might be true for baguettes or French bread. But ovens take too long when you're stomach's growling and you've got a day-old slice of corn bread raring to go. Cut down drastically on the prep time by zapping the doughy meal enhancers with electromagnetic radiation instead.

The key to hitting the right balance when reheating bread in the microwave is to find the right temperature. Reduce the power level to low-medium heat — somewhere between 30% and 50%. But before you put your rolls in the microwave, you need to moisten them first. Dab some water on a paper towel and lay it on top of the bread basket. Cover the rolls with a second paper towel and warm them up at half power or less for a minute. Check to see if it's warm yet and adjust your time accordingly. 

Just remember, you're not trying to get the bread piping hot like it just came out of the oven after being baked for 45 minutes. You run the risk of drying out the slices and making them way too rubbery and chewy if you do that: a cardinal sin for bread revival. All you're trying to do is warm the loaves up so you can enjoy them again and keep them moist and fluffy.