We all love McDonald’s, but that doesn’t help with not finishing it in one sitting. Too bad that you may not know how best to consume the leftovers. For instance, can you store it in the fridge? And how do you reheat the McDonald’s once it’s time to finish the job? Will the reheating process not dry out your delicious treat?
I will answer all your questions about reheating McDonald’s, storing it, and determining if it’s still consumable or has gone bad.
How to Reheat McDonalds – Step by Step
Mcdonald’s is one of the most notable brand names in the world of fast foods. They make different products, but we don’t all love the same treats. So, if you have been stuck about reheating any of the McDonald’s, be it burgers, French fries, or apple pies, I will take you through the process of heating them in as want ways as possible–hang in tight!
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How to Reheat McDonald’s Nuggets (McNuggets)
If you’re looking to reheat some McDonald’s chicken nuggets, there are a couple of ways to do it. You can use the toaster oven, the conventional oven, an air fryer, the microwave, or even a skillet.
Reheating in the microwave
Although this can be a tricky affair, it’s still possible, and you can do it with considerable success.
Steps:
Step-1: Remove all wrappers and place nuggets on a microwave-safe plate without stacking them. This is like 6 – 8 nuggets.
Step-2: Microwave on a medium-high setting for half a minute at a time.
Step-3: Place the hot nuggets in the toaster oven and cook for 2 minutes to restore the crisp crust.
You have to be cautious with the microwave because it tends to cook foods from the inside. Too long cooking and your juicy interior nuggets turn into rocks — too bad.
Reheating over a skillet
Seems like a properly seasoned skillet can reheat all stuff, including McNuggets.
Steps:
Step-1: Preheat the skillet over your stove for about 100 seconds without letting the skillet become very hot. Otherwise, it will just burn the delicious McNuggets.
Step-2: Now turn the heat p to medium-low and place the nuggets on the skillet. Leave a small gap between any two adjacent nuggets.
Step-3: Keep flipping the nuggets over until the sweet aroma becomes too good to bear. By then, your chicken nuggets are ready to consume.
Step-4: Turn off the heat and enjoy.
Reheating in a toaster oven
You could also task your toaster to reheating McNuggets, and it’ll do a fine job of restoring the crisp crust.
Steps:
Step-1: Set the oven to the Broil function and warm it up.
Step-2: Place a baking sheet over the wire rack.
Step-3:Place no more than six nuggets on the sheet-lined rack ensuring they don’t touch each other.
Step-4:Heat for 2 minutes and turn them over. Heat again for additional 2 minutes
Step-5:Serve.
Reheating in a Conventional Oven
A conventional baking oven can also do an equally good job at reheating McNuggets.
Steps:
Step-1: Bring the oven to a temperature of 350-degrees F.
Step-2: Place the nugget over a wire rack, ensuring to leave a small distance between the chunks.
Step-3: Bake the nuggets for 10 minutes, but if you have a meat thermometer, the clumps are ready as soon as their internal temperature rises to 120-degrees F.
Step-4: Put out the heat, remove the nuggets, and enjoy.
Reheating in an air fryer
An air fryer can also reheat McNuggets, and the process is quite easy.
Steps:
Step-1: Bring the fryer to 400-degrees F.
Step-2: Place the nuggets inside, ensuring you line them up in a single layer.
Step-3: Cook for 3 minutes, or until the chunks crisp up uniformly.
Step-4: Serve in your favorite way.
How to reheat McDonald’s Burger (Big Mac) and Other Burgers
We adore the Big Mac and the favorite aspect about it is that you can reheat it in a variety of ways. This may be done in the microwave, toaster, or oven. Let’s see how you go about each method.
Reheating in the oven/toaster
This is by far the ideal method of reheating McDonald’s. If you have a Burger King Whopper, a Big Mac, or even a McChicken pie leftover, the kitchen oven is your best shot.
Steps:
Step-1: Remove the leftover burger from the fridge and keep it for at least 10 minutes under room temperature.
Step-2: Meanwhile, bring the oven to 350-degrees F.
Step-3: Take the burger apart and place the parts (patties and buns) in a grease-proof paper-lined tray.
Step-4: Leave out the salads. You can store them safely if you plan to reuse them or discard them altogether.
Step-5: Heat the burger parts in the oven for 7 minutes while covered with aluminum foil.
Step-6: If the burger is not hot enough, repeat the heating in bursts of 30 seconds until hot to your liking.
Step-7: Rebuild the patties and the buns, add your salads, and enjoy the now hot and fresh mac burger.
The reason behind the oven’s efficacy at reheating these foods lies in steady heat production, which doesn’t burn the outer crust but the burger. Instead, you are left with an oil-saturated burger.
It is not advisable to heat the salads, including veggies.
Also, avoid heating buns if they are condiment-laden.
Reheating in the microwave oven
This is also a preferred method for reheating McDonald’s burgers and pies due to easy handling and fast heating.
Steps:
- Remove the burger toppings
- Put the burger back in the wrapper and place it in a microwave-safe bowl.
- Set the power to medium-high and microwave for 2 minutes.
- Turn over the sandwich and heat again for 1 minute this time.
- Repeat if the burger is not hot enough.
- Place the toppings back and enjoy.
Reheating the buns
The buns are not to be reheated together with the mac.
Steps:
- Place them in a damp paper towel and wrap them around.
- Microwave on medium-high for 10 seconds.
- Repeat until sufficiently heated.
How to Reheat McDonald’s French Fries
If you have some leftover McDonald’s French fries, you can still enjoy them hot, provided they haven’t gone bad. There are a couple of reheating methods, but unfortunately for microwave lovers, this is not a good option, as we shall see.
Reheating in the skillet
The skilled is your best shot when it comes to French fries. If you had a leftover pizza, the skillet would do an equally great job at reheating that pie.
Steps:
- Add two table spoon of canola or vegetable oil in a skillet.
- When the oil begins simmering, place the flies on the pan to form a single layer. Leave shallow spaces between adjacent flies for even heating/cooking
- Let the fries cook for 2 minutes as you turn them over. When they begin crisp all-round, empty them into a plate lined with a serviette or a paper towel.
- Spice up with some salt and/or chili and enjoy.
You can use butter or olive oil instead of vegetable oil, but that’s up to you.
You should go for cooking oil that has a high smoke point for safety purposes.
Reheating in the oven
Reheating fries in the oven is a rather delicate affair that’s easy to mess up. To be on the safer side, always use a heavy-duty aluminum foil lining on the tray, and preheat the oven before placing the fries inside.
Steps:
- Bring the oven to a temperature of 450-degrees F.
- Apply a little cooking spray over the baking sheet.
- Place baking tray lined with the baking sheet into the oven to warm it up.
- Remove the tray and arrange the flies over the sheet so that they form a single layer. Ensure to leave a small space between individual fries for uniform heating.
- If you want to breath some life into the French fries, sprinkle some salt or garlic or even paprika over the fries.
- Place the tray with the fries in the oven and cook for 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on the food- it can easily burn.
- Remove the fries and taste if they are hot enough. If not, reheat for extra 30 seconds and recheck.
- When sufficiently hot, tip them over a serviette-lines tray or plate, season as you like, and enjoy.
It’s absolutely necessary to make a single layer of the fries to avoid steaming them. You certainly don’t want to convert the fries into steamed potato chips.
Reheating in an air fryer
If you have this handy tool in your house, you have a near-perfect way of reheating French fries in the shortest time.
Steps:
- Bring the air fryer to a temperature of 400-degrees F.
- Place the fries side by side without stacking, into the fryer
- Let the fries cook for 2 minutes
- Enjoy.
This approach should be used with caution since the high heat can easily scorch the fries. Keep a close watch over them as they cook.
Why You Should Avoid The Microwave
The microwave can be effective for reheating the fries, but the chemistry that takes place results in something unpleasant. Since microwave radiation interacts with water molecules to produce heat, the result is a soggy mess that’s not even sufficiently hot.
How to Reheat Breakfast McMuffin
Have you bought your breakfast from McDonald’s but want to take it home? Well, there are various ways to reheat it. You can use the microwave or the conventional oven.
Reheating in the microwave.
The microwave is a pretty good option for reheating your breakfast.
Steps:
- Remove all wrappings and place the muffin on a plate.
- Set the eggs and the patty aside. You have to separate these parts, or you end up with a splattered mess in your microwave.
- Place the sausage/bacon in the microwave and heat for 30 -45 seconds on medium-high heat. If the patty’s middle is not well heated, heat further for 10 seconds.
- Place the bun on a paper towel and wrap it around to retain the moisture. Microwave it in 10-sec bursts until hot enough.
- Reheat the egg by placing it in preheated oven (don’t microwave it)
- Assemble your breakfast and enjoy.
Reheating in the conventional oven
You could also reheat your breakfast in the oven.
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place foil over a baking sheet.
- Break the muffin into the constituent parts and place them over the baking sheet, ensuring to leave some space between the individual components.
- Cover the muffins with a foil to discourage evaporation and burning.
- Let it cook for 15 minutes or until heated through.
- Reassemble the muffin as you like and enjoy.
How to Reheat McDonald’s Hash Browns
If you have some leftovers, it is not too late to eat them. You can easily and quickly reheat them over a frying pan.
Steps:
- Adjust the burner heat to medium and put a frying pan over the stovetop.
- In the saucepan, heat a teaspoon of butter.
- Meanwhile, reheat the hash browns briefly in the microwave for 30 secs on reheat mode.
- Place the hash browns into the now hot frying pan and let them cook for 1 – 2 minutes. Tune them over once to get both sides done.
How to Reheat McDonald’s Apple Pies
We all love Mcdonald’s pies, but if you didn’t eat it in good time, don’t worry, for you can still reheat it. There are a few options for accomplishing this.
Reheating in an air fryer
This is one of the best methods that make your cold apple pies taste as good as fresh ones. The crust is usually perfectly crispy, while the fillings are just as hot.
Steps:
- Set the temperature of your air fryer to 280 degrees F.This should take 3-4 minutes.
- Place the apple pies inside, ensuring you line them up in a single layer.
- Cook for about 6 minutes until the pies are hot throughout.
- Turn off the heat and let the pies sit for a minute.
- Enjoy while still warm
Reheating in the microwave
As far as simplicity is concerned, reheating apple pies with a microwave is pretty easy.
Steps:
- Place the apple pie on a microwavable dish.
- Set the microwave to a high heat setting and cook the pies in 15-minute bursts until hot throughout.
- Carefully bite into the pastry, so you don’t get burned by the bubbly hot inside.
Reheating in the conventional oven
You could also reheat your apple pies in a conventional oven and get better results than even with a microwave.
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 200-degrees F.
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil.
- Place one apple pie on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove the pie from the oven and set it aside to cool for a few minutes before eating.It can be very immediately after reheating.
The Best Way to Reheat McDonald’s
You already know the various McDonald’s fast foods. As distinct as these foods are, so are their ideal reheating methods.
The best way to reheat McDonald’s nuggets is over a cast-iron skillet, while McDonald’s burgers are best reheated in the kitchen oven.
McDonald’s French fries taste best when reheated over a properly seasoned skillet, unlike McMuffins that you can best reheat in a conventional oven.
McDonald’s hash brown taste heavenly if reheated over a frying pan, and Mcdonald’s apple pies are best reheated in an air fryer.
How to store McDonald’s burger
You can store a burger by refrigerating or freezing it.
Refrigerating:
A burger stored in the fridge will last between 3 and 4 days. Beyond this period, just throw it in the trash.
Freezing
McDonald’s burgers are stored in the freezer for up to 4 months. If you love the BigMac as much as I do, then you could order several and store them in your freezer.
Steps:
- To store the burger in the freezer, first, allow it to cool down completely, and then take off the dressing and the salad along with the sauce.
- Wrap the remaining bun and patty in foil paper, place in a freezer bag, and seal.
- Stick a level on the bag so that you know when the expiry date is near.
How to tell if McDonald’s is bad
To tell if McDonald’s is bad, the best way is to smell or taste.
Smelling:
If you detect a rancid odor when opening up the package, then chances are that your food has gone stale and should be thrown in the trash.
Tasting:
All fast foods have a limited shelf life, and even if they don’t smell bad, it’s always advisable to taste them before taking a bite.
If you detect any strange flavors or odors when tasting the food, be sure not to take another bite; instead, throw away your meal in the trash.
Expiry date:
McDonald’s is best when consumed within three to four days after opening the package. If you won’t be eating your meal right away, freeze it for up to four months in a freezer-safe bag with proper seal and label on the expiry date.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Can you freeze McDonald’s
Yes! You can definitely freeze McDonald’s. Simply allow it to cool before wrapping it in foil and placing it in a freezer bag.
Q. How long can you keep McDonald’s in the freezer?
If kept well packaged and frozen, a burger could last up to four months in your freezer.
Q. Can you Eat Refrigerated McDonalds?
Yes! You can eat refrigerated McDonald’s if it’s not past four days in the fridge.
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Conclusion:
McDonald’s fast foods can be consumed hours after they are bought. If you have been wondering how you can reheat McDonald’s, we have discussed many different options for achieving that. However, some McDonald’s items can be heated in the microwave or oven, and others should not be microwaved at all.
If you’re not looking to eat your McDonald’s right away, we recommend storing it in the fridge overnight. As always, when eating any meal from this menu item, make sure you don’t leave out vegetables!
