Juicy, delicious, and easy on the wallet, the iconic McDonald’s Big Mac is one of the most famous sandwiches the restaurant serves. However, with its low prices, it’s easy to go a bit wild and order far too much.
In this case, how do you reheat a big mac? How will you reheat it without the individual parts cooking it completely different temperatures, leaving you with a molten hot bun and freezing patties? What is the best way to reheat a big mac?
Just as it was cooked in a frying pan, a frying pan is the best way to reheat it as well. Placing the patties in a medium hot frying pan with two tablespoons of water for 1 to 2 minutes will cook them up perfectly. Pop the buns into a toaster, and you are ready to enjoy. You can also reheat a Big Mac in an air fryer, a microwave, or in the oven.
What Is The Best Way To Reheat A Big Mac?
As you endeavor to reheat your Big Mac and find the best possible way to do so, there are some things to keep in mind.
First off, take note of how fresh the Big Mac tastes and feels. The texture of the bun should be just right, and the condiments should not have become congealed and jellied through the process. You also want to avoid the meat drying out.
Finally, when you are looking for the best way, ease of use is an important factor. After all, some of the delight of ordering McDonald’s is from how easy it is. You don’t want to go through a 20-step process to reheat a fast food burger – at that point, you could just make a new hamburger.
In A Frying Pan
One method for reheating a Big Mac is to use a frying pan. Due to the ease of use and preservation of flavor and texture, the best way to reheat a Big Mac is in a frying pan.
The first step here is to deconstruct your burger. Remove the lettuce and pickles, placing them aside. Unfortunately, in any of these methods, there is simply no way to revive the lettuce. If you have some on hand, it may be best to add your own, so that it is crunchy and fresh.
How To Reheat A Big Mac In A Frying Pan
- Lightly oil a large saucepan and heat over medium.
- Scrape off any lettuce, sauces, and other condiments from the burger.
- Remove the top and middle buns, placing them aside to heat up later.
- Locate the top burger patty and the bottom section of the burger. This bottom section in your Big Mac deconstruction will include a patty, the cheese, and the bun. Add the top burger patty and the bottom portion into your lightly oiled pan.
- Add two tablespoons of water to the pan. Next, cover with a lid or metal bowl.
- Allow it to fry for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove the lid or metal bowl from the buns and place the individually cooked patty to one side.
- Flip your burger bun and cheese section and add the top and middle buns to the pan.
- Allow it to fry for an additional 30 seconds before you remove from the heat and reassemble the big mac.
While this may seem to be a laundry list of steps and procedures, this is the best way to reheat a big mac. You add the water to the pan because it will transform stale, refrigerated buns and patties, into soft, juicy burger components.
It also allows the cheese to melt rapidly. Even more, it introduces flavors back into the burger. Other methods, such as the oven, air fryer, or microwave, cannot claim this.
In The Oven
After the frying pan, the oven is the next best way to reheat your big mac. It comes in second because the oven will undoubtedly dry the burger patty out a bit.
How To Reheat A Big Mac In The Oven
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/ 180°C.
- Remove lettuce, pickles, and other condiments from the burger. Use a butter knife to scrape off as much as you can. Afterward, you can add fresh lettuce and sauces.
- Remove the top and bottom buns and set them aside. Just as before, you will have the combination of patty, bun, and cheese.
- Wrap this piece in foil, creating a parcel.
- Reheat in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Using tongs, flip the patty parcel halfway through the cook time.
- Remove the Big Mac from the oven and allow it to rest.
- Next, add a small sprinkle of water onto the remaining Big Mac buns and toast these buns in the oven for 30 to 60 seconds. You can also use a standard toaster for this, however, do not add water in this case.
- Reassemble your Big Mac and enjoy.
That sprinkle of water goes a long way in reintroducing moisture to the buns. The meat will not have as much taste as it would in the frying pan method, however it is still delicious. If you add your own condiments, you can step the burger up a notch.
In The Microwave
The ever convenient microwave is most people’s go-to for reheating a big mac. No one can truly blame them; the microwave is quick, convenient, and usually does not require much extra prep. While the microwave can certainly get the job done for reheating a Big Mac, it is not the ideal tool.
The microwave will tend to heat things up in an uneven, even erratic fashion. You may wind up with some parts scorching hot, well the cheese has barely started to melt. Taking a few extra steps when reheating a Big Mac in the microwave can help it kick back to life.
Just as with other methods, this will begin with disassembly. A theme here has been to remove the lettuce. This is usually because the lettuce will have been rendered soggy by sitting between the buns at least overnight. Reheating will only make them hot, but it will not be able to get them crisp or appetizing again.
How To Reheat A Big Mac In The Microwave
- Disassemble your Big Mac. Remove as much lettuce and other accoutrement from the sandwich.
- Place your Big Mac on a microwave safe plate, reassembled sans-lettuce.
- Cover the Big Mac with a damp paper towel and microwave in 30 second increments. Check your burger after these increments to see if it is hot.
- After you remove the Big Mac from the microwave, allow it to rest for 30 seconds.
In total, you’ll notice that it takes about 60 seconds to reheat your big mac. Any longer than this and it will become difficult to enjoy. Bread in the microwave is prone to either being soggy or rock hard. Neither of which is appealing for your leftover Big Mac.
The Damp paper towel step is vital to this operation. The towel introduces steam into the microwave, that will then be absorbed into the buns. Prior to entering the microwave, the bun is likely stale, if not hard as a stone. The moisture incorporates into those buns, but not so much that it becomes soggy.
Be mindful of how you wrap the wet paper towel. If you secure it too tightly, the bottom of your Big Mac will become unappealingly soggy.
This is not the best way to reheat a Big Mac, but it isn’t half bad. The cheese will melt, and the bun is kept delightfully soft. It is not as good as the frying pan method, as some of the meat flavor is gone through this process.
In An Air Fryer
Air fryers are incredibly helpful for reheating food. While they are newer on the market, people have discovered many new things to do with them – including reheating big macs.
How To Reheat A Big Mac In The Air Fryer
- Preheat your air fryer to 350° / 180° c.
- Disassemble your burger and remove as much lettuce as possible using a butter knife.
- Separate the top and bottom buns and place them to the side.
- Place the bottom piece of the big mac, with the patty bun and patty into the air fryer.
- Drizzle roughly one tablespoon of water onto the top patty.
- Reheat for 4 to 6 minutes. Halfway through the cooking process, flip your patty.
- Sprinkle the remaining Big Mac buns with one tablespoon of water.
- Reheat both buns in your air fryer for 20 to 30 seconds.
- Remove from the air fryer and reassemble.
This method may seem remarkably similar to the oven method. This is likely because air fryers are like tiny convection ovens, souped-up with a powerful fan.
This harsh cooking method is great for fried foods. However, hamburgers do not always fare so well. That is why this is not the best method to reheat a big mac.
The Big Mac will be dry, much more so than any of the other methods.
Conclusion
While Big Macs are delicious, this Hardy McDonald’s classic can be too filling for some. When you are left with fast food leftovers, what is the best way to reheat a big mac?
The best way to reheat a Big Mac is in the frying pan. You can also reheat it in the oven, microwave, or air fryer, with variable results. Typically, the oven and microwave are the next best ways.
No matter what, the best thing to do when you reheat a Big Mac is to disassemble the burger, remove the lettuce, and introduce moisture back to the buns.
