Never Eat Dried-Out Pita Again With This Clever Warming Method

Whether you baked a little too much homemade pita bread earlier or have leftovers from last night's pita platter, finding the right way to reheat the bread can be tough. The microwave makes it soft for a few minutes, but it sometimes leaves the bread a little wet (yuck!). If you place it on a baking sheet or the oven rack, the oven is quick to evaporate all of its moisture, leaving you with pita that's dried out and tough.

Fortunately, we have a clever way to warm it up while still avoiding dry, overbaked pita: Spray your pita with water, wrap it loosely in greased foil, and warm it up in the oven. Be sure to crinkle that foil a bit — this minimizes how much of the pita's surface area is in contact with the foil, which will allow air to move through, preventing sogginess and sticking. If you want to flip the bread over inside the pouch halfway through so it cooks evenly on both sides, this crinkly tin foil hack makes it easier to do so, though make sure you don't let too much steam escape.

This method has a secret ingredient: steam! A loose wrapping of foil will allow the air to circulate. As the oven heats, the steam will rise and rehydrate the bread. Think of the way you'd bake bread with boiling water in the oven for a more appealing crust, or the way you might steam a hot dog bun in foil before serving to get that pillowy texture you might associate with a baseball game.

Similarly, you can run a baguette under the faucet before heating it in the oven, and this will lock in the moisture from the outside of the bread, leaving the inside soft and fresher tasting — you'll never need to throw out a stale baguette again. There are many ways to revive stale bread, but this pita tip is an easy and smart way to make your bread taste light and airy, even if it's a couple of days old.