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Yesterday, I had to prepare some croquettes and transport them. I thought there would be no problem to reheat them in a toaster oven. However, the croquettes turned out soggy. The flavor was alright, but the texture was off.

I thought that would happen in the microwave, not in a toaster.

Any suggestions on how to reheat a fried food item?

Cheers.

Edit: Such a lot of questions, and good ones. I guess the problem really was that the toaster was closed so moist couldn't escape.

BaffledCook
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    What time & temp did you reheat at? Also, did you crowd them while reheating and/or on a wire rack to allow good air circulation (to allow any moisture to evaporate)? – Joe Nov 20 '10 at 14:21
  • And also ... what was the starting temp. Was the food cold, or ambient temp when you started reheating? – Dr. belisarius Nov 20 '10 at 15:29
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    And a third question... did you transport the croquettes warm or cold? If cold, how did you let them cool down? I would think that if you let them cool down on a wire rack, they're much less likely to get soggy in the first place than, say, if you put them in a container while they're still warm and steaming. – Erik P. Nov 20 '10 at 15:58
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    I'm more concerned about what the croquette actually was, since the term can mean so many different things. Would help a lot with tagging too. – Aaronut Nov 20 '10 at 17:52
  • @Joe, I reheated them during 3' in a small toaster oven (I don't know the temperature). I didn't crowd them, and they were placed on a wire rack. @Eric, @Belisarius, I transported them on tissue paper, but in an open glass container immediately after frying, all in all I reheated them maybe 30' afterwards. – BaffledCook Nov 20 '10 at 18:37
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    @Aaronut, I'm talking about the dutch croquette whee the crunch is extra important. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquette#Netherlands – BaffledCook Nov 20 '10 at 18:39
  • @belisarius -- answer the question, as I think you likely had the correct problem -- immediately moving the hot items into a container would've caused them to steam as they cooled down, losing the crunch, even with it being open. (and GUI Junkie -- I've never seen a toaster oven with a tight seal, so although it might've contributed slightly, it probably wasn't the main culprit.) – Joe Nov 22 '10 at 02:53
  • @Joe Lost contact with the thread, sorry. You already did a wonderful job. Congrats! Just as a side comment, Sometimes heating slowly (starting with low temp, and gradually rising it) helps with the thing getting crisp again, but the results mostly depends on the porosity. The most "solid", the worst results. – Dr. belisarius Nov 22 '10 at 03:29
  • Anyway, the best thing to do, as @Erik already commented is using a rack. That solves most humidity-related problems. – Dr. belisarius Nov 22 '10 at 03:42
  • Just a side note, this toaster has only one dial: timer, so there's no way of slowly heating. – BaffledCook Nov 22 '10 at 08:28

2 Answers2

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As this basically got answered through questions in the comments, I'll collect up all of the various problems that might help prevent the sogginess:

  1. After frying, allow the croquettes to cool on a wire rack, so they don't get moist as they give off steam.
  2. Reheat first at a lower temperature to heat through, then turn it up the temperature to regain the crunch & get any extra browning.
  3. Make sure when reheating that they aren't packed too tightly, and if possible, heat on a wire rack rather than a pan.
  4. If reheating in a small but tightly-sealing oven, try cracking the door slightly so as to prevent humidity buildup.

(anyone who has any other suggestions, feel free to add 'em)

Joe
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You can just refry them. Keep a close look on them, since they can become too dark quite easily because they were already fully fried once. Time and temperature obviously depend on the size of the item, but usually something around 180° C (350° F) will do for 2-3 minutes.

However, in your case, I wouldn't have fried them in the first place in advance. But perhaps there wasn't a fryer available.

Mien
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