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Pizza thawing is a phenomenon where food gets warmer after being frozen. When pizza is placed in the freezer, ice crystals begin to form inside the crust.
As time goes on, the water inside the crust turns to ice crystals, causing the crust to become hard and brittle. After the pizza is removed from the freezer, the ice crystals melt back into liquid water, making the crust soft again.
It’s perfectly fine to eat pizza that has thawed. But be warned that once thawed, the clock really starts ticking. You should eat or refrigerate the pizza within 3 hours.
Why Frozen Pizza Thaws
When the pizza is taken out of the freezer, the ice melts and causes the crust to warm up. This warming occurs because the water molecules are now free to move around.
Since they have less structure, they vibrate faster than before. The vibration causes the molecules to collide with each other and transfer their kinetic energy to the surrounding air.
The air then heats up and transfers its energy to the pizza, causing the crust to get warmer.
How to Prevent Frozen Pizza From Thawing
The best way to prevent frozen pizza from getting too warm is to put the pizza in the fridge right away. If you don’t do this, the pizza will continue to warm up until it’s completely defrosted. If you’re worried about wasting food, you can always cut off a small piece of the crust and eat it immediately.