how do they prepare/reheat lasagna in restaurants?

[nonlinear]

whenever I've ordered lasagna in a restaurant, it is served piping hot in a dish and covered/surrounded by marinara sauce and cheese. Has anyone worked in a kitchen that does this and can tell me how it's done? I imagine that the lasagna is prepared in trays, cut into slices and then frozen or refrigerated until ordered, at which time it's covered in sauce and cheese and somehow heated? keeping it warm all the time would dry the hell out of it.

The reason I ask is because I made a GIANT tray of lasagna, and between the two of us eating it for lunch and dinner, we could only handle like 4 pieces so had to freeze about 3/4 of the tray in Food Saver bags. on another occasion, we also made a giant batch of a red meat sauce, that is also in the freezer. So i've been thinking that I could prepare the lasagna in dishes with the red meat sauce, but i'm not sure what the best way to heat that would be. Can I just bake it at like 350 F until the center is hot, or will that dry it out?

any idears? thanks!

[dj_rice]

Thats how they do it, make a big batch, once its ordered, throw sauce on it and cheese and warm it up in the oven, there are some mom/pop Italian shops that do actually make it once its ordered but the lasagna noodles are already cooked and the tomato sauce is all cooked, just need to put it together and bam in the oven and voila


You can do it the same way, it won't dry out unless your oven is cranked to 500F and its in there for like an hour

[TYMSMNY]

Lazy way - Microwave with in a tupperware covered with a little water.

Better way - Your oven idea. Sauce, cheese, bake.

Best way - Don't have leftovers.

[nonlinear]

^^yea i wouldn't even consider nuking it unless i was at work.

so how long do you think it will take to bake? i notice it's always super hot at a restaurant, but it doesn't take 45 minutes to come out. do they use convection ovens or something?

do you guys think i could put a piece of frozen lasagna in sauce and bake for like an hour at like 350-400, or do i have to thaw it first?

[dj_rice]

The reason it comes out so quick at the restaurants is prolly cause its not frozen to begin with, they prolly make however much they need for that day in the morning and keep it refridgerated...


Yes you can bake it at 350-400 for a hour, but I don't know how warm it'll be in the centre, it all depends on how thick your lasagna is, how well heat is dispersed in your oven etc.

[liquidboi69]

they typically put it in the oven to heat it up hot, and for the last few minutes they put more cheeese and sauce on top and throw it in the "salamander" grill.

The salamander is typically a REALLLY hot broiler to get that crispy cheese in the end and thats why its piping hot as well

[nonlinear]

Originally posted by dj_rice
The reason it comes out so quick at the restaurants is prolly cause its not frozen to begin with, they prolly make however much they need for that day in the morning and keep it refridgerated...


Yes you can bake it at 350-400 for a hour, but I don't know how warm it'll be in the centre, it all depends on how thick your lasagna is, how well heat is dispersed in your oven etc.

well, i think the small frozen lasagna trays from safeway etc. cook for 60 minutes at like 350-400 or so... mine is about twice the thickness of that, but smaller length and width. so that might be a good starting point if i do it from frozen. i can stick a thermocouple into the center to check the temp, but i wonder what temp is ideal for serving lasagna?

[Disoblige]

Originally posted by TYMSMNY
Lazy way - Microwave with in a tupperware covered with a little water.

Better way - Your oven idea. Sauce, cheese, bake.

Best way - Don't have leftovers.

I agree. The best way is to have it prepared but slap things on when you're ready to eat. The difference in freshly baked cheese and already prepared makes a big difference.