Best practices for microwaving frozen burritos.

April 16, 2024 11:54 AM

I learned from someone on here to put a damp paper towel over a frozen burrito when microwaving, and, voila, no more rock hard tortillas! However ... sometimes the paper towel sticks to the burrito. Plus, I'm sure there is advanced technology for this! Any other tips?
posted by bluesky78987 to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

Best answer: Your paper towel might be too wet.

I find letting it rest for a minute or so in the middle of your microwave cycle helps even the heat distribution (heat --> flip --> rest --> heat)
posted by AndrewInDC at 12:00 PM on April 16 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I eat frozen burritos way too often. I use an anti-splatter microwave food lid (just a domed plastic cover) and they come out much better than when I used the paper towel method, although this might depend on burrito brand too.
posted by hejrat at 12:03 PM on April 16 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I make my own burritos and freeze them, and just reheating them at 50% power helps out a lot with how enjoyable the end product is - tortilla doesn't crisp up (except a bit at the ends where it's just layers of folded tortilla), and interior heats more evenly.
posted by LionIndex at 12:06 PM on April 16 [6 favorites]

Best answer: If you have a bowl in which the burrito will sit, you can drape the damp paper towel over the bowl so it's not directly touching the burrito and get roughly the same humidifying/ steaming effect w/o the risk of sticking.
posted by soylent00FF00 at 12:58 PM on April 16 [5 favorites]

Best answer: I do it like AndrewInDC: heat, flip, rest, heat. The only thing I'd add is that I like to have the folded side on the bottom for the first heat and then facing up for the second heat. I find I get less spillage that way.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:07 PM on April 16 [2 favorites]

Best answer: The place where I get tamales microwaves frozen ones by putting saran wrap over them, then wet paper towels over the saran wrap. Probably would work for the burritos as well.
posted by virve at 1:22 PM on April 16

Best answer: If they are actually coming out hard it is likely a symptom of just too much time cooking.

I find myself using the power settings on my microwave a lot more now. Like microwaving something for 4 minutes results in astonishingly high temperature in some areas and hard bits in others. But only doing it for 3 minutes leaves some areas cold or even frozen.

Well how about 4 minutes a 70% or 80% power? Usually something like that hits the sweet spot. At lower power the microwave element turns on and off at regular intervals and the time when it is off allows the heat to distribute throughout the item more evenly.

Any more I would use 100% only for something like boiling water. Or maybe defrosting a huge frozen item - only for the first few minutes, though, in that case. Then to like 50% power.

Anyway, actually using the power settings on a microwave is my bit of "advanced technology."
posted by flug at 2:03 PM on April 16 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Lower power, and I wrap my homemade burritos in parchment paper to freeze them and then microwave them still wrapped, instead of the paper towel.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:05 PM on April 16 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I use 50% as often as 100% in the microwave.
Put the frozen burrito on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a paper plate to prevent splatters.
Nuke at 50% for 30 to 60 seconds.
Touch the center of the burrito, repeat heating at medium for 10 to 30 seconds as needed and let rest for half a minute before eating.
Refried beans are lava hot, so be careful.
Two burritos are tricky, so one at a time gives better results.
posted by TrishaU at 4:05 PM on April 16

Best answer: I used to make all sorts of wraps and freeze them in waxed paper. Old school but really easy, just seal with a little tape. I'd loosen the waxed paper to microwave them at work.
posted by theora55 at 6:25 PM on April 16

Best answer: At my work, I put the burrito under a bowl for three minutes. Works almost always perfectly. If it's a bigger burrito, 2 minutes, move/flip it, another 2 minutes. On another unrelated note, I only learned about the glass of water in the microwave a few years ago and it is amazing. You increase your cooking time a little bit, but it really helps (I do not do this with the burrito at work, though).
posted by history is a weapon at 4:27 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I cook Amy's frozen burritos frequently. For years the microwave directions on the packaging said to use the paper towel method. Recently that changed to putting the burrito on a microwave-safe plate, and covering it with another microwave-safe plate. Cook on high power for one minute, flip the plates with the burrito still between them, cook for another minute, then let rest for a minute. It works nicely. Bonus: no wasted paper towels.
posted by Dolley at 5:16 AM on April 17

Best answer: Defrost the frozen burrito in the microwave, then finish it in the toaster oven.
posted by box at 5:22 AM on April 17

Response by poster: Good tips coming here. Thanks! I just found that Amazon has "microwaver steamers" - anybody use those?
posted by bluesky78987 at 8:30 AM on April 17

Best answer: I haven't used a steamer for a burrito, but I routinely use the steamer that came with my microwave to do vegetables, and it works fine for that, but I'd be concerned the tortilla would absorb too much moisture (if you're using the kind of steamer where you add water into a reservoir; if you're referring to the kind where you DON'T add extra water then ignore my concern).
posted by aramaic at 8:52 AM on April 17

Best answer: Those steamers are really good for, say, broccoli from raw. But you will get wet burrito if you use it with water in it. You'd probably get the same mileage from any cover, like a silicone splatter-dome.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:36 AM on April 17