Reheating pizza without its box

You can successfully reheat your pizza without its box, but you need to follow one of the following options for the best results.

1 using a pizza stone

Pizza stones are designed primarily for cooking pizza from scratch. They help give a pizza base its lovely crispy exterior while maintaining a light, fluffy, bread-like interior. They are made in different materials.  A stone will help give any pizza great flavor, and it works just as well for reheating pizza. It gives it that “just bought” texture. I find that pizza stones made from ceramic or clay seem to give you the best results. The big advantage with these tools is that their porous surface means they heat the pizza nice and evenly.

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2 using your oven rack

All full-size kitchen ovens have racks in them, and there is nothing to stop you from placing your naked pizza straight onto the rack; in fact, it’s good because it gives the warm air the best chance of circulating. Just don’t position the rack at the top of the oven as that’s where it is hottest, and it’s likely to burn the pizza. You can, if you want, position a tray on the rack below the pizza to catch any crumbs, or God forbid, toppings that go astray. It means your oven will be easier to clean. Observe the temperature setting I recommended above.

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3 using a pizza pan

Using a pizza pan is another option. You get them in various types and made from different materials. I find that the ones with perforated bottoms help to give or retain a pizza’s crispy crust. The only thing to watch out for is that a bit of grease might drop from the pizza, so I always set a tray on the rack below to catch it. I’m all for keeping oven cleaning to a minimum. The other thing the perforations are good for is air circulation. It means that the pizza warms quicker, and the base gets a little crisper than if you use a pizza pan with a closed bottom. If you’re not into crispy crusts, then an unperforated pan is the one for you.

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4 using aluminum foil

Using aluminum foil serves a double purpose.

• Firstly, you can use it as a baking sheet, albeit a flimsy one, but okay if handled with care.
• Secondly, it can save on having to clean your oven or baking tray, something that the reader will recognize as being close to my heart, plus it’s so cheap you can dispose of it when you’ve finished.

The only downside with using aluminum foil is that the air can’t circulate beneath the pizza, so the base loses any crispness.