How To Keep Pizza Warm in Oven?

It’s important to know, how to keep pizza warm in oven: to throw indoor parties and hold outdoor activities, to deliver ideal food, or just to enjoy your leftover pizza.

There are many options, but the easiest one is to put a pizza box inside the oven heated to the lowest possible temperature (could be 170 degrees Fahrenheit or 75 degrees Celsius) to provide a climate similar to an oven inside the box.

What can be better than melted cheese on hot pizza? Don’t tell me you would prefer cold pizza with dried cheese. There are many purposes to warm pizza up: for indoor and outdoor parties, for delivery or just to enjoy your leftover pizza while watching your favorite show.

We know plenty of ways to keep your pizza warm and are ready to present the easiest and the fastest ones to every pizza lover.

Why Is It Important To Keep Pizza Warm?

Clearly, cold pizza slices simply don’t provide the same level of enjoyment as warm pizza. But what about food safety? Pizza is a perishable product, so it should not be kept at room temperature for longer than two hours. Heating slows down the growth of bacteria which can be harmful to digestion.

So, it’s safer to avoid eating cold pizza. When reheating pizza, it’s important to bring it to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit or 75 degrees Celsius.

The Best Ways How To Keep Pizza Warm in Oven

There are many ways to keep pizza warm, from the obvious to the very unusual. We will give examples of different options, and you may choose one to your taste so that you can keep pizza hot at any time. We love pizza as much as you do, and it’s important to us to help you keep it as warm as possible. Hopefully, thanks to this article, your party will never be ruined again!

1 way: Use a pizza box to warm pizza up

A pizza box is a cardboard box to deliver pizza from a pizzeria or directly from the oven. Do pizza boxes keep pizza warm?

To keep pizza warm in the oven, always put it in a box. Ventilation at the bottom of the crust allows heat and steam accumulated to escape, keeping the moisture inside. Pizza absorbs moisture, and this allows you to keep pizza warm for several hours at room temperature.

When you take out the pizza, put the two slices together so that they cool faster, as air circulates between them. So you can immediately enjoy a piece of your favorite dish with the perfect consistency!

Yes, it’s very unusual to put something made out of paper in the oven, do not leave the oven unattended. Some alternatives to the cardboard method are ready here.

How do you keep pizza warm in the oven using pizza box?

• Preheat the oven to 200°F.
• Open the box immediately after delivery. Let the accumulated steam drain.
• Close the box and check if there are ventilation holes (most pizza delivery boxes do have them). If they are not open, break the perforations to release hot air. If there are no holes, make a few cuts yourself.
• Place the pizza box on a baking sheet inside the oven at 150-170 degrees Fahrenheit. It is important not to set fire to the cardboard boxes, so pay attention to the oven’s temperature. The baking sheet shouldn’t be red-hot so that you don’t catch fire.

2 way: Using aluminum foil to keep pizza warm

Do you know what aluminum foil is? Aluminum foil is a very thin sheet of aluminum. It is used to store food, maintain temperature and protect products against external factors. It looks like a shiny silver sheet of rustling paper.

How does aluminum foil keep pizza warm in the oven?

The pizza heats up and releases moisture. Aluminum foil successfully reflects this moisture back to the surface of your dish. In this case, the water vapor cannot escape and helps to keep the pizza moist and tasty.

If it is important to you that a hot pizza stays hot for more than three hours, choose this aluminum foil option. The properties of the foil are best for maintaining the temperature safely for a long time.

Pizza wrapped in foil may not look the most appetizing. To decorate your party, you can use, for example, a tortilla warmer, which we will discuss later, and put pieces of foil into it.

How do you keep pizza warm using aluminum foil?

• Cut your pizza into slices.
• Wrap each piece in aluminum foil: this will help to prevent drying and sticking.
• Use a constant temperature throughout the process. Put your pizza in a preheated oven (400°F or 200 Celsius). This will help to get a crispy texture.
• Spread the pizza on a baking sheet. Leave a space between them for the steam so that it does not burn on either side.
• 10 minutes will be enough for you. When the cheese starts to bubble, you can take the warm pizza out of the oven. It shouldn’t be piping hot to keep the texture.

3 way: Use a pizza stone to keep your pizza tasty and warm

Pizza stones are made of natural materials, so their thermal conductivity is different from a conventional metal baking sheet. It looks like a stylish flat dish that makes food look more impressive.

If you toast the bottom of the pizza crust right on the stone, the topping will stay moist and the cheese will melt perfectly. A pizza stone is easy to buy at the grocery store.

This method is suitable for those who need to reheat pizza often. Otherwise, it makes no sense to buy a special device, because there are options for which improvised means are enough. We also want to say that stones for pizza also look chic. You can serve pizza right on the stone.

It will perfectly fit into a minimalist Scandinavian style or other trendy renovation in the kitchen or living room.

How do you use a pizza stone for keeping pizza warm?

• Put your pizza stone in the oven at up to 200°F. 30-45 minutes will be enough.
• Immediately after delivery takes the pizza out of the cardboard box and place it on the heated stone in the oven.
• Cover the pizza with aluminum foil to keep the steam inside. Leave it in the oven for 10 minutes and let your pizza heat.
• The pizza stone retains heat very well. It will keep your pizza warm even when the oven is off.
• The pizza will stay warm for up to three hours.

4 way: Using a skillet or a frying pan for fast reheating

Everyone knows what a frying pan is, so it makes no sense to write a definition in this section. The frying pan method works really fast. It can come in handy for ovenless pizza lovers, or for large parties where an oven isn’t enough.

You can turn to this method if you have a few pizza slices left from yesterday’s pizza party. That will help you reheat pizza faster without bothering with temperature and special devices.

A frying pan is considered unworthy of true pizza connoisseurs, but who are they to judge us?

How do you use a frying pan for keeping pizza warm?

• Get a non-stick pan (it’s great if you have a stainless steel pan).
• Preheat the stove to the maximum.
• Reheat the pizza over high heat for about two minutes.
• Check if the bottom of the crust does not burn. Making crust crispy will be your goal.
• Switch the stove to medium heat. At this point, the sauce heats up and the cheese melts.
• If something is wrong with the melting of the cheese, you can cover the pan with a lid.

There are several life hacks to make this method work perfectly. After heating the pan, put a little water on it and close the lid. This will create steam, which will help the pizza to heat up evenly and the cheese to be as gooey as it was originally.

If you like fried foods in general, you can add a few drops of oil to the pan. This will help a pizza crust to become appetizing and moderately crispy.

5 way: Use the microwave to reheat pizza slices

Do you love to keep pizza crispy? Then this method is right for you.

A microwave oven is widely used to keep food warm but is usually much smaller than a usual oven. So, you need to start with preparation.

This option doesn’t match big pizza companies but is great for those who only need to reheat a few slices. However, it depends on how much pizza you can eat on your own…

There is an opinion that in the microwave the food is viscous and not appetizing. Let’s break this stereotype!

How do you use a microwave for keeping pizza warm?

• Take a sharp kitchen knife and cut the pizza into microwave-safe pieces
• Wrap pizza slices in aluminum foil. Cold slices are also suitable for this step.
• Pour some water into a microwave-safe glass or cup (make sure it is suitable for microwave use).
• Put the pizza inside your microwave and place a container of water next to it. Boiling water will evaporate, protecting the pizza from having a soggy crust. This helps the cheese melt evenly and the base becomes crispy. The water heats up the pizza slowly.
• Watch the temperature: over 400°F pizza can burn.
• Wait for the cheese to begin to bubble. Remove the pizza after 1-2 minutes. We recommend that you check the condition of the pizza more often so as not to miss the moment when your pizza becomes just a bit crispy.

5 way: Warming pizza up on the middle rack

This is not a very long-term option, but you can reheat the pizza and immediately enjoy the hot slice.

Actually, often there is no need to store food for a long time. When it is important to eat it is warm here and now!

How can you bring your pizza warm?

• Preheat the oven to the lowest temperature. It can be between 170 and 200°F.
• Place the pizza directly on the middle rack. A few drops of sauce at this point may spill onto the surface of your oven, so be as careful as possible.
• It is best to eat pizza within an hour. It is acceptable to leave it up to two hours, but definitely not longer because it can get soggy around the edges and become not so appetizing at all.

How to keep pizza warm in oven is generally clear, but how long can you keep leftover pizza? The answer is in our post.

6 way: Keeping pizza warm during its delivery

And how about bringing pizza warm in the first place? Then you simply won’t have to heat it up and still will have your pizza almost piping hot.

7 way: Using a heated seat

The seat heater uses a heating element (resistor). Turn on the seat heater and put a pizza on it. This will keep your pizza warm even if you have a long way to go. Let pizza be as comfortable as your family in your car!

8 way: Using a blanket or towels

The heated seat is enough, but you can keep the pizza warm even longer:

• open the box and release steam;
• close the lid and poke all the holes in the pizza box;
• take a blanket or as many towels as you have;
• wrap the box carefully.

Steam will not accumulate and therefore the box will not get wet.

9 way: Using an insulated bag

Delivery services usually use an insulated bag or box, that can keep pizza warm.

Every insulated bag has a multi-layer construction. A layer of foam in the middle keeps warmth inside the bag. Accordingly, you can keep pizza warm for a really long time.

For yourself, you can buy an insulated bag or thermal box. It may be smaller than the courier boxes, but will also be able to effectively retain heat.

And a little more about pizza delivery. Unfortunately, all delivered pizzas have a characteristic smell and taste of cardboard. You can use a pizza to get rid of this flavor. If you don’t have a special stone, you can put the pizza on the cooling rack and place the pizza slices on the baking sheet along with it. Use foil to cover the sheet.

How To Keep Pizza Warm for Outdoor Parties

There is another situation in which you may need tips on reheating pizza. At the beginning of the article, we mentioned that some pizza lovers take it with them to parties outside. Is it possible to keep pizza at the same appetizing and optimal temperature during parties in the park or in the countryside, where you don’t have a baking sheet, oven, or microwave?

Sometimes people give up on their favorite food because they are not at all inspired by dried cheese and a wooden crust. We want to save all of your outdoor pizza dining experiences!

Using a portable oven at your party

A portable oven is convenient, because it is, well, portable! You can take it with you to any party or just a picnic and use it for its intended purpose. The quickest way is to simply reheat the pizza inside the oven and then turn it off, leaving the pizza inside (this way it will keep the temperature longer).

If you don’t plan to eat the whole pizza at once, wrap the pizza slices in foil. This will help you keep your pizza warm for much longer. Keep the wrapped pieces warm in the oven for about 20 minutes, then remove them without unwrapping them. Open when you are ready to enjoy pizza!

Using an insulated bag on the way

We talked about this method in detail in the section on pizza delivery. You can also use an insulated or thermal bag for a party.

However, this option is suitable for you if you plan to take pizza to the picnic area and immediately eat it with your friendly company.

Pizza won’t stay warm for long, so if you want to prolong your enjoyment, choose another method. ToteBagFactory explains how insulated bags work.

Keeping pizza warm during its delivery

Using a blanket instead

We also wrote about blankets while talking about delivery. This is a cheap alternative to special bags. Just wrap your pizza boxes in blankets or cozy bath towels.

This method, of course, loses to the options with keeping pizza warm in the oven and foil, but it will help you to bring your pizza to the meeting point warm and pleasant.

Yes, and it certainly will not burn and will not catch fire. And that’s a plus, too!

And here’s a short video about delivery bags being specially heated before packing pizza.

Using a tortilla warmer

There is already a great tool which is called a tortilla warmer! As a rule, tortillas are smaller than pizza, so you have to cut the pizza and ‘play Tetris’ with it, but you will get a guaranteed result.

In addition, the tortilla warmers are very cute and will definitely brighten up your picnic. They also come in the form of a box, saucepan, or bag, they have a variety of images and ornaments. Choose yours!

So, here are the materials from which warmers are made:

• cloth;
• ceramic;
• terracotta;
• basket;
• plastic.

Of course, these materials have different thermal conductivity, Baskets and plastic containers serve for convenience of storage and beauty. They are not suitable for heating. Ceramic and terracotta will retain heat best.

A cloth product can also retain heat, though not as effectively. But this option is the lightest and most compact. In terms of efficiency, a warmer can be compared to a towel, but it is much more comfortable.

How To Keep Pizza Warm in Oven: FAQ

We hope you found everything that was important to you in this article. However, just in case, we have prepared answers to frequently asked questions.

Conclusions on How To Keep Pizza Warm in Oven

You can see that there are many ways to reheat pizza for a wide variety of occasions and kitchens. Do you have an oven? And what about the microwave? And the frying pan? Or maybe foil? Or even pizza stone? Did you have your pizza delivered just now, two hours ago, or yesterday? For all these cases, there are solutions that we tried to share with you. We wish you bon appetit and the most crispy crusts in the world!