Where's The Best Spot In The Oven For Reheating Pizza And Maintaining A Crispy Crust?

While there's no small amount of debate surrounding the best way to reheat leftover pizza, many people have access to the good old oven, making it an easy choice. However, not just any place inside the appliance is best for getting a crispy crust. How you arrange food in your oven really matters for the best results.

Fast and hot reheating methods crisp up pizza crust without burning the toppings or drying out the sauce, so long as you put your pizza as close to the heating element as possible. Most conventional ovens use a bottom element for everything except broiling, so place your pizza on the bottommost rack, preferably on a pan or pizza stone. Since the heat rises, it will crisp up the bottom of the crust, while re-melting your cheese and warming up the toppings. If you were to place the pie on the topmost rack, it would take longer to heat up, causing the slices to dry out over time before the crust's texture can improve.

On the other hand, if your heating element is at the top of your oven, put the pizza on the top rack and lay foil over the slices, to protect the toppings from harsh direct heat. Different types of ovens distribute their heat in unique ways, so it's vital to understand your appliance when figuring out how to treat your leftovers.

Have you ever used an oven with a large fan installed in the back? That means you have a convection oven on your hands, rather than a conventional one. That fan distributes heat evenly throughout the appliance, so the oven rack you use for your pizza is a tad less important. However, you'll need to adjust your time for convection oven cooking, reducing it by 25%. This accounts for the appliance's increased efficiency.

What if you only have a smaller toaster oven? Most have both top and bottom heating elements, so in this case, you'll still want to place your rack as low as it can go to ensure the pizza crust gets crispy. However, some toaster ovens have built-in fans, making them more similar to air fryers or convection models. In this case, keeping your pizza in the center of the oven promotes enough air circulation to wick out excess moisture from the crust, bringing it back to its former texture.

Finally, there are small differences in reheating pizza in gas and electric ovens. The inside of an electric oven is a much drier environment, so your crust will get extra crispy. However, if you want to keep the crust more tender, try placing an oven-safe dish of water on the bottom rack to add some humidity. If you want to dry out the interior of your gas oven, meanwhile, check if it has a fan setting, which circulates air and removes excess moisture.