Considering our love affair with pizza, don’t let its flavor or freshness escape before you get a 2nd chance to enjoy it.

1. “Doggie bag” pizza – This type of leftover pizza needs to be transported from a sit-down restaurant to the diner’s home. No matter how much or how little is left on the pizza pan, always ask for a box. It’s better to have three leftover slices sliding around inside the oversized box than to have a triad of saucy smatterings inside of one’s purse.

2. Single-slice purchase pizza – Who doesn’t love to grab a sizzling slice of hand-tossed pizza on the run? Sometimes the pizza slice seller will place your precious portion inside of a triangle-shaped cardboard container, smile, then wave you on your merry way. The illusion is that because the box is triangularly shaped, the pizza should be secure, right? Wrong. The potential results can be unpleasant:

* The topping slides off, leaving a naked slice of baked dough with a greasy gob of orange beside it.

* The lid doesn’t close properly, and the entire piece falls out onto the street and makes a handful of hungry birds happy.

* It opens up inside of your purse or knapsack and you ooze of eau-de-pizza all the way home.

The simple solution for the single-slice pizza purchase is to carefully inspect the packaging before trying to transport your pizza. If you are suspicious that your prized pizza is not 100% safe for the upcoming journey, ask the vendor to help you secure the packaging. If they expect to see your face and/or your money again, they should be more than glad to help.

3. At-home leftovers – This is probably the easiest type of leftover pizza to store. But be sure that the pizza is completely cooled off prior to storing it. Hot pizza, when placed inside of plastic wrap or a storage container, will create moisture as the steam is trapped and condensation occurs. Then, when you try to munch on a piece of heart-warming cold pizza the next day, you might end up with a mouthful of soggy pizza mush.

Also, try to avoid stacking warm pieces of pizza on top of each other. Sometimes the cheese on the bottom slice will morph onto the dough on the piece above it, and you’ll end up with a large conglomerate chunk of pizza instead of cute little slices. For proper pizza safety, lay the slides side-by-side.

Your best at-home pizza storage container is a roomy, plastic container with an air-tight lid. This ensures the crust stays fresh as well as the various toppings. If you don’t have this type of container, then plastic wrap or aluminum foil will work effectively. Try to avoid cramming pizza into undersized baggies, sometimes the pointy end of the slice will puncture the baggie, which is unacceptable for proper pizza preservation.

4. Spontaneous pizza gift storage – This is the trickiest pizza leftover to store because there is no pizza premeditation involved. Perhaps you’re at a relative’s party, and they offered far too much pizza to their guests, so there is a tremendous amount of leftovers. “Oh, take some pizza home,” they urge lovingly.

Your heart is pounding, and your eyes are salivating at the extreme amount of beautiful pizza you are about to inherit. You simply cannot believe your good fortune! Almost instantly, despair settles in as you realize that you don’t have a clue as to how to get this lovely pizza collection from their point A to your point B.

The solution is to compliment them on what a super host they are, and commend them on their choice of pizza. Then tactfully ask the pizza donator if they can supply a nice container for you to borrow so you can enjoy the lovely pizza gift. If they are a true pizza lover, they’ll understand.

Leftover pizza storage is a very important part of a pizza lover’s life. Proper storage can prolong the good health of any pizza worth its pepperoni, and poor storage can severely damage even the healthiest pizza. Take your time, use solid pizza storing strategies, and you’ll be fine.

So will your pizza.