When It's A Red Flag To See A Full Pie In A Pizza Shop's Display Case

Some say that even bad pizza is still pretty good pizza. While that may be true to some degree, it's never bad to try to get the best pizza you can. If you're in a pizza shop looking for a slice and you see a whole pizza in the display case later in the day, it's worth taking a closer look before ordering it. There are a few reasons a whole pizza may be a red flag you want to avoid in your quest for the perfect slice, chief among them the fact that the pie may have been sitting there for a long time.

If you hit up your favorite pizza spot during the dinner or lunch rush, there's a good chance you're getting a fresh pie, and you won't have much to worry about. But if it's later in the day, maybe just before dinner or well past it, there's a chance that pizza was fired a couple of hours ago. You're going to need to take a close look for signs of freshness.

If the glass of the display case has visible condensation around the pizza, that's a good sign it's fresh from the oven and worth your money. Even if that's not the case, you can look for a glossy sheen of fresh oil on top, which indicates it was recently cooked. The longer a pizza stays out, the more the cheese and fats will congeal and develop a flat appearance.

There are a handful of pizza shop red flags that raise some questions. If no other customers bought a slice, it could mean that particular pie just isn't very good. If you have ever wondered how long pizza can sit out, this may come as unfortunate news. Despite the perception that pizza is never bad, it's still subject to the same rules of any other prepared foods and is not meant to sit out at room temperature for more than two hours. It needs to be either refrigerated or tossed out after that time.

Between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, bacteria can double in just 20 minutes. Pizza display cases need to hold pizza at 140 degrees or higher to maintain food safety. Even when held at 140 degrees, it's recommended that any unsold pizza be discarded after four hours. Recommendations and reality don't always align, of course, so you need to exercise caution if you see any indications that a pizza may have gone bad.

If you see the tips of the slices curling up, that means the pizza has sat around too long and is drying out. Pizzas further from the cash register may have also been there a while, as the more popular types are usually kept closer for easy access. Another warning sign is multiple varieties of pizza on the same tray, like a few slices of pepperoni and Hawaiian together. That means they've put together a couple of pizzas which may have been around a while. Keep your eyes open for signs of freshness and you should always be getting a delicious slice.